Wednesday, December 21, 2011

'Twas the Morning of Christmas


My writer friend, Susanna Leonard Hill, is hosting a contest on her blog - sorry, the deadline is 11:59 EST tomorrow night, so that doesn't give you much time to write a story and enter! Here's the link if you want to enter or if you just want to read the amazing versions of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas! 

Susanna will choose three finalists and, on December 26th, she'll post them on her blog where her blog-followers can vote for their favorite. The winner will receive their choice of either a $15 Amazon gift card or the 2012 Children's Writers and Illustrators Market!

So, I wrote my own version of the story and have posted it below. Even if I don't make it to the finals, it was a lot of fun writing it!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah or Happy Kwanzaa!



'Twas the Morning of Christmas
'Twas the morning of Christmas with nothing much newish,
No stockings, no presents, no tree - 'cause we're Jewish

But still, Christmas day is a very big deal
    We have our traditions and big family meal.

    We lounge ‘round the house since we're not in a hurry,
    We stay in our jammies and mukluks, so furry.

    For breakfast we toast up some bagels to eat,
    With layers of cream cheese and lox - what a treat!

    We talk and tell stories and play a few games,
    We light a nice fire and we gaze at the flames.

    We eat Chinese dinner; they serve up big portions
    and then, for dessert, we have cookies with fortunes.

    We finish our feast, then we're off to the show,
    ‘Cause Jews go to movies on Christmas, you know.

    And on our drive home, we admire all the lights,
    Merry Christmas to all and - OY, what a night!


      


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23 comments:

  1. Miranda PaulDecember 21, 2011 at 4:45 PM

    LOVED IT!!

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  2. Lori DegmanDecember 21, 2011 at 4:53 PM

    Thanks, Miranda - I loved yours too! There's some stiff competition in this contest :-)

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  3. AEA Elementary StaffDecember 21, 2011 at 5:00 PM

    I love this! Sounds like what the day is like at my house! Can't wait for sesame chicken!

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  4. Patti HarrisDecember 21, 2011 at 5:07 PM

    Lori, this is fabulous! I can't wait to share it with my Jewish friends when I get back home as they will love it!! (I wanted your story to be longer, though. I wasn't ready for it to end!)

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  5. Lori DegmanDecember 21, 2011 at 5:20 PM

    Sandi, sadly, I don't get to do this anymore (in fact it's been 27 years) because I married a Christian so we do all the Christmasy stuff.

    Thanks, Harris - one of the nicest compliments you can give an author is wanting it to be longer!! I hope your friends like it!

    Have a great Christmas and New Year!!

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  6. Vicki Daly RedholtzDecember 21, 2011 at 6:49 PM

    I loved it too, Lori

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  7. Penny Parker KlostermannDecember 21, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    Wonderful rhyming! Loved the movie stanza :•)

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  8. AnonymousDecember 21, 2011 at 7:11 PM

    What fun..Chinese for Christmas Day sounds fabulous.

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  9. Susanna Leonard HillDecember 21, 2011 at 7:33 PM

    Love it, Lori! OY what an entry :) Very fun and original :) A whole different way to enjoy Christmas. Thanks so much for joining in the fun!

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  10. GailDecember 21, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    Lori: Good job! My family has the opposite plan; we go to the movies first and then Chinese food afterward. Great place to go see all our friends!

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  11. Think Positive, Be PositiveDecember 21, 2011 at 8:57 PM

    OMG! I LOVED it!!! Good luck with the contest...

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  12. AnonymousDecember 22, 2011 at 2:45 AM

    I love seeing this peek into how others spend this time of year. I don't know anyone who is Jewish so this was just great for me to read.

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  13. catherinemjohnson.comDecember 22, 2011 at 9:27 AM

    Same as Jo, great insight and story.

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  14. Lori DegmanDecember 22, 2011 at 9:43 AM

    Vicki,
    It'd be great to celebrate Chanukah together sometime! Preferably in sunny L.A. :-)

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  15. Lori DegmanDecember 22, 2011 at 9:47 AM

    Penny and Delores,
    I agree, I love the tradition of Chinese dinner and a movie!

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  16. Lori DegmanDecember 22, 2011 at 9:49 AM

    Susanna,
    Thanks for hosting the contest - it was a lot of fun!! You got some wonderful entries too - it'll be hard for you and your judges to pick your finalists!

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  17. Lori DegmanDecember 22, 2011 at 9:50 AM

    Gail,
    Actually, I prefer to do movie then dinner too - otherwise I'm too tired at the movie! I'm not sure why I wrote it the way I did.

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  18. Lori DegmanDecember 22, 2011 at 9:51 AM

    Thanks, Donna! I really did it for the challenge and it was a lot of fun to write - but winning would still be sweet :-)

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  19. Lori DegmanDecember 22, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    Jo and Catherine,
    I agree, it's interesting to see how other families do things - to be a fly on the wall! My husband is Christian so we celebrate Christmas too but, the part about lounging around all day in my pajamas is true because my brother-in-law hosts the dinner :-)

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  20. Jarm Del BoccioDecember 23, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    I always wondered what Jewish families do on
    Christmas day...thanks for sharing this, Lori! Great job...and Happy Chanukah!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lori DegmanDecember 25, 2011 at 12:00 AM

    Thanks, Jarm! Have a very Merry Christmas!!

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  22. Stacy S. JensenDecember 29, 2011 at 5:09 PM

    Oh, what fun... loved the "newish." I'm so late after Christmas travels reading some of the entries.

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  23. Lori DegmanDecember 29, 2011 at 5:31 PM

    Thanks Stacy! It's a fine line between cheating and artistic license when using a rhyme like "newish" but it's the best I could do :-)

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