We do have a more conventional Christmas tree in the living room of course, but I also keep
this “tree” full of my Disney mouse hat and character shoe theme ornaments. I started collecting them a few years during a trip to Disneyland and now each time I go back, I pick up a few more. (You can also find them on eBay.) There are usually some new ones for the new movies – this year I added two Frozen shoes. I find these ornaments enchanting and fun – whoever designs them does a great job.

I also added a Mulan shoe that I WISH came in real lady sizes. I’d love to have dragons on my feet! I think….

Finding Nemo was my grandson’s favorite movie when he was little and we watched it over and over, and then some. Luckily I enjoyed it too! And then along came Cars – Mater the Tow truck is my grandson’s favorite character and my brother’s. I think I’m partial to R2D2 myself.

But my heart truly belongs to the princesses! Rapunzel, Aurora, Jasmine….and of course, Belle, who loves books so much! But the Rapunzel character shoe is my absolute favorite. I’ll need a bigger tree after next year’s trip to Disneyland! Happy Holidays to everyone!

We had that huge, severe rainstorm here in Southern California last week and a minor ripple was my plan to go to Disneyland. (Which was nothing compared to mudslides, a tornado, etc., that many people had to deal with.) My best friend and I go annually right around this time of year and in all the time we’ve done that, it’s only rained twice. Rainy days have a magical effect on Disneyland – many fewer people! I have four layers on in the photo to the left – it was freezing in the morning! The photo at the top is my new pair of mouse ears, complete with peacock feather…

We went a bit later than usual, to miss the freeway jam ups. For the first hour it was raining pretty steadily but then the magic of Disney kicked in and we had blue skies in Anaheim. There were quite a few people but nothing like the normal December day so we were able to walk right up to rides, even Star Tours and Indiana Jones. The sidewalks weren’t crowded and we were able to get a good spot on the curb to watch the parade when it began, instead of sitting for an hour.

I tried to take some different Disneyland photos this trip. There are a lot
of unexpected details in the park, which are fun to uncover. Here’s a view from the second floor of the Jungle Cruise landing area. And then the view looking left, toward the Aladdin pavilion (or whatever it’s exact title is).

My friend has a low tolerance for “It’s A Small World” so we only ride that once. It was SO pretty with all the lights!

I used to love walking the in the snow, having snowball fights, building snow forts…of course I lived in upstate New York at the time! One of my favorite sub genres of romance is the Christmas Regency. I love those big house parties where the governess and the Duke waltz and go sledding and fall in love.

And a little girl who missed all the fun – such a wistful face.

Here’s an intrepid couple who decided to go snowshoeing! And someone who voted for skating…although she seems a bit dubious at the moment. I hope your winter is going well so far (even though winter itself hasn’t officially arrived yet, surely there’s enough snow in some places!)

Maya Angelou: Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says, ‘I’m going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that’s tough. I am going to snow anyway.’

I’m totally enjoying the rain in Southern California this week! There’s nothing I like better than curling up with  a good book (reread Nalini Singh’s Caressed by Ice, seem to be on a binge of working my way through the Psy-Changeling series again, start to finish…) and my two cats and just savoring the cool Fall weather, accompanied by the sound of rainfall.

We need the rain out here of course, although I feel sorry for the areas that are getting too much too fast and which may have mudflows to contend with. In my little corner of the world, it’s raining gently and soaking in.

I had to leave work in the midst of the worst of it today, to go off to the dentist. My first umbrella gave out while I was walking to my car. No problem, thought I – there’s another umbrella in the car. (Sometimes I am over-prepared for all eventualities LOL.) Got through the dentist ok – I love my dentist and his staff, but I hate the cleaning process, gives me a migraine usually. And today was the first time it’s been done since I had my health issue in September and had to go onto blood thinners. so we were all a bit tense but no problems and I earned my sticker-for-good-behavior…then off to the grocery store, where my second umbrella of the day failed and I got drenched. So I bought the only umbrella they had left, which was very lime green, and that got me home.

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” John Ruskin, Rnglish art critic of the Victorian era (which seems so appropriate since I use 1880’s trade cards for illustrations currently)

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” Dolly Parton

“Save a boyfriend for a rainy day – and another, in case it doesn’t rain.” Mae West I guess I saved my book boyfriend, Psy Arrow Judd Lauren, for today!

“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” Roger Miller Well, I LOVE walking in the rain myself….

We might get heavy rain with thunder at 3AM tonight. I hope so – we never get a really good thunderstorm out here, not like I grew up with in the South, so I enjoy the novelty when it does happen. The cats, however, do not.

Then there was this post I ran across on io9 – ironic timing – “Yes You Can Buy The Scent of Rain in a Desert”

And of course, the ultimate in rain-related: