• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Patricia Sands

Author

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
    • Can I visit your Book Club on Zoom?
  • Books
    • The Bridge Club
    • Love in Provence Series
      • The Promise of Provence
      • About Promises to Keep
      • I Promise You This
    • Drawing Lessons
    • The First Noël at the Villa des Violettes
    • A Season of Surprises at the Villa des Violettes
    • Lavender, Loss & Love at the Villa des Violettes
  • Travel
    • Photography, France & d’Ailleurs
    • If it’s Friday, it must be France…
  • Instagram
  • Contact me

I’m waiting for December …

November 29, 2013 by Patricia Sands 18 Comments

As many recover from Thanksgiving feasts, here are a few thoughts on the subject:

Courtesy of award-winning teacher Victoria Leon
Courtesy of award-winning teacher Victoria Leon

Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.  ~Theodore Roosevelt

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare.  They are consumed in twelve minutes.  Half-times take twelve minutes.  This is not coincidence.  ~Erma Bombeck

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Thanks to everyone who took some time to help those less fortunate on this holiday that is meant for each and every one of us. 

Let’s take a minute to be thankful too for enterprising and creative teachers such as Victoria Leon who inspired this terrific poster. Click on it to enlarge and enjoy! You can also check out Victoria’s blog, Teacher Park, by clicking here! These are the kind of teachers we love to see!

I’m in the States at the moment and surrounded by all things Christmas even though it is just the day after Thanksgiving here. Traditionally, I’ve learned through the years, Thanksgiving is the kick-off for the “holidays” in this country whether it is Hanukkah or Christmas and I have certainly noticed this to be true.

For some reason, I have a mental block about thinking in the holiday mode until the calendar moves into December. So even though that means just one more day, I’m going to wait until Sunday to get festivities under way here.

HOWEVER, when I do kick it into gear, I have some exciting items to share. One will be the name of the  winner of the Santon giveaway that was posted in my newsletter and the other will be a fabulous free ebook about Christmas in France that will be available to everyone. I can’t wait to give you the link to that!

In the meantime I want to offer warmest wishes, Chag Shameach, to all those celebrating Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah), the 8-day Jewish festival of lights celebrating religious freedom. This is certainly a special, and early, date this year as the first candle on the Menorah was lit the evening before  and the first day  of the holiday is on Thanksgiving Day. We’re told this precise coinciding won’t happen for another 70,000 years, so enjoy what will surely be special celebrations!

Hanukkah-prev

 

How did you celebrate this week … and do you have your Christmas decorations up? I know one of our daughters has her tree and decorations all in place … and she doesn’t even live in the States!

See you on December 1 for my first festive posting! If it’s Friday, it must be France will return next week.

 

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: Blog, News Tagged With: Hanukkah, Patricia Sands, santons, Thanksgiving, The Promise of Provence

About Patricia Sands

Family, writing and travel are my passions ... okay, and chocolate ... and I'm seldom without a camera. I write women's fiction and keep in touch with readers by a monthly newsletter that also has giveaways and contests. Come and join us by signing up on the right. See you there!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. wordsfromanneli says

    November 29, 2013 at 6:23 pm

    But tomorrow, a day before you’re ready for the Christmas mood, you’ll be on my blog sharing your thoughts on Christmas. That was my scheduling – not yours. Sorry we’re a day early. http://annelisplace.wordpress.com

    Reply
    • patriciasands says

      November 29, 2013 at 6:46 pm

      Ooops – well I will just have to get myself geared up a day early! Not much of a hardship and thanks for inviting me over to join in the fun with you and the others, Anneli!

      Reply
  2. Words We Women Write says

    November 29, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    TodayI saw lots of cars with trees attached. Tis the season…mine begins Sunday with our annual cousins dinner. Let the holidays begin. Cheers!
    Toni

    Reply
    • patriciasands says

      November 30, 2013 at 4:49 pm

      An annual cousins dinner sounds wonderful! I love to hear of family connections being nurtured!

      Reply
  3. margaret21 says

    November 30, 2013 at 2:41 am

    Ah yes. One of the things I love about France is that Christmas doesn’t kick in until well into December. There’s almost no evidence of its imminent arrival, and I’ll enjoy it so much more when it does come because of that. It sounds as if you had a joyous Thanksgiving. I hope so.

    Reply
  4. margaret21 says

    November 30, 2013 at 2:43 am

    I love Victoria’s poster, by the way.

    Reply
    • patriciasands says

      November 30, 2013 at 4:51 pm

      Do you have any Christmas markets near you, Margaret? The one in Nice opened last night … right in what was our front yard, Place Massena! It’s quite spectacular!
      I agree, Victoria’s poster is delightful and I can just picture her creating that with her students adding their ideas. Quelle joie!

      Reply
      • margaret21 says

        December 1, 2013 at 1:38 am

        There are a few village ones which are nice outlets for local artists. Toulouse is increasingly disppointing – very commercialised (well, of course it is, it’s there to sell, durrr…) with lots of stuff any old department store would sell you

        Reply
  5. jansenschmidt says

    November 30, 2013 at 12:46 pm

    Good for you for waiting until December. I think that’s how it’s supposed to be, but our world has gotten too commercial.

    I did get my tree yesterday, but only because my hubby has to work the next 3 weekends and we always go together. He’s putting the lights on this afternoon and I’ll be putting on the ornaments Sunday. It is officially December today so we’re still good.

    Happy December!

    Patricia Rickrode
    w/a Jansen Schmidt

    Reply
    • patriciasands says

      November 30, 2013 at 4:52 pm

      Hehe. Well yes, there are always exceptions and a hubby’s assistance is a definite must! Happy December to you too! Anneli pushed me into starting early!

      Reply
  6. The Regular Guy NYC says

    November 30, 2013 at 1:14 pm

    Happy Holidays! Here in NYC we see Christmad decorations up around beginning of November as all the stores skip Thanksgiving nowadays!

    Reply
    • patriciasands says

      November 30, 2013 at 4:53 pm

      YIKES!

      Reply
  7. Kitt Crescendo says

    November 30, 2013 at 2:34 pm

    I, too, am waiting until December to start my Christmas posting. I choose not to participate in the shopping craze surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday. Instead, I spent the weekend with hubby and some friends. My half-sister is getting married tomorrow, but unfortunately tickets to Vegas at this time of year are astronomical so I won’t be able to afford it. I’ve been keeping in touch via text & my other sister will be there to represent us as her familial support. 🙂

    Reply
    • patriciasands says

      November 30, 2013 at 4:55 pm

      Congratulations on a family wedding. Another reason to be thankful! Maybe you can Skype or FaceTime with the happy couple! I am so in agreement with you about avoiding the Thanksgiving shopping frenzy!

      Reply
    • patriciasands says

      November 30, 2013 at 4:55 pm

      p.s. Kitt! Congrats on winning the coffee jackpot on Phil’s site! Woohoo!

      Reply
      • Kitt Crescendo says

        November 30, 2013 at 6:17 pm

        Thanks, Patricia!

        Reply
  8. Gloria Richard Author says

    December 1, 2013 at 10:04 am

    I would have waited until today to begin the run-up to Christmas, but I have a man who wanders through the house muttering things like, “I guess she’s going to be to busy to give me a proper Christmas this years, girls.” (Yes. He talks to the dogs)

    To avoid having to listen to him natter on (and, disrupt my writing, dagnabbit!), I chose to get the tree(s) up and the house decorated early.

    All done. Now, I can get back to my Golden Heart focus. I may wrap some empty boxes and place them under the tree so he thinks I’ve been busy shopping. Yes. Wrapped present passive-aggressive dog chatter is next up on his list.

    Reply
  9. Dickie-doo says

    December 3, 2013 at 9:56 am

    Season Greatings, Chrisnakkah will be celebrated at my son Adam’s in Brantford on Boxing Day, will remember you and yours kindly

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Join Me Here!

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Tweet
YouTube
Pinterest
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share
Instagram

Follow Me on BookBub

Follow Me on BookBub

Follow me on Amazon

Follow me on Amazon

Available from Amazon!

Available from Amazon!

Available Now!

Available Now!

Available from Amazon

Available from Amazon

Join me and 9 of your favourite women’s fiction authors

Join me and 9 of your favourite women’s fiction authors

The Good Life France Magazine

The Good Life France Magazine

Categories

Archives

Footer

Copyright Disclaimer

© 2020 by Patricia Sands. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided a link back to this page and proper attribution is given to me as the original author. All photographs on this site are copyright of Patricia Sands

Follow Me!

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Tweet
YouTube
Pinterest
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
LinkedIn
LinkedIn
Share
Instagram
  • Privacy Policy

FTC DISCLOSURE

The Federal Trade Commission requires that I disclose any relationship I have between a product manufacturer or service provider when I write about a product or service. I may receive a small commission for purchases made via affiliate links on this site such as Amazon. The above does not affect my opinion of those products and services. I am committed to sharing the work of other authors with my friends and readers.

Copyright © 2022 By Patricia Sands · Theme created and maintained by Bakerview Consulting