Make plans now to attend events in Oconee, Barrow, Athens, Grayson and Dacula and ring in 2013.
Be sure to check the Oconee Patch event calendar for more events. Have an event you would like added to the calendar? Click here to post it (http://oconee.patch.com/events).
Did all those hints work? Was the top item on your Christmas Wish List under the tree this morning? Or was the top item on your Christmas wish list not a gift at all?
The wait is over, the day has arrived and the big question is finally answered. Did you find the top item on your Christmas wish list under the tree? We all wish for world peace, sometimes just family peace would be good, but there's also always that one item we really would like for Christmas. It's usually something indulgent, something we feel guilty about buying for ourselves - but if someone else buys it for us, well that's different. We can enjoy it without feeling guilty. Sometimes the best gift isn't a gift at all, it's a surprise homecoming of someone special, a healing of a rift in the family that you thought would never happen, or just the opportunity to spend quality time with loved ones you don't get to see every day. So did …
Do you have a favorite Christmas Eve tradition?
Well, it's almost here. Time to put out the milk and cookies for Santa, make sure the little ones are tucked in bed and go to bed early so you're bright eyed and bushy tailed for all the Christmas Day activities. Or is that not your family tradition at all? Is Christmas Eve the time you all stay awake until midnight so as not to miss the Midnight Mass to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas? Do you gather around the fireside and collectively read "The Night Before Christmas," or "The Christmas Story?" Do you travel to another family member's house to cook a special meal together? Do you always exchange at least one gift before going to bed on Christmas Eve? What is your Christmas Eve tradition and what makes it so special to you and …
3:56 pm on Monday, December 24, 2012
When I was little, my family would invite a bunch of families over for Christmas Eve. The purpose? So all the kids could run around and play with each other... And then be exhausted and go straight to bed so the moms & dads could put together the bikes and dollhouses for Christmas morning. more ›
Fill your family's stockings with thoughtful little gifts without spending your whole holiday budget.
My parents are stocking-stuffer experts. Every item in our stockings is perfectly personalized and tailored for its recipient. Some are sweet, some are thoughtful, some are silly, some are useful. They work together to pick up things here and there throughout the year. We always save our stockings to open last, and it’s one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I love to be handed a big, fat stocking, brimming with possibilities! (Our stockings usually come with an annex, a pile on the mantel or an extra bag full of all the goodies that didn’t fit in the stockings. My parents don’t stop filling the stocking just because the stocking is full.) Reaching in and pulling out small things, one by one, and appreciating the level of thought my …
We’ve all been disappointed by a lousy Christmas gift, but it's the thought that counts, right? So what was yours and what did you do with it?
Perhaps it made you feel sad, made you angry or maybe you really are someone who believes it's the thought that counts and you kept it — although maybe at the bottom of your closet. Did you re-gift it and make it a worst Christmas gift for someone else? Most of us have been disappointed in our lifetime by a Christmas gift that wasn't what we were hoping for — some stories are just worse than others. If you had to think of the worst Christmas gift you’ve ever received, what would it be? And what did you do with it?
9:48 am on Saturday, December 29, 2012
The worst gift I ever received was a single sock, that matched nothing. I think I tossed it, but don't really remember. It was many years ago. more ›
Do you think there really is a war on Christmas?
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays? When it comes to season’s greetings, a new poll shows the majority of Americans prefer “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays.” The survey from Rasmussen Reports finds that 68 percent of the people polled prefer the traditional “Merry Christmas” while just 23 percent like "Happy Holidays," which can cover a variety of occasions. When it comes to holiday signs, a whopping 70 percent of shoppers polled said they prefer to be greeted with “Merry Christmas” in stores rather than the more neutral Happy Holidays, according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But it doesn't end there. There have been "Christmas Trees" banned or replaced with "Holiday Trees," nativity scenes scrapped to avoid …
7:31 pm on Sunday, December 16, 2012
I am not Christian, but prefer 'Merry Christmas' instead of 'Happy Holidays', a Christmas Tree called what it is, and everyone able to openly and respectfully practice their own religious holidays. THAT is America imho, and an America I am proud to live in. Diversity should not mean blurring a religion or religious practice, and should also not force one religion's practice on everyone in … more ›
Stephanie Gross
4:56 pm on Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Tracy, That's wonderful and really what the season is about! more ›