Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Cold Greetings from Ruth Logan Herne!!

Well folks, how about it? You up for another day of festivities? We're on Day 8 of this endeavor and so far I think it's going well, what about you?

Anyway, today is very special. Not to say our other days haven't been good, boy have they been good! But today we have our first author joining us. You know her, love her, and just want to give her a big ol' hug!! It's Ruth Logan Herne visiting us today!!! *the crowd goes wild*


Yes, she is sticking around to answer a few questions. So here it is, Ruthy Revealed ; )

H: Ruthy! I am so glad that you are finally on my blog! It seems like a long time coming, which has finally....well...come! Lol...so tell me what is your favorite part(s) of the Christmas season?

R: I love the lights. I was a poor little girl in a dark house, and Christmas lights and candles have always been special to me.
I’m drawn to the light and just love how Christmas lights brighten dark, rainy or snowy streets in December.

But I love the music too, and both are a huge part of me, so I can’t pick between them. I love Advent hymns of waiting and watching, they’re so prayerful and warm. But I love upbeat carols too, and TRANSIBERIAN ORCHESTRA!!! Love them!

H: I just listened to Carol of the Bells by them and it's fantastic!! Great choice : ) What are some of your traditions? (i.e. food, gift giving, family traditions, etc)?

R: The kids are grown now so we collectively pool money and adopt a family from the Salvation Army. We don’t need more things, and so many go without that it’s silly to go crazy with gifts for each other, you know? But we still make sure the grandkids get cool presents from Grammy and Grandpa because they’re part of our heart…

H: That's great of your family to do, Ruthy. We "adopt" local children through our church. They're all different ages and we get clothes, toys, etc for them. Also our high school works with The Upper Valley Haven. We always donate towards that also. Do you have a favorite Christmas themed book/recommendation? Movie?

R: .
Movie: It’s a Wonderful Life. LOVE IT! And Anne Tyler’s Saint Maybe. Great inspiration about atonement
Book: The Crippled Lamb and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. When I read that to little ones, I know I used to be one of those Herdmans, just wanting to be clean. Wanting to belong. Love that story.

H: Oh Ruthy, The Crippled Lamb is what KC said was her favorite book too!! It's a small world, eh? I just dug out our copy yesterday, will read it this weekend! How have your Christmas traditions changed since you were a kid now that you have a _________ (family, at college, etc)?

R: My traditions are all new ones except that I’ve been doing them for 35 years, so they’re not so new, LOL! We love going to Midnight Mass now that the kids are grown, but with grandchildren now there’s only a couple of kids that can go along. Babies have to be zonked and doing that whole visions of sugarplums thing, you know?


Food. Lots of food. My husband’s family spends Christmas Eve with us, we spend Christmas day with our kids/grandkids and friends and then we have a mid-December Christmas party for my family at my niece’s house.
And yet more food. ;)
We read Luke’s gospel telling of the first Christmas at my family party, a tradition my mother began in her later years. Very nice memories go with that!
I love lights and kindergarten ornaments. They’re the best.

H: We don't have a Midnight Mass here, but even if we did, we probably wouldn't go to it because we get up so early (see yesterday's post to know what I mean!) on Christmas!! LOL! Food is always good, no harm there! If you had to pick one “symbol” of Christmas (i.e. ornaments, the tree, the lights, the nativity set, etc.), what would you pick as your favorite?

R: The crèche/manger scene. Love it.


H: Again, great choice! Stay tuned and later on I'll be posting our many nativity scenes we have around here : ) What did you ask Santa for this year? *wink*

R: I’m such a boring mother now! I just want to see my kids and grandkids. Everything else is ordinary compared to that.

H: Not boring at all! It just proves that you're an exceptional mother and grammy, Ruthy!

These are some bests. Just fill them in with your favorite/the best.
Christmas present as a child?
Tearie Dearie. Great doll!
Favorite Christmas? No faves, are ya’ kiddin’ me? Each one’s better than the last….
Christmas song? “What Child is This/Child of the Poor” medley.
Place to spend Christmas day? At home, with family, feeding everyone even though I’m not Italian!
Christmas food? Pie. Cannolis. Shrimp. Tiramisu. Quesadillas.

Ruthy, thank you SO much for taking the time out of your busy, busy writing schedule, not to mention keeping up with that family of yours!
We all love you Ruthy and your books are excellent!!! Please everyone, especially if you're not familiar with Ruthy's books, visit her at her website. She LOVES hearing from her readers : )

Today there is a giveaway!! We will be giving away one copy of Winter's End by Ruth Logan Herne! I know it's not quite the end of winter yet, but ah well!! LOL! We want to know what your favorite part about winter is? Also be sure to leave your email, without these two parts, you will not be eligible for the drawing.

Okay onto the Mystery Song of the Day!!! Hint: This song is incredibly sad. There is a book and movie that stemmed from the song alone (I think that was the order). Hope you enjoy it!

That's all for another day, friends! Tomorrow you're all in for a treat when our favorite redhead stops in for a bit ; ) Can you guess who it is!?
It's getting closer!
Hannah

20 comments:

  1. Fabulous interview, Ruthy! :D You're so sweet and so much fun!

    Hannah, I'm really enjoying these Christmas posts! :) And I love today's Mystery Song--definitely sad, but good! Have you seen the movie? Such a tear-jerker!

    Don't enter me in today's giveaway, because our dear blogging friend, Ashley, sent me her copy of Winter's End a while ago, which I'm still anticipating diving into! :)

    ~Amber

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  2. What a sweet interview...brought back a lot of memories of Christmas's past. My Hubby waited for me to return from Midnight Mass to give me my engagement ring!
    We were also quite poor growing up. My Mom didn't think I knew, never said anything. She would remake our dolls. Our plain dolls became bride dolls.
    Thank YOU!
    Maureen

    alekee02[at]yahoo[dot]com

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  3. Hi Amber!
    I'm hoping that Ruthy can get here sometime today : )

    Thanks, I'm enjoying doing them! They're very, very time consuming BUT you know....it's worth it I'd say. I am getting SO vamped up for this holiday season. Lol...it feels like it's started but not at the same time, you know? I mean, I'm home every weekend and usually at least once during the week, but it's still just not the same. Soon though....the rest of this week and I'm officially home! I only have 2 finals next week and I'm just going to commute for them because you couldn't pay me to stay ; )

    We HAVE seen the movie *sniffle sniffle* Soooo sad, but it's really good. Did you know there's a sequel? Alicia was telling me that there are actually a couple books now...*shrug* I don't know! Yep I guess she's right! Check it out here:

    http://www.donnavanliere.com/books.html

    Okay, I'm off! Talk to you later, Amber!
    Hannah

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  4. Hi Maureen,
    First of all, thank you! I think you signed up to be a follower : ) Welcome, you've joined in a really fun time!

    Also, thank you for sharing those stories! That is so incredibly romantic of your husband : ) And how very cool about your dolls. I'm sure you must treasure those so much!

    You're entered in the giveaway, but what's your favorite part of winter? Hope to see you again soon!
    Hannah

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  5. What a cute little kid nativity, Hannah! Is that your Mom's class or kids from your church? . . . After reading this, I looked up the Child of the Poor/What Child Is This? medley. The version I listened to included some haunting photos. So that plus today's mystery song were a bit sad. But I guess together they're a good reminder of why we need Jesus in this life! . . . I was glad to read Ruthy Revealed. I always enjoy her comments when I lurk over at Seekerville. And even tho' I'm an upstate New Yorker, I'm too far away--so I missed out on meeting her like Joy and Julia did! I'm working my way through the Seeker books, but I know folks have loved the ones Ruth writes. How generous to offer a giveaway . . . Thanks for all the great posts this month! Blessings to both of you!

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  6. I love the Transiberian Orchestra too Ruthy. When rock meets Christmas music it's just awesome...gotta love that electric guitar!

    LOL it seems that we all love pie! I agree pie is the YUMMIEST Christmas food and really my favorite thing to eat ALL year round!

    And since I HATE winter I have to say my favorite thing about winter is when it's over Does that count? LOL I do love Christmas though so maybe if I HAD to pick something that I liked about winter it would be that.

    Winter's End is the book I don't have so I would love to be entered. Thank you so much Hannah and Ruthy.

    XOXO~ Renee
    steelergirl83(at)gmail(dot)com

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  7. Hey, I just realized I didn't tell you what my favorite part of winter is--and I do want to be entered in the drawing. From a teacher's perspective, I'd have to say that my favorite part of winter is Snow Days! Yay! reneeasmith61 [at] yahoo [dot] com

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  8. Hey Renee Ann!
    You know, it's always really nice to see you : ) Thank you for coming every day, it's nice to know that someone's reading! LOL!

    Anyway, noooo those aren't my mom's kids OR from the sunday school, they're Ruthy's grandchildren (I believe)! Aren't they adorable!?

    I'm so sorry my song was a little bit of a downer today, it's just such a touching song. I look forward to hearing it every year. Isn't that song of Ruthy's sad though....man....you've really got to reflect after that one.

    I didn't realize you were a New Yorker! We're a lot closer than I assumed (since I'm not near ANYONE!). Very cool : )

    I totally hear ya about the Snow Days!! They're awesome! And you're definitely in the drawing.
    See you soon,
    Hannah

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  9. Hey Renee (the other Renee! LOL),
    They are awesome! Ruthy had a great pick : )

    Pie is tasty! I think you'd love my mom/grandma's Toll House Pie, it's oh goodness fabulous!! I could keep listing pies....they're soooo tasty....

    That totally counts, Renee! For you, girl, anything *wink*

    Talk to you soon I hope!
    Hannah

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  10. So have we figured out who's coming tomorrow yet?!

    ; )

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  11. Hi Ruthy!

    I love the idea of donating to charity instead of doing presents. I wish I could get the rest of my family aboard for something like that. Maybe I should just start this year whether they want to or not. LOL.

    And it's not the holiday season until I've seen It's A Wonderful Life.

    Merry Christmas!

    Joy

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  12. RUTHY!!! SOOO much fun learning more about you!!! And I LOVE the Transiberian Orchestra!! My daughter's boyfriend is taking her to that this weekend, the little brat!! You would think he would try to chum up with the future MIL, but NOOOOOO!!!! :)

    HANNAH ... LOVE THE CHRISTMAS BLOGFEST!!! Gets you in the mood, you know??

    Don't enter me for Ruthy's book because I already have it and it's WONDERFUL!!!

    Hugs,
    Julie

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  13. Oh no! Seriously Hannah - I HAVE to follow RUthy?????
    Now is that really fair. She is so much cooler than I am (although A LOT of our answers are the same ;-) Great minds, but please don't tell her I said that.

    And Hannah, I've come to accept she loves you more than me. I'm okay with it, though. Just finished eating about 5 oreo truffles and that made it all better.

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  14. My favorite part of winter is Christmas of course, and winter break --no school! LOL, I never looked forward to that as much when I was home-schooled for some reason . . . =P

    I was reading reviews for this book, so even though I've never read any LoveInspired books before, all the good reviews has got me intrigued.

    Thanks for the chance to win!

    jafuchi7[at]hawaii[dot]edu

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  15. Great interview, Hannah and Ruthy! Ruthy, I'm with you on the lights! Although my mom always put like 2000 lights on our tree, and I don't have the patience for that. (If y'all want to see the true me, come visit while I'm putting up or taking down tree lights!!) LOL So because of that impatience, my trees are never quite as bright as the ones I grew up with. :)

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  16. My favorite part of winter is Christmas and the snow. I love spending time with family, some you only get to see once a year. From a photographer's point of view, snow can be so captivating and beautiful. It is very cold, and awful to drive in, but it's just another wonder of mother nature to be amazed by. maybeitsmallory@hotmail.com

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  17. My favorite part of winter is definitly Christmas. It's a shame that it comes so early in the season because once Christmas is over, I have absolutely no use for winter. Though I will say I'm with Renee on the "snow days." I'm married to a teacher/ coach/ pastor. Sometimes snow days are the only time we get to see him in the winter.

    I'm assuming (since Hannah informed me of this blog today *thanks for that, btw* )that I'm not too late for the giveaway. So count me in!

    andeemarie95@gmail.com

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  18. Oh my stars, late to my own party per usual.

    Maureen, welcome aboard!

    And H., I had so much fun doing this interview, telling people all the fun/weird/quaint/did-I-mention-weird things we do!

    But that medley: What Child is This/Child of the Poor....

    Yes, haunting. Melodic. Beautiful. Soul-stirring. It makes me remember why I'm here, why Christ came, why it is what it is before there was tinsel or candy canes or gifts under a tree.

    It was a baby, cold and bereft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger...

    A baby that a wicked king wanted dead and three pretty smart dudes longed to see.

    Amazing. A miracle.

    And each blessed baby, each little one (and don't you just LOVE that pic of those little ones? They're my little friends, the children I watch by day despite my idiosyncrasies, LOL!

    We make cookies, we dress up, we pretend, we learn letters and numbers and how cool Jesus is. Dude, he rocks!) is so perfect, such a wonderful blessing!!! I love babies!

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  19. And Missy is totally DOWNPLAYING how many lights she puts on her tree. she and I might not rival her mother, but we both load the tree with lights, inside and outside of the branches.

    We are obsessed.

    Mostly her.

    ;)

    And Pepper!!!! I love that we're chumming over here and on Seekerville today!!! Hugs to you, my friend, and isn't it a hoot (or downright frightening for you) to see how much alike we are?

    Run, dear.

    Run fast and far!!!

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  20. I couldn't find an end date, so just delete this if it's too late to enter! :-)

    My favorite part of winter? hmm...that'd have to be when I step outside and can see my breath in the air - I just love going outside as soon as I wake up and feel the icy-cold penetrate into my clothes. (Of course, thankfully, I can step right back into a warm house after standing there a few minutes! :-P)

    I'd love to be entered into the giveaway!

    ~ Katy
    legacy1992(at)gmail(dot)com

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