Elf MAGIC

I have seen the Elf On A Shelf at many retail stores. When I was on a sales call for MYGIRLSROCK.COM at Coton Colors in Tallahassee, Florida, in mid November, Dee confirmed with me that my then 7 year old was too old for the "fantasy!" I was sad to think that I missed the boat on the product but still glad that she believes in Santa Clause. As we all should. Santa still visits my house every year and last year when my son who is now 12 wondered why I was still talking Santa trash, my response to him was if you don't believe then you won't get the presents he brings to you. Needless to say, he went along with it and just this week he left his wish list on my husband's nightstand.

So who is this Elf On A Shelf? I have to admit to you that Dee and I were both wrong. It started last week. On Friday, December 3, 2010, my daughter, GG said, "Mommy, Chloe said that you have to leave crackers out for the elf and he will come to you and he reports to Santa how you are behaving. Can I please leave crackers out for him?" It was almost 8 p.m. How on earth am I going to find the Elf this late I thought to myself? Elf MAGIC...She wanted to leave crackers out. I tried to discourage her and even her brother said he didn't want to be there when she woke up to no elf. I told her to ask Dad. Of course he said, "You can leave the crackers out for the elf." I even went so far as to tell her that we didn't have the right kind of crackers. Steve, however; encouraged her by asking her to listen when he heard something in the attic. GG thought it was the squirrel again. Steve told her that it couldn't be because we plugged the hole. To no avail, we put the crackers and water out for the elf. The next morning she came flying in the room exclaiming, "The Elf was here, the Elf was here!" It reminded me of The British are coming, The British are Coming! I don't think they were as excited as GG! He was here and gone. He did not stay. I told her it was way too early and that he/she was probably visiting Santa still. But mom it is morning. "Maybe not where Santa is." I replied. It was 7:30 a.m.

I went to Market Days and the elf was missing. I called Chloe's mom. She laughed. The same thing happened to her. But here is the kicker: There are 2 kinds, one is small and a boy (according to GG, it is the scary one) and the other is a stuffed animal elf that is big, has different color hair and could be a boy or girl. So the journey continues.

I spoke with another gymnastics mom, she said "That her elf wrote her daughter a letter for her mom to bring out the Christmas decorations. The elf would not come to a house that was not decorated."

We put crackers out on Monday night and the elf did not eat. A gymnastics dad told us that it may take days for the elf to appear because they hide in really good places. I added to that by saying the elf has to get to know our family before it would feel comfortable in staying with us. That was on Tuesday. Last Night A letterhead appeared in Maggie's dog cage. It was a Dear Santa letter for her to write a letter. She lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw it. She especially liked that it had been with Maggie.

So GG proceeded to write a letter for the Elf to come to our house:

I really want you to come spend the holidays with my family. I want you to watch me to see if I'm good. Can you give me some MAGIC for my gymnastics meet because I have state this weekend? And I am a little nervous. Please come to help me do better. Love, GG

Wow. Can you believe the innocence of my daughter, GG? We left the letter with the water and crackers last night. This morning the elf appeared in her Christmas stocking with magic powder just for her! Her name is Sarah.

BTW, not all Elves are scared of dogs! GG took her to school and gymnastics to share today. I wonder if her friends will have the same elf MAGIC in their eyes? I will post her pictures with the elf soon. In the meantime, if you are looking for Elf MAGIC, visit www.Elf-Magic.com

Have a MAGICAL Day.

Books are everywhere...read, read, read...

Have you ever noticed that books are everywhere? Yesterday I volunteered at Scholastic Warehouse Book Sale. Wow what a wonderful place. You can find anything for everyone on your list. Everytime I go there I am just amazed by all the books that I will never read. English was my orginal major and writing was my first love, behind David. I was 13. That was when I first started to write. I chose this template because it is a constant reminder for me to keep learning and most importantly to keep writing. You might ask yourself: Learning about what? I am 45 years old. I had my eyes checked yesterday. One eye is 20/30. Not bad. The other eye is, well need I say, less than perfect: 20/70. Ouch! Okay so now I will need glasses to keep reading. I will keep you posted on that one. BTW, I need to get bi-focals! I then will able to see EVERYTHING. I am not so sure I want to SEE everything. Certainly not the floor that needs to be mopped or the dust from the nightstand next to my bed. Speaking of the nightstand, what is the book on your nightstand? Is it covered in dust like mine? Are you like me and you have several that you are reading at once? What does that tell you about yourself? Are you busy? Are you a Multitasker, Smarter or _____? You fill in the blank and let me know. Do you ever confuse the plots from one book to the next? I must admit to you that I haven't read a GREAT book in a long time. Mostly magazine articles and I currently read whatever my daughter reads to me to cover her AR points: Junie B. Jones and the American Girl series. Recently I was admiring a kindle on a bus ride for a out of town field trip. I was actually foaming at the mouth. (Kind of like I do when I see an Iphone.) When I asked her about it she explained it to me. She asked me to tell her my favorite author. I prefaced it by saying, "You are not going to believe that I just love a great trashy Danielle Steele novel." Her reply was, "I cannot judge you because I read vampire books!" I laughed and said, "You too. My husband doesn't read them. He just likes to watch the series on t.v." She laughed. I wondered what else I didn't know about her. What are we not telling others or what are we hiding? Do we tell people selective things in our life? It got me thinking about how much do really know a person. I had a thought. Are we defined by the books we read? I am defined by where I started, where I have been and the lives I have touched along the way: a daughter, a sister, student, a swimmer, a waitress, a pet owner, a friend to many, a sorority sister, a wife, a lover, a mother, a tennis player, an "occasional" nagger, a scrapbooker, a picture taker, a professional volunteer and fundraiser, a chairman of many events, soccer mom and now a running mom, gymnastics mom, a cab driver, a salesperson, a business owner, a maid, a walker, a caretaker, a facebook junkie, and I ran in the 2009 Jingle Bell run; so since I did it ONCE: a runner and a "closet" writer who after posting this will be a "writer." I am sure there are many titles I am missing. Given that information, I have decided to give myself the official title of "The Goddess of Love and Laundry." It is the title of a book that I am writing. It is my hope that you will bookmark the blog, check it daily, read the blog, comment on it, forward it to your friends and as a result we can learn from each other as we embark on our journey in life. Thanks, Jenny