Merry Greetings!

The frost is on the pumpkin now! Outside my window the winds are howling and the skies are threatening. I had to scrape my window for the first time the other day and they say that within 24 hours we will be shoveling snow.

I love the first real snowfall of the season. We are always so anxious to get out there in it and dig...and throw snowballs. It is anticipation falling from the skies. It says that Christmas is coming. Of course, the first snowfall is the only snowfall of the season that I really enjoy. The rest are drudgery. I'm kinda like the guy mentioned at this link.

As we relish the white stuff falling outside look at what we've got inside this edition of the Merry News:

In this issue:
-- Thinking Thanksgiving
-- Still Celebrating Halloween
-- Santa and His Lists
-- The First Lady of Yuletide Cheer
-- An Update on Santa's Sleigh
-- Time for Christmas Movies
-- New at WhyChristmas?
-- The Great Debates of Christmas
-- Nog on the Noodle
-- What would you ask an elf?
-- The Remodel of Talk Christmas

The Merry News is brought to you by:

Thinking Thanksgiving

I mentioned last time that Sandy made me some pumpkin pies a few weeks back, just to practice. That was all I needed, frankly, to put me in the mood for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving almost as much as I love Christmas.

My kids for the longest time questioned me about that. They don't any more because they have come to see Thanksgiving as just a part of Christmas. Kind of like Santa does.

Of course, we celebrate Thanksgiving at My Merry Christmas. We always have. Stop by and see the features. It is still weeks away but we're talking about it full force in the Merry Forums.

Still Celebrating Halloween

We're not done celebrating Halloween yet either. In fact, we're looking for more pictures of our members in costume. We've got a little photo contest going, you see. Stop by and check out folks -- or post up your family Halloween pix for a chance at our $20 gift card prize. Free, as always, to enter.

And we've greatly enjoyed the most recent Update from the North Pole all about the North Pole Halloween party. That Santa, what a card!

Santa and His Lists

Speaking of Santa, the mail to the North Pole mailroom has really picked up early this year. According to Elf Hugo -- Santa's postmaster -- there seems to be a lot of early activity to Santa's Confessional. This special page gets a lot of visits every year as those who have been a little naughty look to change their ways.

But what do you do if your kid is perpetually on the nice list? Nobody knows more than me how many times you want to throttle your kids for one thing or another. But amongst your children there is always one -- a golden child who cannot do a thing wrong.

Wouldn't it be great to let that child know how much you appreciate them? Show them how to stay on Santa's nice list, with a little help from Package from Santa.com. It'll give them a charge to know that Santa has them on the right list and may give your other little angels a hint.

Come to think of it, this free tool is a great idea for all my kids -- maybe more so for the ones that drive me nuts. That's because it is fully customizable. So, if I want my son to pick up his socks every day I can add that tidbit of good behavior on his Santa list. If I want my 6-year-old daughter with the well-developed artistic sense to refrain from taking crayolas to the walls in the family room Santa can give her a subtle little reminder.

I wonder if Santa's list can help my now 20-something daughter improve on getting to work on time? Hmmmm, I need to make her a list too. Nothing would please me more to present her with a Nice Certificate if she conquers that demon!

Regardless, readers of the Merry News can use this special coupon code: GIFTS15 for any purchases at Package from Santa. The code is good for orders between now and November 14th. But hurry! The rush starts soon so it is best to order early and save a little at the same time.

The First Lady of Yuletide Cheer

We're pleased to announce what we believe is an Internet exclusive -- the first daily online comic feature dedicated solely to Christmas. These first-rate, high quality comics come to us from George Broderick, Jr., a member of the Merry Forums and creator of Cool Yule Comics.

The First Lady of Yuletide Cheer is Christmas Eve, a gorgeous defender of Christmas. You can read of her adventures in classic comic style everyday between now and, appropriately, Christmas Eve! How cool is that?

Thanks, George -- for sharing your talents with us!

An Update on Santa's Sleigh

In our last issue I told you about Santa's Sleigh, an effort by the webmasters of the Merry Network to help Christmas happen for a family in need this Christmas. Our goal this year is to raise $1000 and have one of our beloved Santa's from ClausNet.com deliver the goodies.

I'm pleased to announce that we're almost halfway to our goal -- we presently have $475 in the coffers. THANK YOU to all who have graciously donated. We want to be complete with this effort by December 1st and I think we have a good shot at making it.

A shout out goes to our good friend CharlestonNole (as he is known on the Merry Forums) for his twist on raising funds for the cause. He has posted a poll where readers can guess on a sleigh number. Behind each sleigh is a specific dollar amount. Whatever sleigh gets chosen is the amount he will donate to Santa's Sleigh.

I thought it such a good idea that I offered double or nothing if the thread he posted the poll on gets 1000 posts by Thanksgiving. We're approaching 230 as I write this. There is still plenty of time left -- so visit that link and make a post...spend my money.

Other folks have jumped in to the spirit of this as well. Storeytime has pledged to match the amount and others have written that they will too. We're going to fill Santa's Sleigh in this our first year of such an effort. Thank you!

Time for Christmas Movies!

The kids were still munching on their Halloween candy on Saturday night when one of them put on "Elf", perhaps the millionth time we've seen that movie. And why not? The weather outside was frightful, the fire was delightful and the conditions were right for a good Christmas movie.

We're very proud of all the new features, the new design and the new reviews most recently posted at Christmas Flick, JingleBelle's Christmas movie site now billed as the largest Christmas movie database online.

To celebrate, JingleBelle is giving away DVDs! Stop by this thread and participate in a little movie trivia and a chance to win a movie.

Oh! Speaking of movies, don't forget we've got a movie-themed chat coming up on November 9th titled "Merry Movie Mayhem" with lots of rumored resident movie enthusiasts slated to attend (Dvdguy, Rodmonster, CharlestonNole, etc.)

New at Why Christmas?

Another Merry Network site being continually polished is one of our oldest sites, WhyChristmas.com. This site is the labor of love of webmaster James Cooper and originates in the UK. One look at the site tells you it is well cared for and consumately researched. I've long loved this site!

On the main page of the site James recently added a link to translate the entire site in any of 14 languages! How awesome is that?

James is soon to release the annual advent calendar at Why Christmas. Be sure to stop by and check it out!

The Great Debates of Christmas

Why is it that a season of peace and universal goodwill is so often riddled with controversy? From Christmas in schools and public parks to whether we put an angel or a star on the tree we just don't seem to agree on anything!

We introduce this new section to My Merry Christmas with our first article entitled "Green Christmas: Real or Artificial?".

Naturally, I'm writing this series and I promise to tell both sides. (Ok, I'll post my bias at the top of every topic, I promise).

(Sheesh).

Nog on the Noodle

I had my first sip of eggnog this season tonight as I sat down to write the Merry News. My wife purchased a couple of quarts for our family Halloween festivities, as if that needed any added sugar. Well, as usual, I had just a few precious ounces left just for me.

What is it about that stuff? I took one taste and I swear I heard angels singing.

Anyway, stop by our eggnog site for a recipe or two to try. We've got a couple of new ones we're working on and hope to post before Thanksgiving.

What would you ask an elf?

The boys from the North Pole -- that would be Elf Ernest and Elf Ed Zachary -- will be back soon to present their annual features to our North Pole section of My Merry Christmas.

But they will also gladly take questions and post answers in the North Pole area of the Merry Forums. Alert the kids now -- November is the best time to get those questions asked - and answered!

The Remodel of TalkChristmas.com

I get asked all the time about why we have so many Christmas forums. And the answer is simple -- because people love variety and they love to talk, especially about Christmas.

We're pleased to announce a major upgrade to Talk Christmas, the official forum area of Jinglebell Junction.com. These forums in design and function closely match other forum areas of the Merry Network and look all spiffy and new. The crowd there is warm, funny, hip and oh-so-Christmas-savvy. Take a peek at the new digs!

Licking Stamps

One of the tastes of Christmas that has faded is the taste of stamp glue. I remember well helping my Mom address, seal and stamp the dozens of Christmas cards we would send out each year. My tongue was numb for weeks but licking stamps in those days was kind of like eating pumpkin seeds -- you knew you would regret it later but you just couldn't stop!

That has been a happy memory for me as I have started this year's Christmas cards with my kids. Between the annual card exchange at MMC and the usual crowd we're sending out a record 200 plus this year! What a tongue-killer that would be, eh?

But it is so worth it. Somehow, wishing someone a Merry Christmas never seems to be a chore.

-- All the best,
Jeff