~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
December 24,2013

 ★~ Today’s Quote: I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.  ~Charles Dickens

★~On Christmas Eve at midnight: The Animals Can Talk

“..It was Christmas Eve in the barnyard. Seven ordinary animals had just settled down for the night. It was just a typical night — or so they thought. The hour of midnight drew near. Silent snow fell gently to the ground. And then something quite amazing happened. These seven ordinary animals, in this simple barn, became seven special animals, if only for this one night. . .” Click here for the rest of the story.

★~ Egg Nog Day:

A frothy, fattening holiday favorite, eggnog is traditionally made from milk, cream, sugar, beaten raw eggs, spices, and sometimes alcohol. The type of alcohol added depends on the country where it is made. In Europe, eggnog is made typically with white wine. Americans on the other hand drink it with bourbon or rum, while Peruvians use pomace brandy, and Germans use beer. Historically, the alcohol added to eggnog was meant to help combat the danger of eating raw eggs. Raw eggs aren’t allowed in the eggnog sold in stores,of-course, but don’t let that stop you from spicing your nog up a bit.

★~ Today in History:

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♥~ 1818 – Franz Gruber of Oberndorf, Germany composed the music for Silent Night to words written by Josef Mohr. The traditional song was sung for the first time during Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

♥~ 1867 – “Oh by gosh by golly!” Is it that time already? It was Christmas Eve that R.H. Macy’s Department Store in New York City remained open until midnight to catch last-minute shoppers. The store took in a record $6,000, giving itself a very Merry Christmas.

♥~ 1968 – Three astronauts, James A. Lovell, William Anders and Frank Borman, reached the moon. They orbited the moon 10 times before coming back to Earth. Seven months later man first landed on the moon.

♥~ 1977 – The Bee Gees spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve at the top of the music charts. How Deep is Your Love became #1 this day and stayed that way for three weeks.

★~ Born Today: 

♥~ 1905 – Howard Hughes industrialist: Hughes Aircraft; pilot [the ‘Spruce Goose’]; Hollywood producer: Jean Harlow’s career; The Front Page, Scarface, The Outlaw; eccentric recluse: long fingernails; died Apr 5, 1976

♥~ 1922 – Ava Gardner actress: Actress and leading sex symbol of the 1940s and ’50s, Ava Lavinnia Gardner was born at Smithfield, NC. Among Gardner’s numerous movies are The Barefoot Contessa, Bhowani Junction, The Sun Also Rises and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. Gardner was married to Mickey Rooney (1942–43), Artie Shaw (1945–46) and Frank Sinatra (1951–57).

♥~ 1927 – Mary Higgins Clark novelist, author: A few of her best selling titles include-All Through the Night, Before I Say Goodbye, Daddy’s Little Girl, On the Street Where You Live, We’ll Meet Again

★~ Did You Know:  A Few Christmas Eve Odds And Ends

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We all know the dance sequence from the TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas. After all, it’s been aired every year since 1965! And the song, “Linus and Lucy” by Vince Guaraldi, became the theme for every Peanuts special that followed.

Mashable took a dance crew out in the streets of New York City to perform a flashmob version of the dance exactly as Schoeder, Linus, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang did it. FUN.

♥~ Christmas Jammies 

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♥~ Best Dog Gift

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♥~ Reality Christmas Card

♥~ Critter Christmas sweaters: 

Ssstylisssh snake….

Cock of the town.

♥~ 12 of the world’s most spectacular Christmas trees

Built with 400,000 Lego blocks.

♥~ Reindeer:

Reindeer were originally connected to Santa through poetry. Before Moore wrote “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” (aka “The Night Before Christmas”) in 1823, no one thought about reindeer in conjunction with Santa Claus. Moore introduced the world to Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (the last two of which were later changed from Dutch to German, becoming Donner and Blitzen). While the first six names all make sense in English, the last two actually mean “thunder” and “lightning,” respectively. As for little Rudolph, he wasn’t introduced until Robert L. May wrote a children’s book in verse for Montgomery Ward in 1939 titled “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Rudolph’s name means “famous wolf” in German.

♥~ A little Christmas Crabby

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It’s snowing and cold in Chicago today—My muddy slushy yard is now an ice skating rink. And I would like to share that for the first time, in recent history, I have not taken a single fall before Christmas Eve.  I am not being smug, just grateful.  I have challenged myself to stay on my feet all winter. So far, so good.

Lots of little loose ends to tie up before we join friends for Christmas Eve, however all of our running around is done, and we can stay home warm and cozy.

How do you spend Christmas Eve?

Odd Loves Company!