Monthly Archives: December 2008

Where Santa Theory and Practice Collide

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Part 1: Am I A Grinch?

Part 2: The Truth About Santa Claus

Pdad accepts the fact that I teach our children the truth about Santa because he thinks it doesn’t ultimately make much of a difference.  He doesn’t believe it’s a problem to teach children to believe in Santa but he also doesn’t think that they miss out on much when they are taught not to believe in Santa.  I disagree on both points.  Telling our children the truth about Santa maintains our ability to teach and testify about truly important things.  That is the upside.  Unfortunately, there is also a downside . . .

Continue reading →

Contest! $20 Giftcard

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I am excited to announce my first contest! I am giving away a $20 giftcard to Amazon.

To win:

1. Make a comment on any of the posts on this blog–recent or ancient.  The comment must be related to the post.  (Comments such as “pick me” or “I want to win” are not eligible.)

and/or (you can have up to two possible chances to win)

2.  Subscribe to the blog (Click subscribe on the top navigation bar and choose how you would like the feed delivered).  I don’t know how to see who is subscribed (is there a way to do that?).  So send an email saying that you subscribed to chocolateandgarlicatgeemail.com.  (Fix the @ and the gmail so that they are normal).

I will randomly choose a winner January 12, 2009.

P.S. I told Pdad that I wanted to have this contest.  He said, “Okay. . . but you know people will think that you are desperate for comments.”  I replied: “Exactly!”

Movie: Miss Potter

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Miss Potter, 2006

Grade: A-

Highlights: a) This is the true (and interesting!) story of Beatrix Potter.  b) Reneé Zellweger’s acting.

Profanity: None

Violence: None

Sexual Situations: None

Recommended for: Preteens and Adults.  Women and girls will enjoy it most.

Pdad and I took a break from the neverending “Christmas is almost here” to do list last night to spend some peaceful moments cuddling and watching a movie.  We had a nice time.  I liked the movie a great deal and while this chick flick won’t go to the top of Pdad’s favorites, he enjoyed it enough to talk about it afterwards.  I would strongly recommend this film if you haven’t seen it yet.   Continue reading →

Best of C & G is now up!

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Those of you who have been early visitors to my blog during November 2008 and the first part of December have been looking at an, er, beta version of Chocolate & Garlic.  It is still a work in progress.   Yesterday, I finished the first set of links to appear on the Best of C & G  page.  Please go see!  I hope (even?) better content will appear at this blog in the future.  It is difficult for me to judge which things I write about are the most interesting to others, so please leave a comment or send an e-mail and let me know if you see a post you think belongs on Best of C & G.

The Truth about Santa Claus

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Part 1: Am I A Grinch?

So, I was about 8 or 9 years old before I learned that Santa Claus does not exist.  When I found out, I was not dismayed.  I was excited to know something that my siblings didn’t know and honored to be part of the plan to delight them by making sure they didn’t find out.  I’m not sure when my views changed or precisely what triggered that change.  However, I do know that by the time I was 19 I both surprised and horrified a date through my vehement insistence that children should be taught that Santa isn’t real.

When Amelia was born eight years later, I stuck to my convictions.  Pdad, who also had been raised in a Santa-loving household, grudgingly agreed to go along with my ideas.  So, why teach children that Santa isn’t real?  Continue reading →

Praying for Mr. Yoon

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Yesterday, a military jet crashed into a San Diego home, killing the four occupants inside: a mother, her newborn infant, her one year old daughter, and the babies’ grandmother. The pilot was able to eject safely moments before the crash. He survived. Today the husband of the mother and the the father of the two baby girls spoke to the press. Mr. Yoon explained that he does not blame the pilot for the accident. He believes the pilot did everything he could to avoid it. He spoke of his love for his wife and his children and the struggle he now faces: “I know there are many people who have experienced more terrible things, but, please, tell me how to do it. I don’t know what to do.” Continue reading →

Planning the New Porch

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[2nd of 2]
The first thing we had to do was fix the front steps. Tearing the green carpet off revealed some gaping and slightly scary holes, so simply sanding off the old adhesive was not an option. Tearing out the old stairs altogether wouldn’t work either, because there was no good way to get heavy equipment through the narrow entrance of our brick courtyard. No heavy equipment means manual labor, which for us would mean $$$. So, we capped the stairs (built a superstructure over the existing stairs and poured fresh cement) instead.

Next, we needed a new door. I love natural light. One of the very best things about our house of many flaws are the huge windows and large sliding glass doors. Our home is filled with light, but the entrance was a noticeable exception. The old dark brown door sucked up all the light like a black hole. The white paint-splashed pink sidelite did let in a little light, but pink light in a yellow room? Continue reading →