Snapshot from Along the Broken Road: December 2010

A photo of me:


1) Candle scents this month:
Apple Butter. Autumn Fields. Cranberry. Mulling Spices. Hollyberry. Cinnamon Roll. Amber Glow. Spiced Pumpkin. Autumn Gold. Spiced Apple. Apple Cider. Gingerbread. Balsam & Cedar. Autumn Woods. Applewood Orchard.

2) What I am reading this month:
Blogs. Magazines.

3) Top three songs I was drawn to:
"A Baby Changes Everything," Faith Hill. "Song for a Winter's Night," Sarah McLachlan. "Let It Be Christmas," Alan Jackson.

4) Movies I saw:
Elf. The Polar Express. Toy Story. Jack Frost. The Santa Clause. Toy Story 2. It's a Wonderful Life. Home Alone. True Grit. Plus a bunch of Christmas specials: A Charlie Brown Christmas, Prep & Landing, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Shrek the Halls & Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

5) Favorite tv moments of the month:
There weren't many new episodes of tv shows this month, between Christmas specials & college football bowl games. I was particularly struck by Olivia's vulnerability on Fringe: Marionette. I also really enjoyed Hop a Frieghter and The Big One, the final two episodes of Dexter, Season 5.

6) Something yummy I made:
Soft Molasses Cookies.

7) Restaurants where I ate:
Bonefish Grill on New Years Eve. The one & only time we went out to eat in December.

8) Something that made me cry:
Every time I heard the song "A Baby Changes Everything." I kept thinking about the movie "The Nativity Story," which I saw for the first time a couple of years ago, and for the first time, changed Mary & Joseph in my mind from the crayon-drawn pictures of my youth into a young woman & a man, *real* people, who had a whole host of emotions & very human reactions to the task set before them. Something about the words of that song really strike the same chord deep within me & make me reflect on the Christmas story in a whole new way.

Bonus 8) Something that made me laugh:
Both my parents got me the exact same Christmas card this year, and since they've been divorced for many years now, there is no way they could have known. There was either a shortage of Christmas cards for daughters in the state of Connecticut this year or they have grown more alike over time.

9) A goal I had for this month:
To get Christmas prep finished by December 17th. Mission accomplished.

10) This month I looked forward to:
All my favorite Christmas shows & movies and the Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

11) Something I want to remember about this month:
We had record-breaking cold this month. The only time I complained was when it was 50 degrees in the office. Justifies my whining about the humidity in August, no?

12) A photo I took this month:

Two trees at Disney's Wilderness Lodge--my very favorite WDW resort hotel.