Tag Archives: TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas!

TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas: Gifts 11 & 12!

Today wraps up TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas! I’ve had a lot of fun with it and hope you have too.

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on Epiphanies and Other Manifestations and entered to receive Gift 11 or Gift 12! I’m going to announce the recipient of each gift here, but remember– this is a white elephant gift exchange!

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Guest Post: “Epiphanies and Other Manifestations”

TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas!

I hope you’ve been having as much fun with this as I have! The final gifts, 11 and 12, are up for grabs today! To throw your name in the hat, leave a comment on this guest post. (To leave a comment without playing, just add, “No gifts, please!”) I’ll announce the recipients tomorrow evening.

Regular Gift: I promote your blog/website/cause in one of my blog posts.

White Elephant Gift: I search bomb you.

(What’s this all about?       Gifts 1 & 2      Gifts 3 & 4
Gifts 5 & 6                  Gifts 7 & 8                 Gifts 9 & 10)

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Today’s hilarious guest post comes from my friend Jen, who is one of only a handful of people who still call me Mari, giving her a special little place in my heart. Her story here goes places even I don’t dare to go. (Enough said.) Enjoy! –Tamara

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Epiphanies and Other Manifestations

Just Dropped In to See What Condition My Condition Was In

As my mentor, friend, and former boss would say, I am currently “with condition.” (He is of the generation that says such things. That same generation that had things called “plans” and saved their money and have pensions.) This “condition” of mine made me quite ill for approximately six weeks—the dreaded, poorly-named “morning” sickness that lasts all day and, unlike alcohol-induced nausea, doesn’t go away after you vomit—even after multiple times in one day.

I usually work from home, so I get to work in comfortable clothes, survive on saltines and ginger ale, and vomit whenever I need to and the people on the conference call are none the wiser. (I know. You’re jealous).

Thank goodness for mute buttons.

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TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas: Gifts 9 & 10!

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on Every New Christmas and entered to receive Gift 9 or Gift 10! I’m going to announce the recipient of each gift here, but remember– this is a white elephant gift exchange!

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TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas: Gifts 7 & 8

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on What is Peace? and entered to receive Gift 7 or Gift 8! I’m going to announce the recipient of each gift here, but remember– this is a white elephant gift exchange!

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Guest Post: “What is Peace?”

TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas!

Gifts 7 and 8 are up for grabs today! To throw your name in the hat, leave a comment on this guest post. (To leave a comment without playing, just add, “No gifts, please!”) I’ll announce the recipients tomorrow evening.

Regular Gift: You choose the topic of a post I write.

White Elephant Gift: I virtually haunt you on Twitter for a day with a feigned strong emotion of my choosing (e.g. indignation, adoration, etc.).

(What’s this all about?           Gifts 1 & 2            Gifts 3 & 4          Gifts 5 & 6)

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Today’s guest post comes from Chad Jones. Chad is currently taking a break from blogging at Randomly Chad, but he’s sharing this lovely piece here for us to meditate on amid the busy Christmas season. –Tamara

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What is Peace?

For the Christian, the season of Advent is a time to reflect on the
coming of Christ into a contentious world. His advent–his coming–was
heralded by angels with the proclamation, “Peace on earth, goodwill
toward men.” Yet in the two thousand years since the savior’s birth we
have seen precious little of either.

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Running

TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas!

Gifts 5 and 6 are up for grabs today! To throw your name in the hat, leave a comment on this post. (To leave a comment without playing, just add, “No gifts, please!”) I’ll announce the recipients tomorrow evening.

Regular Gift: I review/edit/advise on a post/document/manuscript sample of yours (800 words or fewer) or offer a general critique of your blog.

White Elephant Gift: I send you a tacky Florida postcard.

(What’s this all about?           Gifts 1 & 2            Gifts 3 & 4)

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Head is clouded,
Heart heavy.
Choice is before me
And I can run
Away or toward.
Head screams, Hide!
Heart whispers, No.

So I flip on
The soundtrack
For a run toward sanity.
An organ starts
And I begin,
One foot after the other,
Running with new hymns.

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The Christmas Cod

TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas!

Gifts 3 and 4 are up for grabs today! To throw your name in the hat, leave a comment on this post. (To leave a comment without playing, just add, “No gifts, please!”) I’ll announce the recipients tomorrow evening.

Regular Gift: I guest post for you.

White Elephant Gift: I send you a homemade Christmas card. (Note: I am artistically disinclined.)

(What’s this all about?)

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Shenanigans. Hijinks. Practical jokes. You expect them on April Fool’s Day. Maybe even on Halloween. But Christmas pranks? I wouldn’t have believed it except that I’ve seen it at my own front door.

We came home mid-December last year from a weekend away and found a plate of Christmas cookies on our front porch. But this was not the thoughtful confectionery parcel you might imagine. No. This was a small pile of upside-down, cockeyed cookies, slathered and spackled together with multi-colored frosting, doused with sprinkles and adorned with not only a bow, but the thin rectangular slip of paper that once covered the bow’s adhesive sticker. And a note, scrawled on ripped printer paper, read:

Merry Christmas

–C. O. D.

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TOL’s 12 Gifts of Christmas: Gifts 1 & 2!

Thanks so much to everyone who commented on The Sheep Graveyard and entered to receive Gift 1 or Gift 2! I’m going to announce the recipient of each gift here, but remember– this is a white elephant gift exchange!

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