The Christmas tree for your computer - or yourself if you spend most of your time sitting in front of the computer. This bright little tree can plug into one of the USB ports on your computer and it will light up and change colours. When I think about Christmas it is the Christmas tree, all lit up, which comes into my mind first. I love the bright colours, the sparkling ornaments, the smell of everything around the tree as people tended to gather there. We had our tree set up in the front room. Usually, this was the forbidden room. In a house with four children the front room was the fancy room, no kids allowed. But, when it came to family holidays we gathered there, with the fireplace in winter.

We would make so many goodies: pumpkin pie, apple pie, gingerbread, sugar cookies and have them all out there with the tree and the fireplace. My Grandparents (and some of their siblings too) would bring boxes of chocolates and candy canes too. We turned down the electric lights so most of the light came from the colourful lights on the Christmas tree. In the room people chatted, played cards and other games. I can remember the smell of gingerbread, the sound of people and the glow of the tree.

We had an artificial tree because my brother was allergic to the real trees. I never missed the real tree. No pine smell but no dry tree, shedding pine needles either. Plus, we had the same tree each year. Bringing it out was like having a friend come back again each year.

Now, so many years later, most of the family is gone or living far apart in one way or another. I don't mind being alone at Christmas. I have had the kind of family Christmases which people make movies about, so there are a lot of great memories I can look back to. Mainly, I love getting out there and seeing lights and decorations and displays at other houses, other places and being put up and taken down again by other people. I can have my own little Christmas and make it as big or little as I want. I had all my Christmas training. I can now bake the pies, cook the dinner, put up the decorations and enjoy the holiday season in the glow of my own Christmas tree.

Having a little tree just for the computer is a great touch. I can bring Christmas to my desk and have the big tree in the other room too. Every room can have a tree all lit up!

Christmas cards are a big part of the holidays for me. I love to find a package of cards, with enough to send to everyone on my list, something creative and cheerful on the card front and a sentiment inside which isn't too sappy. It takes awhile to find the right box of cards, at the right price. I also like cards that can be mailed. Anything too decorative with fancy beads and gizmos won't be the right card to send through Canada Post. (Or any post offices, depending on where you mail them from). Bumpy cards are really only good for hand delivering yourself.

A Few Ideas for Signing those Cards

• Merry Yule. Hope you find something wonderful at the bottom of your Christmas stocking
• Seasons Greetings. Treat yourself to a great hot beverage over the holidays.
• Happy Holidays. It's only as cold as you think it is!
• Joys of the Season to you and your family.
• Be Merry, Bright and inspired this holiday season.
• Merry greetings and all that goes along with the holiday season.
• Happy holiday baking and snacking.
• Good will towards all men, women, children and animals too.
• Celebrate the season.
• Happy Christmas shopping, you can't give everyone a lump of coal after all.
• Merry Christmas. I'll be happy to pick up Santa's milk and cookies for him.
• Merry wishes for a great Christmas.
• Keep your holiday cheer all through to the New Year.

What you Need for Sending Out Christmas Cards

• Make a list of everyone you want to send a card to. Count how many cards you will need based on your list.
• Get the update on any addresses you aren't sure of. Look up postal codes if you are missing any.
• Make note of the stamps you will need to buy (for each location: Canada, the US, overseas in my case).
• Pick up your stamps early so you can get the Christmas stamps at the Post Office. Also, you can stick them on and mail them without waiting in a line for people mailing packages overseas later.
• It's an extra, but I like to have holiday stickers to add inside the card and/or on the outside of the envelope. Sometimes I draw my own Christmas doodles too.
• Another extra is a fancy pen for writing all those cards. I like to use a red pen, a holiday colour.

Keeping Religion out of Your Season's Greetings

I like to use Merry Yule, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings - any variety of holiday salutations. But, lately the traditional greetings have come under fire, getting closer scrutiny. Christians don't want to keep the Christ out of Christmas. But, not everyone is Christian. Do you even know (for sure) which religion everyone on your Christmas card list believes in?

For instance, Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate Christmas. You might feel funny (or upset) if someone returns your Christmas card for religious reasons.

Unless you are sure about religious issues you should consider a neutral holiday greeting. Season's Greetings works well. Winter is a season after all. How can anyone, of any religion have an objection to a card wishing them a happy winter season?

Keep this in mind too when you buy (or make your own) Christmas cards. The illustration on the front could be something neutral, like snowmen, a Christmas village, etc. You can keep the issue in mind when you pick out the cards you want to send.

Of course, if you are sending cards just to family and friends you know very well, this whole thing won't be a problem.

Have you ever written a letter from Santa Claus in reply to your (or other/ any) children? J.R.R. Tolkien wrote letters and created illustrations which he mailed to his children - he wrote letters from Father Christmas.

The first letters were written to Tolkien's son, John, when he was just three. Tolkien wrote about his (Santa's) travels and adventures and gave the letter a stamps and postage marks which he drew himself. Sometimes the letter was written by Santa's secretary, an elf. Other characters and helpers came into the story through letters, like the North Polar Bear and his cubs,

The letters were written from 1920 to 1942 and were released posthumously by the Tolkien estate. Earlier editions did not have all the letters and drawings. In 1999 the book was republished with more of the original letters and drawings. The book was also changed from the first title: 'The Father Christmas Letters' to the current title ' Letters from Father Christmas'.

Canada Post will reply to all letters to Santa Claus. Send the letter to:

Santa Claus North Pole HOH OHO Canada

I never wrote a letter to Santa Claus when I was a child. I was the oldest of four and maybe just too serious in all the responsibility of looking after younger brother and sisters. Instead of being the one writing to Santa I wrote for Santa. I left letters from Santa with the milk and cookies and carrots for his reindeers. My parents took a nibble of cookies and I drank the milk (I still love milk). We put the carrots back in the fridge but left some of the green tops as evidence. Then I wrote a reply, pretending to be Santa Claus. Just a simple note, not a full, long winded letter. Santa was pretty busy after all.

Did you ever write a letter to Santa Claus?

• Yes, many times over the years.
• Yes, I still write a letter to Santa each Christmas.
• Yes, now I write letters to Santa with (my) children.
• No. I'm too naughty to hope for anything but a lump of coal anyway.
• No. I leave it for the children.
• No, but I do write replies from Santa Claus for the children.
• No. We don't celebrate Christmas.
• No. I'm a Scrooge.

Christmas morning is full of excitement, especially if you have young children who will be up at the crack of dawn looking for signs of Santa Claus. It can be chaos and a very early wake up call, if you don't have a plan or a routine set out before.

My Mother always did two things which helped make our Christmas morning a little easier on the grown ups and yet still exciting and wonderful for the children. First, on Christmas Eve we were allowed to open one present. She would pick which one it would be for each of us, four siblings. It didn't occur to me until much later in life that she knew just which presents she was giving us. For the first dozen or so years I was always surprised that the four gifts she seemed to pick randomly from the pile were always new nightgowns or pajamas.

So we would wear our new night clothes to bed and already have the fun of opening a present and having something new. I think that helped spread the excitement out a bit and take off some of the edge from the suspense and wound up feeling we all had.

The second smart thing she always did was to have a rule that the parents could not be woken up until they either go themselves up or it was at least 7:30 AM. We had to be even quieter when my Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle were visiting. My Grandmother would wake up if a pin dropped. It wasn't so hard being quiet though.

We were allowed to open our Christmas stockings without waiting for the adults. Those would have assorted small things to keep us busy. Little toys, a new book, when we were younger and then useful things, like a new hair brush, lip balm, or nice smelling soap, as we grew older. Sometimes the stocking gifts were reminders to brush our teeth and hair while we waited for everyone else to get up.

The smartest thing she put in the stocking were edible, not candy. There would be nuts to crack, granola bars and other snacks. The best thing of all (for me) was the Christmas orange which was always at the bottom toe of the Christmas stocking. Usually there were a few of them. Christmas is still about the taste of oranges for me. I buy them for myself every Christmas holiday.

We didn't have a television in the room with the Christmas stockings and the tree. So there would be no one watching TV on Christmas morning. But, we would have the radio and we could put the Christmas music on whichever radio stations were playing it. Most of them would be on Christmas morning of course. The radio had to be pretty quiet but we liked listening to all the same old Christmas tunes and they were just fine as background or (when a favourite came on) it could be turned up if we closed the door to keep it from waking up Grandmother.

The food and small gifts would keep us busy until parents and guests were starting to stir. We would sit in the room with the Christmas tree, still lit from Christmas Eve. But, we never opened anything. My brother and one of my sisters would be sorting out presents, getting them in piles, ready to open everything. There would be some guessing, trying to decide what everything was. Some were obvious and some a mystery.

Once the adults were up, all of us in pajamas with hair every which way (but we did wash - the hair just seemed less important), we would help get breakfast started. Four young people can get things moving along quickly when they really have the spirit of co-operation. Breakfast was not rushed. We talked, we made plans for the day. it was a good way to move things along and yet calm down the rush to open gifts. Everyone was mellow, well fed and feeling comfortable by the time we actually did go back out to the room with the Christmas tree and all the gifts, lights and shiny things.

Presents were opened in some order, decided as we went along mainly. But, there were no more than two or three being opened at once. The adults were included. I think it was a very big help that the adults had gifts from the children too. We would happily stop opening gifts of our own so we could see how the adults reacted to the gifts we had wrapped up for them. Christmas was about giving for us. I still love Christmas shopping and finding just the right gift for everyone on my list.

After the presents were opened we cleaned up all the wrappings. I liked to stick the ribbons and bow in our hair for my sisters and I. We would wear them until the stickiness faded and then they would be tided up too. After things were sorted out around the Christmas tree the adults would make coffee and have a card game. My brother and I would play too, if there were spots open for another player.

That would be our Christmas morning. The rest of the day would come along, no real plan. There would be time for playing in the snow, or just taking a walk outside. It's a shame there usually isn't much snow for Christmas any more. I miss the heaps of snow at Christmas.

L. Frank Baum wrote a lot more than the 'Wizard of Oz' series of stories. One of his books is 'The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'. He later wrote a short story, 'A Kidnapped Santa Claus'. See more about L. Frank Baum and his wide range of books on Wikipedia: L. Frank Baum.

This book is about Santa Claus, from his birth to growing up and how he became Santa Claus. L. Frank Baum wrote a book explaining all the Santa Claus traditions, why Santa gives presents, how he started using the reindeers and where the elves came in. For every child who has wondered about Santa Claus, this book gives them answers and pulls together so many other traditions and legends of the great jolly man in the red suit.

My family had a vintage copy of the first edition of this book. The cover was very red. If you picked up the book it would leave your fingers stained red, even after all the years we had the book on our shelves. This is why I never really read it I think. We had the book from my Mother's family. It was one of two books she saved from a house which was demolished to make room for a McDonald's restaurant in the town of Woodstock, Ontario (many years ago).

Sadly, the book ended it's days stored in the basement after yet another move to yet another house with our family. A hot water tank burst, flooded the basement and was not noticed right away. So many things stored in the basement then were left standing in water. One of the books in the most ruined box was the L. Frank Baum book, 'The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus'. The insurance company paid us the value of the book, and some other things, but we have never really tried to replace the book. Some things are more than just objects. Replacing the object does not also replace the history and the feelings for it. So our messy old red book is gone.

It would be lovely to read the book. I think about it each Christmas. But, it's one of those things that gets pushed down on my to-do list as I keep adding more and more to be done first.