S.C. - SANTA CLAUS OR SPINAL CORD?

Today was an incredibly long, school-packed day.  It began with a psychiatry clinical skills session from 8:30 - 10:00 with a lunch break to follow (filled with studying) and then resumed with a second clinical skills session from 12:30 - 3:30.  I spent the rest of the afternoon studying neuroanatomy and then looked at microscope slides in the anatomy lab from 6:00 - 9:30.  Believe it or not I then came home and watched more recorded lectures.  My brain is full of...the brain.

To unwind I'm doing a quick little blogging session and thinking about Christmas!  Knowing I can prepare for Christmas once my exam is finished is one of the only things keeping me going!

I know everyone likes Christmas but I LOVE Christmas.  Really, really love it.  Don't believe me?  I feel so strongly about Christmas that I have been known to say wistfully, "I miss Christmas..." at fairly regular intervals throughout the rest of the year (probably at least once a month).  I have been listening to my new Amy Grant Christmas cd since October.  I keep Christmas music on my ipod all year and when the shuffle button reunites me with these songs on my mid-July jogs, I don't change the song.

Are you convinced yet?

One of the things I remember most about Christmas as a child is my mom reading my brother and I (and eventually our sister) Christmas stories before bed.  I emailed my mom this week and asked for the titles of some of our family's favourite Christmas books.  Here are a few truly wonderful additions to your holiday collection!

The Smallest Elf - a story about an elf who isn't as talented at toy-making as the others.  When Santa proposes a contest to create a special toy for a lonely little boy, Elvin discovers what the boy really wants most of all.  [This might be my absolute favourite.]

The Advent Calendar: Pop-up Book - my grandparents bought this story for my brother and I.  It's nice to have a version of the Christmas story to read as a family during the holidays and this one is especially fun because it's a pop-up book.  We read this on Christmas morning for a few years before we opened gifts.

The Sweet Smell of Christmas - have you ever owned a scratch and sniff?!  It may just be the most fun thing ever!!  Even now I love to scratch the pages of this book even though they have looooong ago stopped smelling.  This is my little sister's favourite.  It's about a little bear and his family's activities during Christmas.  There are scents for the fir tree his family chops down, candy canes they put on the tree, hot chocolate for the carolers, an orange in his stocking...you know the deal.  I will always love smelling this book.  Is that weird?

Tosca's Christmas - for the cat lover in your life.  This little kitty, Tosca, doesn't understand why there is suddenly a tree in her living room or pretty paper on the floor.  She is scolded throughout the book and I can't quite remember the ending but I'm sure it's happy.