Gosh, it doesn't seem possible that it's less than 23 days until Christmas! One of my friends sent me a website link that actually counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds. I know she was trying to be helpful (everyone knows that I'm disorganized, particularly during the holiday season), but I didn't find the link helpful. Instead I nearly had a panic attack as I watched the seconds ticking down. For those of you organized or masochistic people saying , "Cool! I want that link!" you can find the countdown at: mysite.verizon.net/vze201j5/countdown.htm
I really do love the holidays, but I also find the season stressful. I come from a big family, and I have a gazillion gifts to buy. Every year I tell my husband that I'm going to start shopping the day after Christmas for next year and have all my shopping done and the gifts wrapped and ready to go by July 4th. He just nods. We've been married a long time, and he knows better than to tell me that I can't organize tomorrow let alone a big project like getting my Christmas shopping done by July 4th. So every year December rolls around and I realize I've bought about two gifts, and the mad rush begins.
Since "holiday season" and "stress" seem synonymous this time of year for so many people, I decided to run a contest this month that centers around laughter. Send me your funniest holiday memory (it can be from any holiday). I'll pick out what I feel are the top ten funniest stories and post them on my website where readers can vote on what three stories they think are the funniest. The top three winners will be given their choice of one of Dave's Speed Bump cartoon books: Speed Bump: Cartoons for Idea People; Just One %$#@ Speed Bump After Another . . .: More Cartoons; or Speed Bump. You can look at these books at www.amazon.com to see which book you think you'd enjoy the most.
The rules for the contest are simple:
1. Only one entry per person. Due to shipping restrictions, entries are limited to persons from the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii, and Canada.
2. Please submit true memories. No, I can't verify that they're true, but remember that Santa is watching and he'll know! You may change the names in your story to protect the innocent (or not so innocent).
3. Please keep your entry short. These are memories, so try to tell them in one page or less. And, yes, if you need to go over one page, I'll still accept your entry.
4. Please submit PG entries - no sexual scenes, no violence, no foul language, etc. If my mother and small children can't read it, it won't make it into the finals no matter how funny it is.
5. E-mail your entry to carin@carinrafferty.com by midnight on December 22, 2007. I'd prefer you sent the entry as an e-mail attachment to make it easier to post on the website if you make it into the finals.
6. Each entry must include your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address so you can be contacted if you're a winner. This information will not be posted anywhere, so your privacy will be protected!
7. I'll post the top ten entries on the website by December 24th, and I'll close the voting on midnight December 30th, 2007. The winners will be announced on New Year's Day, which is January 1st, 2008 for those who are calendar challenged.
That's it for the rules! If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me.
Signing off for now,
Carin |
