Confession: Christmas Sucked This Year

By Meg Hodson

I am a positive person. I see the good in people, I weigh both sides, I look on the bright side. We live on the sunny side of the street. I don't like to get down. Life is good.

That's not to say life doesn't come with it's share of complications. And I accept that. 

But I've had a really tough time these past couple of weeks. I contemplated whether I wanted to write a post that was a "downer". But this blog is my online journal, my place to vent. So here goes.....

Christmas sucked this year. 

I don't use the term sucked lightly. I wanted to make sure I had the definition correct, so here is what Google had to say:

be very bad, disagreeable, or disgusting.

"I love your country, but the weather sucks"

synonyms:

be very bad, be awful, be terrible, be dreadful, be horrible; informalstink "the weather sucks"

Okay, good, got the definition spot on. 

Let me paint the picture leading up to Christmas vacation. My husband's family lives in Cleveland, Ohio. We usually try to visit 2 times/year, but we haven't been for a visit since August 2013. We haven't been able to afford it. But we pushed through and made it happen this year. Yay! Our tickets were booked for December 22nd.

My 2 sons got sick in early December. I would never want them to get sick, of course, but I sang a little happy song inside because I was like "Great, they won't be sick on Christmas!" I told my daughter if she was going to get sick, to do so at least a couple days before we left. Sure enough, she got sick on the 20th. It ruined some plans we had with family before we left, but dog gone it, she was going to be okay for the trip. Rejoice!

I started to get ill the day we were set to leave. We were taking a red eye, so I was dreading trying to sleep while being sick, but okay, I will push through. The flight was awful, I got no sleep. Once we arrived, I continued to get worse. I had the flu and was basically alternating shots of Tylenol and cold remedies. I won't go into specifics, but I have been sick nearly 2 weeks. My cough is finally better as I write this. 

Christmas Day was nice enough and it was wonderful being with family. But my son got sick that day with a fever. My youngest son, although never officially sick with a fever or vomiting, just didn't feel quite right for a few days, too. Then, it inevitably hit my husband and my father-in-law. My husband's brother and entire family got sick and we haven't seen them for a week while here.

Plans got derailed, activities were cancelled. 

But we still had snow to look forward to! We were in the Midwest after all; it always snows in Cleveland during Winter. It was the answer to my prayers. Even if I had to sit in a cozy chair drinking tea, I could look out the window and watch the peaceful snow.

Each day I would check the weather forecast, and each day that they had predicted snow, it never came. That quintessential snowflake on my phone's weather app would disappear. As I write this post on our last day here on vacation, they are predicting a 90% chance of snow at 6 pm. We leave at 4:30 am tomorrow morning. Here's hoping. But it's been a record-breaking December here and their lack of snow, so I am not banking on it.

I am looking for the silver lining. I am trying to decipher the message. It's hard. I know crap happens, but when it's a trip you have waited 16 months to take, it hurts a little. Okay, it hurts a lot. 

I can only assume that 2015 has something in store for my family that will be beyond our wildest dreams. That absolutely has to be the explanation, right? I'm looking forward to what that might be. I will keep you posted.

But I swear to the good Lord, if it rains while we are in Disneyland for Spring Break, I am not taking another vacation ever for a VERY long time.

If you like what you're reading, I invite you to follow my blog.  Cheers!

Glimpses of Joy On Christmas

By Meg Hodson

Well, the official start to our Christmas vacation got off to a bumpy start. My daughter became sick a few days before we were scheduled to leave on a plane to visit family in Cleveland for 2 weeks. I unfortunately got sick on the day we were leaving. As I write this 5 days later, I am still sick. It mildly struck my two boys and now my husband is battling it. It will definitely be a memorable Christmas, but not quite like we had hoped.....at least thus far.

I'm trying to remain positive. It's not the first time an event has been set back or ruined by sickness....and it certainly won't be the last. And something like sickness pales in comparison to the difficulties that others are dealing with not only at Christmas, but throughout the year. I can handle this blip of sickness and hope for some good days the rest of our vacation. But I am just gonna tell you now that I will be really bummed if it doesn't snow while we are here!

Here are those few glimpses of joy that I was able to capture on Christmas. I don't feel like I captured much, but what I was able to document sure is sweet.

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When You Want To Give Something Other Than "Stuff"

By Meg Hodson

Giving presents to people is one of my favorite things to do. Whether it's Christmas, a birthday, or other special occasion, I love watching people open gifts! 

Naturally, with three young children and the holidays here, my mind shifts to, among other important parts of the season, what I can buy them for Christmas. I know my kids so well and have a lot of fun finding treasures that I know they will truly enjoy. Sometimes, I don't even have to try too hard; I love it when I am in a store and I see something that just screams "(insert child's name here)". 

But before all the fun shopping and gift discovering happens, my husband and I have a moment. It's a moment we have every year. We might be standing in one of our childrens' room. We might be in the play room. Or, we might be looking at the pile of giveaway items lingering in our garage. And the question is uttered: "Do we really need to buy them more stuff?"

We have grandparents, aunt, uncles, and friends that are going to shower them with "stuff". They've still got plenty of "stuff" that they use and enjoy. And let's face it, that "stuff" costs a lot of money. 

So, what have I done differently this year to keep the "stuff" in check? Here are a few choices I made:

1. Give Meaningful Gifts. What I mean by this is to seek out items they will like, but that also might make a difference in someone's life or give to charity. Numerous charities sell items that will benefit their cause. I recently discovered Across Africa, offering amazing handmade baskets, jewelry, bags and more. They benefit and support workers, essentially small business owners, in African countries. If you have that hard to buy for person or want to get something unique, this is the perfect site. My daughter is going to love her basket. I snapped up a make-up bag for my stocking, too. 

2. Give Time. Throughout the year, my husband and I schedule a few "Daddy/Daughter Dates", "Mommy/Son Dates", and so on. It might be lunch and rollerskating; it could be dinner and a movie. Bottom line is my children value that special one-on-one time. We tied in a few gifts this year coupled with these "dates". For example, we have a year pass to the science museum and my son can schedules "dates" with us to go. We also bought movie passes for my daughter (great stocking stuffer!) and again, when there is a movie she wants to see, she can schedule a "date" with one of us.

3. Give Back. I think this goes without saying, but if you only pick one day or a few hours with your children to donate your time to a charitable cause, they will understand the true meaning of giving. This year, my children participated in a blanket event, constructing tie blankets for children in need in our community. They also put together gift boxes for Operation Christmas Child. With my children, I hope they value more the gifts they receive from us. 

Note: I was not compensated for companies mentioned in my post; I included links in case it was something you might be interested in.

If you like what you're reading, I invite you to follow my blog.  Cheers!

Easy Cream Cheese Puffs With Minute® Rice

By Meg Hodson

This is a sponsored post. I received product and compensation from Minute® Rice to create an original recipe. All thoughts and tasty opinions remain my own.

What's for dinner? Isn't that the eternal question in a busy family household. And add to this the rush and hustle of the holiday season and it's hard to plan a home-cooked meal the family will enjoy. It's important to me to create meals, especially around the holidays, that are made at home with healthful ingredients.

I came up with this recipe by combining crowd-pleasing ingredients into fun won ton wrappers. They are surprisingly fast to put together, thanks to Minute® Rice. Even if this is a last minute decision to prepare this dish, the rice is ready in 5 minutes! I love the nutty, rich flavor of brown rice, so I used that as the binder for the filling. It adds the perfect fluffiness.

Easy Cream Cheese Puffs

Ingredients

• 1 package cream cheese
• 1/2 can diced green chilis
• 1/4 cup corn (drained)
• 1 cup cooked Minute® Rice
• 1 tsp. granulated garlic
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1 package won ton wrappers

In a mixer, blend the cream cheese until smooth and whipped. Add all the spices, the chilis, and corn and blend for another 2 minutes. Finally, add 1 cup of Minute® Rice and mix until incorporated.

Brush the won ton wrappers lightly with olive oil. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture in the center of each wrapper. Fold over and press the edges together so they stick. 

Transfer to a lightly oiled cookie sheets. Cook at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until the edges start to brown slightly. Remove and let sit 5 minutes. Serve warm. Makes about 24 puffs.

Want to explore even more recipes? Minute® Rice has been helping families create great meals since 1949. A lot of families have grown up eating Minute® Rice and are now introducing it to their children and grandchildren. Whether it’s a nostalgic holiday recipe like broccoli cheese and rice casserole or new recipe like a multi-grain muffin, there are a variety of delicious recipes on minuterice.com that everyone will enjoy.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Minute® Rice.

If you like what you're reading, I invite you to follow my blog.  Cheers!