Rexanne's Web Review
Web Sites & Insights
Issue #84 - December 1, 2004
Brought to You By: Rexanne.com
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Welcome all newcomers and faithful readers!
It's been a whirlwind of activity here the past month. I cooked a Thanksgiving feast for 16 people and loved every crazy minute. The kids
helped by setting the table, making place cards and decorations. Something about the TDAY feast is satisfying and special and so
delicious. Having family and friends gathered is equally delicious. :-)
OMG ...the Christmas holidays are here! Is everyone ready for the fun and chaos? Of course I wouldn't leave you without full-service holiday
pages to help you through the season. Here's a link to my Christmas site, with everything you'll need to make merry:
Rexanne's Christmas
Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and Happy Kwanzaa to all! This is the season to spread love. If we hold this feeling in our hearts
year-round, the world will be a better place. I send you and your families much love and wish you the happiest of holidays!
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Reader's Comments:
Rexanna wrote:
"Send a message of support to our troops: Troops
While this is a "navy" site, the messages are accessible by troops from all branches - iT's actually the replacement of the Dear Abby snail
mail campaign stopped after the 9/11 attacks."
Readers - you can send an email message to a soldier from here. Thank you
Rexanna!
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Jenna wrote:
"I loved the topic about "high lows" in your November newsletter
and your suggestion about discussing their day at bedtime. I started 'talking about 'your day'
with my kids at night and we all love it. Thank you!"
You are so welcome, Jenna.
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Marilee wrote:
"Your Thanksgiving page was excellent! Thank you for putting everything
I needed in one place."
It's my pleasure, Marilee. I rely on my holiday pages to simplify life, too. :-)
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OK, here's the scoop:
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Quote of the Month: What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the
past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and
that every path may lead to peace. - Agnes M. Pharo
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Supporting the sponsors and advertisers in Rexanne's Web Review keeps this newsletter alive and a portion of revenue is donated to various
children's charities. . Each advertiser has Rexanne's Seal of Approval. Please visit them today.
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Parenting & Family Topic of the Month: Holiday Expectations
by Rexanne Mancini
As the holidays approach, I find myself wondering how I’m going to accomplish all I expect of myself. I expect to have perfect presents
under the tree for an astounding number of people who will be visiting from out of town, besides the usual round of gifts for my children,
immediate family, close friends and significant others, such as teachers, school staff, hair dressers, manicurist, etc. Added to the
gift buying frenzy are countless trips to the grocery and food specialty stores for the feasts I expect to prepare, again for
countless people I am expected to entertain during these holidays. What’s one person to do when it becomes overwhelming and seems there’s
never going to be enough time, resources or energy to cope? Well, I’m not sure I have the answer. What I’m longing to do is escape to an
undisclosed location (me and Dick Cheney) to save my sanity, health and well-being. Naturally, this isn't an option … I hold the holidays too
dear and my daughters have come to expect huge fanfare on these special days. I have set up their expectations of me, just as I have set up the
expectations of myself that I might not be able to pull off this year due to an unstable health condition and subsequent lack of mobility
I've taken for granted in years past. Mostly, I just want to be able to get it all done, as I have every other year, which is no longer an
option. I am left to ponder my upcoming fate with the dread of not performing or of falling short.
I suspect the “expectations” will somehow be met, only because I couldn’t bear to let my children down during the most important season
for meeting expectations. And I have set myself up for all of this, gladly, willingly, never expecting “ill health” to interfere with our
rituals and festivities. Never mind that this health condition was
caused primarily by trying to cram five weeks worth of expectations into a ten day period when I over-booked myself with work, volunteering
at my children’s schools at the same time I was expected to take care of many other obligations and promises to family and friends. I think
the lesson here is to relinquish the expectations of myself and scale down to a more manageable holiday routine, like it or not. Alas, there
will come a time when we parents are no longer able to perform the myriad duties and routines we’ve created for our families, for any
number of reasons, and we will need to give up control of making sure everyone’s holiday expectations are met. This could come in the form of
a health crisis, monetary crisis, time-crunch crisis … take your pick. This is the time to delegate the responsibility of the be-all, do-all
parent and shift our focus to relishing time with family and friends more so than relishing the accomplishments of others and our own
expectations of us. We are in the midst of a joyous and sacred time of year when our hearts and minds should be filled with love and good
will, not with a frenzy of get-it-done anxiety.
I wish you all a joyful, relaxed holiday season, filled with love and happiness. Give yourselves a break and allow one or more of the details
to slip by or delegate if need be. Being there for your family in sound mind, body and spirit is ultimately more important.
I have found that doing my Christmas shopping online is a life saver and any other task I can accomplish online is equally gratifying. Find
ways to make your life a little easier during the busy days ahead.
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Know of a good parenting or family site your fellow readers might enjoy or do you have a topic you'd like to see covered in this section?
Please send your ideas in for possible publication in an upcoming issue.
Click here: Parenting Site
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Food & Cooking Site of the Month: MelindaLee.com
Melinda Lee is a radio food host in Southern California and her web site is filled with many wonderful recipes and cooking tips. Melinda
Lee features recipes on the main page pertaining to specific current holidays and the recipe archives are filled with beverage to dessert
recipes you'll be thrilled to find. Also be sure to check out the resources page for links to various other good food & cooking sites:
And be sure to check out my Christmas Food & Cooking page for hundreds of great holiday recipe links and ideas to help make your holiday table
overflow with delicious and beautiful food: Christmas
Food & Cooking
Bon Appetit!
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Advertisement: Rexanne's Christmas Mall
This is where I'll be shopping and finding all the "perfect" presents for everyone on my list this year. Easily navigate the mall to find
specific pages for kids & teens, men, women and a page for general gifts where you'll find ideas for everyone, including pets. You'll also
find stocking stuffers for everyone on these pages.
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Kid's Site of the Month: Christmas for Kids
Everything WWW children for Christmas on this page, guys. Loads of crafts, color pages, fun activities and a great Christmas book and
movie list to search for kid presents.
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Freebie of the Month: Gift Tags, Recipe Cards, To Do & Shop Lists
Ready for a super printable site that will give you all the goodies with a choice of design? Scroll to the bottom of the page for special
Christmas printables, including cute wish lists:
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*Readers - This is the perfect holiday present for anyone with a car. (think guys)
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Tip or Trick of the Month: Break 'School Break' Boredom
One way to break the "I'm bored!" habit when the kids are home from school for longer than a weekend is to have plenty of activities ready.
This can be colored paper, pencils and stickers for the little ones tocreate their own holiday cards and gifts to helping the older kids get
their rooms straightened up before all the new Christmas booty invades their space. My daughters and I spend hours in the beginning of
December, cleaning out their closets and drawers, removing anything that is stained, ripped or no longer fits. Also, go through the toys
and fill a bag with items to donate to the homeless or good will. This is also a sneaky way to get kids to clean their rooms. ;-) If need be,
remind your little miser that more toys are on the way and there are other less fortunate children who would be thrilled to play with that
Barbie doll who's life-expectancy has taken a drastic dive since being removed from the box. Make a trip to the good will donation center a
family event, which will also help keep the kids from sitting in front of the TV for endless hours. :-) Make sure to ask for a receipt ... you
will be able to deduct good will donations from this year's taxes.
Also, engage your kids in holiday decorating and food preparation. Have older children bake Christmas cookies and let the littler ones decorate
them. Older children are super decoration helpers. Let them help get the boxes from the garage or attic and help decorate your home for the
holidays.
Have a tip or trick your fellow readers would enjoy or could use? Please send it here for possible publication in one of the next
issues: Tips
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Time Waster of the Month: EveryPoet.com
(Because life is supposed to be fun!)
While reading poetry isn't truly a 'time waster,' you can certainly loose some quality time on this site, while reading poetry written by
some of the greatest minds and writers of our time and before. Search the index for your favorites, enter your own poetry for possible
publication and generally open your mind to inspiration and beautifully pieced together
words.
Feed the kids first ...
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Featured Site of the Month: Georgia, Lady K9 Star
Are you ready for a heart warmer? This page was submitted by Martha who warned me that goose bumps would most likely follow and they did, along
with tears of happiness. This is the story of a wonderful dog who was rescued by an equally wonderful kid and how this super pup ended up a
K9 hero. There are so many pets who need homes in rescue shelters. These animals usually turn out to be the best friends a child or adult
could hope for. Please consider rescuing a pet from a shelter and always spay or neuter your pets. The world doesn't need more breeders
... it needs more rescuers!
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