Santa made his usual arrival last night and the tree was stacked with presents when we woke up. Everyone opened their presents and we all exchanged comments on the ones we liked the best. Even the stockings over the fireplace were full of chocolates and little surprises that we love.

We now have a fire going and the living room is full of people. We are all relaxing a little before we have to clean up the mess and begin cooking our meal. Turkey is on the menu and I am already starting to get my normal Christmas hunger pains. It has been a good day so far and I am sure that it will only get better.

The first of May is a benchmark for me. May is the start of really nice weather for the beach, there is always a light breeze and a lot of sunny days. Everything is blooming and green.

It seems that every weekend in May has some kind of festival or group activity that I like to attend, especially the Memorial Day Weekend, which is the unofficial start of summer.

If the Easter Bunny doesn’t make it to your house, here’s why:

They say that on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone wants to claim to have a little bit of Irish in their bloodline. I know that I have quite a bit of Irish on my mother’s side, mixed with a little bit of Scottish. Of course, we are German on my father’s side.

I don’t claim to have anything to do with where my ancestors come from or what they did in their lifetime before I was born. But on St. Patrick’s Day I will make claim to the Irish in my blood and will be wearing the green to say so.

Thanks to Jonathon Woods

I love watching Christmas movies this time of year. I enjoy popping some popcorn and sitting down at the Direct Star TV. One of my favorites has to be “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” I actually prefer the new version with Jim Carey to the older one. You can’t go wrong with anything Dr. Seuss. It can be a bit scary, but the kids still really enjoy it. They have a ton of fun watching this one with me. My youngest daughter was in a bit of shock that he ate glass. She can’t saying did he really just do that mom. It was really fun to watch her reaction to this one. It is one that we never miss each year. Once it is on we all sit down together and watch it right away. We own it on DVD but for some reason it is just not the same. It is better to make sure we catch it on television and have a family night watching it live right while it is on for everyone to see.