It's starting to look a lot like Christmas - and I'm giving away books!

At least at our house it is! We bought a new tree this year because ours was just too big around and took up too much room. We decided to go skinnier and taller. At nine feet, the tree's waaay taller than what I had in mind, but Tim and Kelsey liked the taller one and it turns out that I'm very pleased with it. I have about ten boxes of ornaments and while I still couldn't fit them all on, it is loaded down with them, just the way I like it!! Here's a pic of one section of the tree.

My Christmas celebrations officially start tomorrow with a Christmas dinner/gift exchange with friends I've met through work (some I've known for 33 years), my mom and whichever of my daughters is around. Turns out Kelsey won't be home from school until the 17th, so she'll miss out. Next week our office is having a Christmas lunch since the bosses' schedules wouldn't allow for a weekend dinner out for staff and families, and then lunch with another friend that I used to work with. Lunch with friends in Cincinnati area on the 17th is one that I'm really looking forward to. We'll do a cookie exchange and an ornament exchange, great fun! Our office has an ornament exchange/lunch on the 22nd, more fun! Sounds like a lot of eating and a lot of ornaments, doesn't it? lol

Are any of you big Christmas music listeners? I started listening a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, and my boss and I have been trading holiday CDs for the past week, so fun! I don't like to listen after Christmas Day and always feel like I haven't listened to nearly enough holiday music when Christmas is said and done, so I start extra early!

Ohio, like so many other states, has been hit hard by cold, snowy weather. Not more than a couple of inches of snow, but blustery and cold. Our low tonight is supposed to be below 10 degrees. I wish Mother Nature would get the stick out of her but and let us slide into winter a little more gradual!

What's anyone reading these days? I finished Maya Banks' latest, NO PLACE TO RUN, this evening and could cry that I'm done. I'm loving this series and want more, more, more!

Packing up five boxes to send to the troops - included lots of Christmas goodies and need to get off my butt and get them to the post office so they'll get there in time. I'm really pushing the envelope on having enough time for them to ship.

Anyone remember the contest I talked about earlier? It's going to start with this post. I'm going to let it run until December 20th. I'll draw two names from all who comment between now and then and each will get a large flat rate box filled with books. As usual, send a friend who mentions your name and you'll get an extra entry for each friend. I don't have time to name all of the books or allow anyone to pick and choose - what I can fill the box with is what you'll get! Some of these books have been read, some not, some may be autographed and some may be ARCs - I can guarantee that they are clean and in good (if not excellent) condition. If you win and don't need/want them all, I only ask that you pass them on to a friend, hospital, retirement facility or library.

So talk to me - let me know what's going on with you. What are you reading? What are your holiday or wintertime traditions, whatever religion you follow, or don't! And be sure to send your friends over!

I'm hoping to get back on here regularly so we can talk books and what we're reading. If anyone would like to be a guest blogger, post a book review, etc., please let me know at ljodamron@gmail.com and we'll work out the deets! Same for authors - want to chat up your books? We can make it happen! I draw the line at political rants or rude/offensive posts, that's just not my style or anything I want to put up here.

Laurie