Favorite Christmas Customs (from a Domestic Disappointment)

Hello, and welcome to my Lost and Found blog tour! Thanks for having me here at Under the Covers Book Blog! I really appreciate the chance to visit and tell everyone all about my latest Christmas novella, Lost and Found.

I thought just for giggles I thought I’d give a list of the many and varied Christmas Customs that I’ve tried over the years. Some we’ve tried once, some we’ve kept. Here’s a list from the one-timers to the tried and true:

• I once made an advent calendar out of 24 cards that said things like, bake cookies, sing Christmas carols, and drive around looking at Christmas lights. I strung those cards in order on a garland across the living room and each day, we did whatever the card said. That was a lot of work, but fun.
• When we lived in a condominium, I had a kitchen garden window. All my neighbors decorated those windows and it became kind of a matter of personal pride. Mine kept the kitchen theme with German blown glass ornaments shaped like fruits and vegetables. I gave it a real Victorian flavor with bubble lights, lace, and pearls. That was fun, and I have pictures.
• When my kids were little my daughter made a nativity with a peanut holy infant. The year we got our dog we thought she ate it, and it was quite fraught until we realized the little guy had escaped unscathed and was hiding out under the entertainment center, waiting until Christmas morning to be born.
• We lost every Christmas decoration we had in the Great Maxfield Fire of 2012. That was bad, but at the end of the day, Christmas isn’t about stuff, or even about a special day of the year — it’s about family. My three boys, my husband, and I went to Target and purchased a whole new tree, a new set of ornaments, and some few things to start new memories. God Bless Us, Every One.
• Every year, rain or shine, no matter how old my kids get, everyone files into the living room at some point, to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. It’s interesting to see my big video gamers and my grown daughter as they watch the show. That’s the tradition my kids are the most insistent about. I am so lucky to be me. 😀
• Santa, as you know, doesn’t wrap presents, and I do. It’s been my family’s long tradition to enjoy opening a few presents, playing with those for a while, eating something, and then opening more. It takes almost an entire day to unwrap our presents, especially since my kids started giving each other playing card games and board games. I used to stop them from unwrapping all their presents at once in one big, rash rush, and now they slow themselves down automatically.
• My favorite family tradition is the making of cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve. They rise in the cool refrigerator all night, and are ready to be baked and frosted in the morning. Here’s a link to the recipe.  Enjoy! I know the recipe doesn’t explicitly say you can do it over night, but form the rolls, put them into buttered baking pans, and then cover them with greased foil and let them rise overnight. In the morning, let them come to room temperature and then bake and frost as usual. I promise that’s ONE holiday tradition you’ll enjoy every year!

Lost: one dog and two men in need of each other. Found: love.

RV resort security chief Ringo never believed in love at first sight . . . until he saw Gavin playing his sax on the beach for the tourists. But their on-again, off-again affair—even counting all the great makeup sex—doesn’t come close to the relationship he wants. All he really wants for Christmas is a commitment from Gavin.

Instead he discovers that Gavin has had surgery without telling him, so he lays down a relationship ultimatum while Gavin recuperates. Complicating matters even more, Gavin’s beloved dog Bird runs away, and Gavin blames Ringo for the disappearance.

While Ringo throws every resource he has into finding Bird, he learns deeper truths about Gavin—how hard it is for him to trust and how little faith he has in love. Maybe if Ringo can find Bird, he can salvage Gavin’s faith. Maybe this Christmas, they can all find each other.

You can read an excerpt or purchase Lost and Found HERE. Remember, when you purchase Lost and Found in either ebook format, which you can find HERE or in the print anthology format, which you can find HERE, you’re helping to support the mission of the Ali Forney Center.

YOU GET THE CHANCE TO ENTER TWO AWESOME GIVEAWAYS!

To recap, you can find all the blog tour information you need at the Riptide Website, HERE. Be sure you attend all the stops and follow the Rafflecopter instructions for the chance to win a $20.00 Riptide Publishing Gift Certificate and all the songs on my Lost and Found Playlist!  The winner will be drawn on December 8th at 5pm  EST.  Contest is valid worldwide.

Enter your details in the Rafflecopter below to gain entry in the *Home for the Holidays* giveaway! This week of the tour closes at midnight, EST, on December 6th. Then, one grand prize winner will be contacted at the end of the Home for the Holidays tour on December 16th. Contest is valid worldwide.

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