Christmas Eve Note To Talbot's Peak

Well it's Christmas Eve.  Yay!  I hope this year finds you all filled with love, hope and yummy treats.  :)

There will be no personals posted today as I'd rather fill this space with some fun holiday recipes perfect for any shapeshifter holiday party. 

Nick, of course does not know about the change as of yet, but by the time he does the print will be dry and the edition will be out.  Besides, he likes to have something to snarf at me about and I so enjoy watching that face of his turn beet red.

Without further ado I give you...

Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer

Ingredients you need

1 1/4 oz. Light Rum
1 1/2 oz. Lemon Juice
1/2 oz. Grenadine

How to make a Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer
Mix the light rum, lemon juice, and grenadine. Add the ice cubes and fill to your own taste with Cranberry juice. Add a wedge of lemon on your glass and voila! Enjoy!

Type of drink
Cocktail

Recommended glass
Highball Glass

Or

Frosty Noggin

Ingredients you need

1 1/2 oz. Rum
3/4 oz. Creme de Cacao
3 oz. Eggnog
3 cup Vanilla Ice Cream

How to make a Frosty Noggin
blend ingredients until smooth, pour into parfait glass, top with whipped, cream decorated with a few drops of green creme de menthe, garnish with rolled cookie

Type of drink
Cocktail

Recommended glass
Parfait Glass


Oh and one final thing before I mosey on down to the presses to get this on the page.  Anyone out there who sees or comes in contact with Little Johnny Shapeshifter please note this year's poem for his Christmas card...

Pushing through the crowd

Deer scent on the rise
Up on stage we spy
Oh look at that doe's thighs
Bells on tassels ring
Making spirits bright
My loins will learn to laugh and sing
If she joins me tonight


Oh, jingle bells, beta's smell
Alpha's get the chicks
Females whine instead of dine
Upon my great big d....


Word to the wise Little Johnny...run

Merry Christmas Talbot's Peak

~ Zeva

Joyous Yule and Merry Christmas

Like Paris, I've been deep in my writing in order to finish a project. However, my lack of Christmas spirit wasn't so much that I forgot about things because I was so focused on my writing. Rather, I was denying myself holiday decorations and music because I was afraid they'd sidetrack me.

You see I'm fighting with a short story set in the month of May and it's not finished. BUT right now I'd much rather work on one or two holiday WIPs that I want to complete for next year while I'm feeling the holiday mood. I have SO wanted to abandon this short story but I know I can't. I have to finish it because it's part of a series with some other authors. So I've been denying myself Christmas until I finish it. Well, on Saturday I realized that denying myself wasn't getting the story written any faster than if I enjoyed the holiday.


Saturday, I put up my Christmas tree and added lights. However...I had a problem. Lights that covered the tree last year only covered about 2/3 of the tree this year. Same tree cause I do artificial. But after last week, what with falling on my butt and suffering from back pain I had NO intention of redoing the lights. Just wasn't gonna happen, so I decided I needed more lights. Therein lies an adventure.

I woke up Sunday morning with not too much back pain. I knew there weren't any multi-color LED Christmas tree lights to be had locally. So I called to the big city nearby, Des Moines. In a metropolis of a couple of million surely there were some LED lights somewhere. None of the Wal-marts I called had any. ANY. So I called Target. Yes they had plenty.


So I dragged myself outta bed (yes, I was laying in bed while I called - GPS on the phone is awesome). I showered and dressed and drove out into the pretty morning. Snow was gently falling all around. This should have been my first clue. It wasn't. I was turning a corner and slid. I eased out of it and drove past the turn and went to turn around. On the return trip, I made the turn and headed out of town.


I drove myself out onto the interstate on a mission. To light my Christmas tree or die in the attempt. Little did I know... I got out onto the interstate and one lane was clear but the other...not so much. No icing but plenty of snow. To those who say, but Francesca why didn't you turn around? Two reasons. Number 1? I'm an Iowan and we aren't scared by a little stinkin' snow. Number 2? I'm nuts. Seriously. By the time I got home I decided I was certifiable.

Hands tightly grasped around the steering wheel I cursed every idiot who passed me in the left lane. Why? Because when they did I couldn't see! When a semi passed me on a bridge I found religious convictions I didn't know I had cause I was praying NOT to run into the guard rail. I didn't. God looks out for fools and Iowans on a mission to find Christmas tree lights. Of course, those two things are synonomous, but I digress...

I kept moving westward. Determined to forge ahead. At times the road wasn't toooo bad. At times I'd look on the other side of the interstate and see cars in the ditch and think I was nuts. But as I passed an off ramp or two, I decided the interstate was a much better prospect. I-80 wasn't completely snow covered, but the off ramps were. So onward I went. Finally, after much white knuckled driving I reached my destination completing my pilgrimmage. Yes, dear friends I found LED lights. MULTI-COLOR mini Christmas tree lights.

This should be my HEA. I drive home and put up my tree...ta-da! However, it didn't happen quite like that.


I did get back to my car and returned to the interstate without incident. In fact, I thought it would be smooth sailing the rest of the way because by now the road crews had been out. The interstate had been plowed and sanded. Cars were moving at a pretty good clip too. However, about half way home, traffic slowed considerably. But it was no longer snowing much and the road was merely wet, not icy or snowy. When three tow trucks (one specifically for semis) went past, I knew why we were going slow. An accident. A bad one. As we came up to an exit, they were routing all traffic off there but you couldn't even see where the accident was.


So I followed along with the other cars and trucks...like sheep we drove off into the Iowa countryside on snowy back roads. It was like the drive in had been, except now it was two lane instead of four. Arrrrgh. We all drove through a small town and back into the country again. Always looking for a way back to the interstate. I followed the trucks because they looked like they knew where they were going. I sure didn't.


I've lived in the area about five years, but I don't drive back roads much. I wasn't completely sure where I was and I didn't want to go digging in the glove box for a map with crappy roads and tight traffic. So I followed. If, at that moment, Rise up shepherd and follow had started to play on the radio it would have felt somewhat appropriate. Except we weren't following any star in the east. We were searching for a way back to the interstate.


On we went through the rolling snow covered country side. As we came to another small town, it started to snow again. I thought "oh crap." Until I realized I knew where I was. So I made the left turn to drive through this town and without more hassle than that we were headed for the interstate. I entered the on ramp and wanted to cuss because there were vehicles out there going the same direction as I wanted to go. Which meant...yes, while we'd been meandering in the back of beyond, they had reopened the interstate. Grrrrr. The rest of the trip was almost an anti-climax except for the fact that was so glad to be home when I finally got there!!!

I turned on a few Christmas movies, watched some Christmas PBS specials and finished putting the lights on my tree and then put on some of my favorite ornaments. At the end of the day, my tree looked so pretty and I was so very glad I quit withholding pleasure from myself.

The moral of the story? Punishing myself didn't work. If I had just gone ahead and put the tree up at Thanksgiving, I could have bought my extra lights locally and not had such a hair-raising trip to Des Moines on a Sunday morning when I would have done much better off lazing in bed.

P.S. No, I didn't take the snowy road shots (check out the links), however those are approximately the driving conditions I was dealing with so yes, I am certifiable.


Have a joyous Yule, a Happy Hannukah, a Merry Christmas and a Happy Kwanzaa everyone!

A Christmas Silly

December eighteenth
she was running out of time
The Day would be upon us
before she finished this rhyme

Out came the list's, out came decor
up went the tree with ornaments galore

The hubster desired
those movies of war
Her diva she wanted
this, that and more

The cookies were unbaked
The holiday meal not yet planned
Her writing still stalled
It was quite out of hand.

A mere week to go
she could not finish on time
perhaps she just needed
to draw a firm line

What could she say, what would she do?

"Christmas is cancelled"
to harsh it was true
she loved this sweet holiday
more than anyone knew

She needed to stop,
and take a cleansing breath
open her mind
dig deep into its depth

Relax, calm down
it would all be okay!
No need to frown
on this marvelous day.

So with water so warm
The bubbles did call
Out came her list
At least ten feet tall

Her wants and desires
so simple indeed
ebooks my fine people
I just need to READ!!

May your holiday season be calm, your family and friends be healthy and hale and your ebook gifts be plenty! ;)

***unabashed promo ahead***

If you know anyone like this poor lady, who could use a holiday pick me up, may I suggest a few ebook essentials...

Black Cat Beauty by Savanna Kougar
The Collision by Crystal Kauffman
Assassin's Kiss by Paris Brandon
Protect and Defend by Francesca Hawley
The Challenge by Serena Shay

An Unusal Christmas Gift Request From My Jaguars...

Picture it, Tuesday morning, one darling diva, two cute little dachshund pups, five shapeshifting cats and I piled into the authormobile for a field trip. Not that it was anything major, but due to a scheduled electric outage in my area, I was forced to find a warm abode for a few hours. Being the good author mommy I am, I couldn't bear to leave anyone at home so off we all went, over to grandma's house. Well everyone that is accept darling diva-she had school.

What to do, what to do...

We could watch TV. They have all the good channels this author is too broke for, but being that I never watch TV during the day and that there were no interesting shows on the history channel or the like, we decided to skip that.

The backyard was an option, but it didn't take too terribly long to shake the bushes free of rabbits and honestly it was too cold for me!

The Internet? Yep, did that as well, but it didn't take too long for the snarls and whines of I'm bored to start. Yes, even full grown shapeshifters can act like two-year olds.

So what did we do...well we wii'ed, wiid, wii'd? Okay, is that a word and if so, how do you, well you know, spell it? Since I don't know the ruling here I will say, we played the Wii!!

Oh my, Grandma knows her family alright, cause she's got Band Hero! Woot!
*Marina cracked it out of the park on Janet Jackson's Black Cat, gee I wonder why...
*Bastian reciprocated with Honky Tonk Blues by the Stones, Marina was less than thrilled, but Bastian took her elsewhere and convinced her it was a compliment. LOL
*Trent teased LeAnn with a sexy little rendition of Whip It by Devo
*and Rick serenaded her with If You Could Only See by Tonic.

What did LeAnn sing? Wannabe by the Spice Girls. She is kinda silly sometimes.

As for the author girl, did she sing? I can not tell a lie, yep I did. I belted out a song from my past...

"Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand, from mountains in the north down to the Rio Grande!" Simon, my young love, you still got it!! ;)

~~~~

Exciting News... Today, the lovely Savanna Kougar and I will be taking part in a Holiday Hottie Blog Tour with fellow Liquid Silver Books authors and others. Stop by and say hi. Several of the authors will be taking part in a chat throughout the day...join us. Plus, if you leave a post on every blog, you will be eligible for prize's. What more can you ask for! :)

Below is the list of participating authors. Start with Trina and make your way to Gem. I hope to see you there!


Trina M. Lee http://trinamlee.com/blog/ Chatting
Serena Shay http://serenashay.blogspot.com/ Chatting
Jolie Cain http://joliecainauthor.blogspot.com/
Tina Holland http://tinaholland.wordpress.com/ Chatting
Stephanie Adkins http://stephanieadkins.wordpress.com/blog/
Emily and Elise http://www.scorchedsheets.com/blog
Juniper Bell http://authorJuniperBell.blogspot.com
K.Z. Snow http://kzsnow.blogspot.com.
Ella Drake http://elladrake.blogspot.com/ Chatting
Jeanne St. James http://www.jeannestjames.blogspot.com/ Chatting
Annie Nicholas www.annienicholas.blogspot.com
P.G. Forte http://www.rhymeswithforeplay.blogspot.com/ Chatting
Shara Lanel http://sharalanel.wordpress.com/ Chatting
Olivia Brynn http://oliviabrynn.com/blog Chatting
Dhympna du Maurier http://culinarycarnivale.blogspot.com/
Morgan Q. O'Reilly http://themorgandiaries.blogspot.com/
Sara Brookes http://www.sarabrookes.net Chatting
Christa Paige http://www.christapaige.com/blog/ Chatting
Vivian Arend http://vivianarend.com/blog/ Chatting
Cat Kane http://catkane.blogspot.com/Maybe Chatting
Dee Carney http://www.deecarney.com/blog/
Jambrea Jo Jones http://jambrea.wordpress.com/ Chatting
Gem Sivad http://gemsivad.wordpress.com/blog/ Chattin