As if we hadn’t seen enough goodies between Thanksgiving and Christmas, January 3rd is none other than chocolate covered cherry day. Now, this particular celebration is the brainchild of candymakers and is designed to sell more of those $1 boxes that people buy as gifts for people who surprise them with gifts, people they don’t know what else to buy for, co-workers, distant relatives, etc. But I grew up on my sister’s homemade chocolate covered cherries, and like most of my sister’s handiwork, her chocolate covered cherries have no commercial equal.

Now that we have families and children, neither of us has an abundance of time to devote to making candy — especially labor-intensive candy. Still, boxes of Queen Anne’s find little love in this household. So we’ll be enjoying a less-time consuming blend of chocolate and cherry goodness today in the form of Cherry Chocolate Cake.

Cherry Chocolate Cake

• 1 box devil’s food cake mix
• 1 can cherry pie filling
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 2 eggs

Beat eggs. Add almond extract. Stir in cake mix and cherry pie filling. Pour into a greased, floured 9 x 13 pan, and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

To frost, combine …

• 1 c. sugar
• 5 Tbsp. butter
• 1/3 c. milk

in a small saucepan and bring to boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for two minutes. Remove from heat and stir in …

• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Pour over partially cooked cake and spread evenly.

According to several sources, January 2nd is none other than Happy Mew Year for Cats day. Since our feline readership is limited, I’m not sure there’s a lot of value in highlighting this particular day. But cat lovers might want to greet their furry friends with extra cuddles today (or a can of tuna fish — most of the cats that have adopted me over the years would choose tuna over cuddles any day). That said, I’m not at all sure the average cat cares one whit about the start of a new year, be it on January 1st OR 2nd. But the neighborhood strays assure me that they DO care about cuddles and tunafish, regardless of the occasion.

Moving on to other matters, January is National Clean Up Your Computer Month, National Get Organized Month, National Hot Tea Month, National Volunteer Blood Donor Month, and Oatmeal Month.

Now, to get offline and get busy organizing. (Does packing away Christmas decorations count?)

Happy 2009 to one and all!

New Year’s Day is the traditional time for New Year’s resolutions, a tradition I tend to avoid. But I’m embracing it this year for a couple of reasons. First, resolutions can be good motivation. Second, they can serve as a good excuse. What do I mean by that? Well, this year I’m making two resolutions:

(1) Update this blog at least semi-regularly. Daily would be ideal, but “life” sometimes gets in the way of “ideal.” So I’m shooting for at least five times per week — motivation.

(2) Avoid fast food restaurants. Granted, we eat very little fast food as it is. But we made an exception last night, and I paid for it dearly. Within an hour, “run for the border” became “run for the bathroom.” And so I ushered in the New Year.

All in all, NOT a pleasant experience. Hence, the resolution. “I’m sorry, honey. I can’t eat at {insert fast food chain}. Remember my New Year’s resolution?” — excuse! (Please note that for the purpose of this resolution, Chipotle and Subway to not constitute fast food. Vegeterian burrito bowls smothered in guacomole totally rock, and veggie delite subs on honey oat bread aren’t too far behind.)

“and checking it twice. Gonna find out who’s naughty and nice …”

Yes, folks, December 4th is none other than Santa’s List Day. Rumor has it that the jolly old man wakes early on this day, pours himself a ginormous mug of peppermint hot chocolate, then begins scrutinizing conduct reports from the past year.

As for me, my Christmas list was finished well before December 4th. (And if Santa faced prospects of braving December mall traffic with a five-month-old, his probably would have been as well!) Now I’m just waiting to see whether my Christmas letter reached the North Pole in time for my *own* Christmas wish to get on Santa’s list: All the gifts currently occupying space in various closets beautifully wrapped beneath the tree. Well, that plus a new vacuum, Yankee candles, and perhaps a copy of Eat, Drink & Be Vegan: Great Vegan Food for Special and Everyday Celebrations …

Happy Special Edcation Day! And a special shout-out to all of the the teachers who go the extra mile to make a difference in the lives of their students.

It’s hard for me to believe that Special Education programs have been federally mandated for just 38 short years. Thankfully, some states and school districts had were making an effort to meet the educational needs of ALL children even before President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act into law. But the passage of that crucial piece of legislation opened previously-closed school doors to an estimated one million children.

As any educator or parent can attest, America’s educational system is a work in progress. We still have miles to go in the quest to meet the educational needs of every child. But we’ve made great progress in a few short decades, and that’s an accomplishment worth celebrating.

It’s finally here — my favorite shopping time of the year. And, no, I don’t mean Black Friday. It’s Cyber Monday.

What is Cyber Monday? Well, for all those who don’t relish the thoughts of jockeying for parking spaces at the local mall or sorting through 100+ pairs of mis-shelved Dockers in the illusive quest for one pair of 36 x 34 khakis, Cyber Monday (the Monday after Black Friday) is the official start of the online holiday shopping season. And e-tailers the web over offer discounts … Big Discounts.

I like discounts. So much so, in fact, that my husband recently quipped, “If it’s not ON sale, it’s not FOR sale.” (He’ll be happy to learn that his Christmas T-shirt cost only $4 after I combined a store promotional with a 20-percent off Cyber Monday coupon code and a free shipping offer.)

On a more serious note, this December 1st also marks the 20th annual World Aids Day, an event designed to increase awareness of the disease, fight prejudice, improve education, and raise money to continue the search for a cure. If you’re going to be out and about today, consider wearing a red ribbon to show your concern.

Finally, December 1st kicks off …

1. Safe Toys and Gifts Month
2. National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month
3. Identity Theft Awareness and Prevention Month
4. Read-a-New-Book Month
5. National Fruitcake Month

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends, virtual friends, and loved ones. We’re spending the holiday with family, so today’s post will be short and sweet — my 2008 “Top Ten” list of things I’m thankful for.

(10) A safe, comfortable place to call home.
(9) A pantry filled with food enough to share.
(8) Clothes that fit … albeit in bigger than pre-baby sizes.
(7) The mostly-safe arrival of our household goods — comprised mostly of our treasured library — from Korea.
(6) Coffee, chocolate, and candles.
(5) The two furballs sitting by my feet.
(4) Extended family (and their tolerance of all the stuff we have packed in their closets, attics, garages, etc. until hubby gets out of the Army and we settle somewhere semi-permanently).
(3) The safe arrival of our precious baby girl this past summer.
(2) My dear husband.
(1) A personal relationship with the One who not only knows, but also controls the future — a bastion of certainty in even the most uncertain of times.

Annyeong hasseyo, my Korean friends. Bonjour, Guten Tag, ¡Hola!, Konichiwa, and Ni Hao.

There. If ten people read this entry, I’ve discharged my holiday duties for Friday, November 22nd, 2008.

Yes, folks, it’s World Hello Day.

Never heard of it? Don’t feel bad. Neither had I until a couple of days ago. But in my quest to find something more recent than the signing of the Mayflower Compact, and more exciting than the invention of the phonograph, I turned to Google and discovered World Hello Day.

In fact, this year is the 36th anniversary of World Hello Day, an initiative designed to emphasize the “importance of personal communication for preserving world peace.” Want to participate? Simply greet ten people. Don’t greet them in The Princess Bride vein, though. Following the word “Hello” with “My name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father! Prepare to die!” sort of flies in the face of the whole world peace thing. …

Today’s holiday spotlight goes to the 33rd annual Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. And before anyone tunes me out, please hear me out. The Great American Smokeout is not a “bash smokers” day. If you are over a certain age (18 here in the U.S.), you have the legal right to purchase and use tobacco products. Having watched my grandfather succumb to lung cancer, that’s not a right I’ll be exercising. But as a strong proponent of limited government and personal freedom, it’s one I’ll defend.

Now, back to the Great American Smokeout. First of all, what is it? It’s an opportunity for smokers to go tobacco-free for 24 hours. For those who want to break the cigarette habit, it’s the ideal jumping-off point. Instead of going through the process alone, you can begin your journey to a smoke-free lifestyle in the company of literally millions of other Americans. And even if you’re not ready to part ways with tobacco permanently, the Great American Smokeout allows you to prove to yourself and others that you CAN make it through a day smoke-free should you choose to do so.

For non-smokers, the Great American Smokeout is a chance for you to support friends and loved ones who are giving up smoking for the day. Offer them a stick of gum, a cup of coffee, a (preferably healthy) snack, a listening ear. And if they choose to continue working toward a smoke-free lifestyle, make sure your support continues for as long as thet need it.

On an unrelated note, November 20th is also Universal Children’s Day, a UN-sanctioned observance to promote child welfare. While celebrating the child or children in your life, you might want to share a book — or several. Why? Because the third week of November is also Canada’s Children’s Book Week. (Traditionally, the U.S. observed Children’s Book Week the week before Thanksgiving as well. This year, however, the observance moved to a new spot on the calendar and now falls during the month of May.)

At 4 1/2 months, my daughter is still a bit young for the works of Anne of Green Gables creator Lucy Maud Montgomery, my favorite Canadian children’s author. So we’ll celebrate with the works of runner-up Robert Munsch instead. After all, a girl is never too young to be introduced to The Paper Bag Princess, and Love You Forever is an essential part of every baby’s library.

Finally, today is the 66th bithday of Vice President-elect Joe Biden. Sorry, folks, it’s too late to send a card. But if you’re looking for an excuse to eat cake and ice cream …

Yep, you read that correctly. November 19th is indeed a global celebration of the humble toilet.

I’ll admit that I’ve enountered a few memorable toilets over the years. First, there was the eccentric elderly neighbor who deemed certain bodily functions inappopriate for the great indoors and relegated them to a ramshackle old outhouse that had seen as many or more years than she herself had. Then there were the restrooms at a certain state park in Upstate South Carolina, made remarkable not by the fixtures but by the “natural” surroundings … complete with a six-foot long black snake that slowly began uncoiling itself from the base of “my” toilet about the time I — as a 10-year-old — became aware of its presence. A few years down the road came the pay toilets of Europe — particularly the lavatory outside Versailles. (After all, one would think the maintainers of one of the world’s most gilded palaces, situated in one of the wealthiest suberbs of Paris, could provide free “accomodations” for visitors!) Then came the squat toilets of Asia — odd at first, but arguably more hygenic than their seated counterparts if properly maintained.

But World Toilet Day isn’t about functional toilets, however strange or humble. It’s part of the World Toilet Organization’s efforts to create a healthier world by providing toilets to impoverished areas and improving sanitation worldwide. According to the World Toilet Organization, some 2.6 million people worldwide live without toilets. Your donation of even $1 can help improve sanitation in impoverished areas and reduce the spread of disease.

November 19th also marks the the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s delivering the Gettysburg Address, the death of the Ford Edsel, the first Cold War meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, and the beginning of the end for lip-syncing pop group Milli Vanilli.

Finally, November 19th was the birth date of Ruby Inez White. Can’t place that name in your memory of world events? That’s OK. The eldest of a sharecropper’s 13 children, Ruby White didn’t make the history books. But she did make her way all the way through school during the Great Depression and on through nurses’ training in an era when few higher education opportunities were available to women (especially poor women). Most important to me, however, she went on to marry a certain Parker Holliday, give birth to my mother, and become a beloved grandmother.

Grandmama Holliday passed away in 1989. But during the fourteen years she was a part of my life, she taught me to celebrate not just the holidays, but life itself. Thanks, Grandmama. I love you.