As I mentioned last time, the Holidays always seem to be the time that folks give just a bit more to people who need it. Sure, it’s better to give year round, but I love the feeling this season brings.

Some give a grin to someone who seems overwhelmed by the Holiday traffic both in the shopping center and out. Some give a little cash, or a few coins dropped in a nearby Salvation Army bucket. Some donate food and others donate an unwrapped toy.

It truly is a magical time . . . even more so at Disneyland. In particular, I’m beginning to get very excited for Candlelight. Whoo Hoo!

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You have to be on your toes if you plan to go to this special event, as it’s only offered in the first weekend in December. This year Candlelight will be celebrated at Disneyland on Dec. 6 and 7. I’ll be there on Sunday evening, Dec. 7th, for all the festivities. Yes, it’s crowded and difficult to maneuver, but just imagine all the Christmas bells and whistles Disneyland has to offer plus live choir music.

Thank you all for sharing your comments with me here.  I loved your Christmas thoughts and ideas!

I’m still a bit shaky about the upcoming Holidays, as it can be good with my family or not so good. But reading your posts are very inspiring. Keep up the great words.

One of the things I did was to create the pumpkin pie recipe shared by DustySage. Yummy!

I encourage you all to share any kind of tip or great experience, as you never know how it might help someone.

GIFTS

As Black Friday approaches, I’m sure gifts are on you mind. However what if you don’t have the capital to get gifts for everyone on you list. May I suggest creating something yourself?

What could it be? If it’s from the heart, it can be anything. I’ve often seen that these gifts are loved even more then the store bought ones because it shows you gave then one of the most valuable gifts you can give…..your time.

I’m happy to say that I have a lot of sculptures and artwork that people send me, first time creations or whatever. I cherish each and every one. My friend Dave Snow sent me a giant mug. I’m crazy for that. I can barely lift it but I’m crazy for it.

When someone takes the time to make something just for you, it makes you feel fantastic because you know that you were the utmost on their mind as they made whatever it is they made for you.

I bake designer cookies for each of my family members every year. (For the most part)

Have you ever wanted a cookie made exactly the way you like it? That’s my family. This tradition started with me, as I always wanted an oatmeal cookie with nuts. I LOVE nuts, and I think the best cookie in the world is an oatmeal cookie with nuts.

So I made one, and soon I was asking my family what their favorite cookie was and what would they do if they could create the perfect cookie.

If you don’t bake, perhaps you draw or write. Anything from the heart is a fantastic gift. Perhaps you knit, crochet or sew. Do you write, sing, or refinish furniture? All great ideas.

My husband’s dad is the guy who has everything. Do you have one of those? Every year my husband becomes anxious as to just what to give him.

He created a crocheted blanket for his father’s brand new craftsman style rocking chair. Actually, my husband picked out the pattern and I crocheted the grid. Then he took yarn and wove it into the grid to create a plaid blanket. We didn’t finish in time, so we had his father open it on Christmas Day and then we finished it right in front of him.

His father’s eyes twinkled as he saw his son delicately work the weave over and over. It took us a bit of time and the hour got to be quite late, but my husband’s father wouldn’t go to bed until he saw us finish.

My husband so happy to see his father fight off sleep trying to stay awake so that he could see us finish. Delightful!

I encourage to give this a bit of thought. You may find that just thinking about what someone would really like, you can create one of the best Holidays you’ve ever had.

UPDATE:
November has become a month of surprises for me. First my mother went into the hospital. For most this would be a scary thing, but my mother wouldn’t go to the doctor, so to get her to the hospital finally was a very good thing. Doctors were finally able to find the source of her illness and correct it.

I’m keeping positive and it looks like she will be home for Thanksgiving. Yea! And Hale to the turkey!

Disneyland has been a lovely diversion for me. Run Disney had their first Avengers run this month and I had a wonderful time.

Photo of the awesome medal taken by Ron Radvinsky.
Photo of the awesome medal taken by Ron Radvinsky.

I got to see so many of my friends and meet many of you. Thank you for coming up and chatting with me. The Avengers was a delightful experience, except for the wind which sand blasted my skin with dirt for most of the race. Santa Ana winds whipped up just in time for the race.

Liz, Rachel and Terri just after the 5k
Liz, Rachel and Terri just after the 5k
Triple Threat- Anita, Terri and Kendra at the Avengers Half Marathon.
Triple Threat- Terri, Kendra and Anita at the Avengers Half Marathon.

As you can see, many people ran in costume. I always run in something Herbalife as I’m a sponsored athlete, thus allowing me to deduct the cost of the races as advertisement. An all around win-win situation.

Disneyland Hotel is the host hotel for the Run Disney EXPO and one of the highlights was the new Dooney & Burke designer bag. The one below sold out in the very first day. If you just cannot live without the bag, I might just have one for sale . . . I’m just saying.

Avengers Bag

On the downside, the true Turkey of the EXPO award goes to New Balance Shoes, who announced that they would speak about the upcoming shoes for 2015 and all it ended up being was a giant commercial. NO preview happened and New Balance told everyone that in order to find out about the designs for 2015 we had to friend them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

A friend of mine put it best when he said it was like getting the decoder ring in A Christmas Story, the message when decoded was “Drink Your Ovaltine.” Folks in the audience said that was cheesy.

When you run several races for Run Disney, you need to rest in between. So, on Saturday, I went into the park and did a sketch of Big Thunder Mountain Paris. I sat near Big Thunder Mountain Anaheim to use as a reference for color and texture.

I sat quietly next to the Koi Pond in Frontierland and watched the people as I sketched. The finished Sketch will be auctioned off with a Disneyland Tour with me for a wonderful charity event hosted by Combat Radio and Ethan Dettenmaier.

thunder
Terri works on Drawing for upcoming Charity Event.

I’ll appear at Barnes And Noble (Valencia) this Friday from 2PM-6PM for a signing/party… THEN…. I’ll join a huge party with epic folks like Vatos and his epic ‘Boingo Dance Party’ (featuring members of Oingo Boingo), Hennesy, Marcella Detroit along with Divinity Roxx, Kat Dyson, JP Aston, Harold Payne, Kudisan Kai,

The International Swingers (including Clem Burke/Blondie, James Stevenson/The Cult, Glen Matlock/The Sex Pistols and Gary Twinn) as they take the stage November 22nd for the ‘Combat Radio Christmas Benefit Concert And Toy Drive’ (4PM – 24251 Town Center Dr. Valencia).

Come on down if you can make it, I sure would love to see you and don’t forget to bring a toy and a bit of cash to bid on some ultra cool stuff. Its going to rock, no one throws a charity party like Ethan.

charity flyer

FEEDBACK

Again, thank you so much to all of you who shared with me here at MiceChat.

DustySage,  I think you’re onto something by sharing a favorite recipe. Here’s hoping a few of the readers follow your lead as I really enjoyed that pie.

Thanks to all of you who said they liked my article and to those who weren’t so sure, thank you for sharing you opinion and being gracious about it.

I also want to commend all the writers who posted for not getting personal with each other and respecting each individual’s position without attacking them personally.

I’m so happy none of you seem to be like that at all.

Rstar, I loved hearing how you’re known as “Sparky” and I’d love it if you would share some specifics on how you make your Christmas Pop. Christmas lights seem to be a challenge for my husband and I, which means we may not do it because we fail to figure out just what we want to do. Thanks for your post.

Internitty, I had to respond to you as your Christmas in Australia post was fascinating. I really hadn’t thought about what it might be like to have a very hot Christmas. I loved how you described experiencing Christmas in the snow for your first time. I know what you mean by just missing the snow of your dreams.

I visited friends in Australia. Like many tourists, I wanted to see a Koala Bear in the wild. My friends told me that they often spotted a Koala Bear in the tree outside of their business. I was there for 2 weeks and each day I would look out to see if I could see the Koala Bear, but NO Bear. I finally flew home and just before I got on my plane, my friends called and said “Guess who’s back?” You guessed it, that stinking bear!

Thanks for your post. Do you have a favorite Christmas food in Australia you simply must have on the table?

Disneydempster I loved hearing about the amount of Nativities you have. I created a very special nativity for a client in Wisconsin. I love doing that piece as I had always wanted to create a Nativity. Thanks for sharing and I hope that you will continue to share as we count down to Christmas.

Thejonesma, I see your request and I promise to write all about my wonderful experience with The Country Bears right after the Holidays. Deal?

Thanks to all who posted, I look forward to hearing from more of you . . . and Happy Thanksgiving!

Terri Hardin Jackson
Terri Hardin has designed attractions as a Disney Imagineer from 1987-1997. She's also a Jim Henson Puppeteer and has worked on over 42 film and TV projects including Ghostbusters & Captain EO. She currently creates Disney collectables and plays a Foster Farms Chicken.