Christmas Shopping Season

It's that time of year again!  You know, where we celebrate Christmas with some good ol' fashioned shopping.  Its barely time for Halloween to be over and the Christmas shopping season is in full swing.  Christmas carols are playing, merchandise is out and designed for the "i want everything" shopper.

Stores are lightly decorated to appear as if they are Christmas, but not enough to really make them look nice.  After all, we don't want to spend much on Christmas decorations.  We just want people to buy stuff.  The Black Friday specials are already being announced and almost launched.  In fact, some stores report they are going to open them up early.  Really, who needs the Thanksgiving holiday to get in the way.

Of course, you have the people that claim there is a reason for the season and how awful it is that we take Christ out of Christmas. Yet these very same people are the ones beating the other shoppers down as they grab the latest and greatest toys and gadgets.  They talk the talk, but they don't walk the talk!

Tis The Season For Christmas Music

Written by Don Shetterly

By the time this posts, we will be well into the Christmas season.  The shopping is in full swing.  The company Christmas parties are scheduled.

Growing up as a kid, the holiday season was something I looked forward to for weeks.  The artificial Christmas tree going up with the lights and decorations holds an endearing place in my heart.  My mom would bake all types of Christmas candy and cookies which I enjoyed.

There were the Christmas programs at church and at school that I would rehearse for and prepare.  Most of the time I was playing Christmas carols on the piano.  I loved every minute of it.  In high school, I was the main pianist for the choir.

In among all the good, there were some very rough moments, but the one thing that remained with me throughout my life is Christmas music.  It always gave me a smile and a moment of peace.  It helps bring in the joy and anticipation of the season.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity of creating a CD of Christmas Music for someone to give as a gift.  My Christmas Songs CD is a collection of many of my own favorite songs of the season.

The CD is filled with simple music played on the piano in just the way I used to play it when I was a kid.  It will connect with you emotionally and lift you up in the spirit of the season with joy and peace.

I hope you check my CD out.  You can listen to it or download it on most of the music download sites.  If it doesn't show up in your favorite music store, let me know, and I'll see if I can get them to carry it.  If you want, you can also buy the physical CD!

The Christmas Songs CD is ideal for family gatherings or Christmas parties.  Play it when you decorate your Christmas tree.  Use it in the morning where you wake up on Christmas Day and open presents.

Please share this blog post with everyone you know.  I'm proud of this CD, and this music means something very special to me.

Tis The Season For Christmas Music!

The Christmas Songs On the CD

1. Silent Night, Holy Night
2. Angels From The Realms Of Glory
3. Away In A Manger
4. The First Noel (Nowell)
5. What Child Is This?
6. We Three Kings
7. It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
8. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
9. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
10. O Come All Ye Faithful
11. Joy To The World
12. Deck The Halls
13. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
14. Christmas Morning Bells
15. Christmas Medley

Download / Listen To Christmas Songs 

• Spotify
• iTunes
• Amazon
• ChristmasPianoSongs.com

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Blog Post And Images (c) 11/30/17 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required in writing before any part of this blog is reprinted, reworded, transmitted or used in any format. 
• Feel free to share the blog post LINK and a brief summary.  

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Black Friday Is Not Christmas

Everyone loves a good deal.  Everyone loves the specials of Black Friday.  This year, it doesn't look like there are that great of specials because the retailers want you to spend money on full price items, not heavily discounted items.  They don't make as much money that way.

Everyone thinks that Black Friday is the start of the Christmas holiday shopping season.  In today's ways, it is.  However, at the time everyone claims there is a war on Christmas, they gladly go belly up to the bar of shopping and spending all they can.  They get caught up in the craziness of Black Friday.

Of course the retail organizations and others claim that people need to go out and spend money.  After all if they don't, none of these businesses in our country will make it.  Sure, everyone thinks it is about Christmas, but it isn't.  Where in the bible does Jesus command you to go out and buy, buy, buy on Black Friday?

Behind The Christmas Glitter

This is actually the first year for many that I've not just dreaded Christmas. Normally at this time of the year, my body is aching, stiff, sore and I'm wanting to hide or lash out at anyone I see (especially in the stores). But this year, its been different for some reason. Not that I'm doing anything different per se in my activities but maybe that part of me is beginning to heal. Normally depression has hit me so hard I'm struggling to keep my head above water and I remember a few very recent Christmas times that just about pulled me under. A couple of years ago, I almost lost it in a Kmart shopping lot on an unsuspecting shopper. That really woke me up a bit. Than I went into hiding, wanted to just end things. It was a tough year. So that's like I was saying, something has changed.

Granted, its not all fun and giggles. I get irritated when I see people spending countless hundreds (thousands) of dollars on gifts that are going to end up in yard sales or the garbage a few months later just to prove to someone they love them. I get irritated when like today I was trying to go to the store for something we needed and everyone was acting as if the world was ending tomorrow and you'd never be able to buy another thing. In the Target parking lot, one lady was coming out in her motorized wheelchair (there's a lot of those around here) and she was crossing the parking lot. I was waiting for her, and another lady figured she'd get the jump on me because she saw an open parking spot but she almost ran the wheelchair lady over. I almost got out of my vehicle and let her have it. I had to restrain myself. I do have a soft spot for people in wheel chairs because of being in one myself at one point.

I remember those times when people invited me over for Christmas and I felt so awkward. While I know they cared and they were offering their home and goodwill, it was some rough moments. Again though, I remember when no one invited me over and I sat at home missing everything in life and hating everything there was to hate. Those times were difficult and if you turned on a TV or a radio (pre-mp3 ipod days), all you heard was Christmas. If you just happened to catch your neighbors through the window, you could see they were off celebrating with family or someone was coming to their home bringing presents in the door. There was no escaping it.

From the time I was a little kid, there was one time of year that was special in our house. My mom made sure of it. It was Christmas. We never had much and we barely got any gifts. I could never understand for the longest time how Santa would bring many gifts to my friends, but not to us. Then when I learned who Santa really was, I found out how my mom saved their pennies up all year long to buy a few gifts for each of us. She made it special with her baking of holiday treats, with helping put together a Christmas program at church to decorating the house. I'll never forget that about her. There were of course the rough moments mixed in when we would exchange gifts as I got older. Sometimes the gift wasn't perfect enough for the person and you would see and hear the disappointment in them. That grew difficult to accept and to this day I still struggle receiving gifts and giving them. I worry so much if the person will like them or if I will disappoint them.

There is no easy way to deal with this time of year. Each person has their own perceptions of what Christmas should be and it is rooted in what it was when they were a kid. While it is supposed to be one of the most happiest times of the year, I know personally just how tormenting it can be. I've learned over the years that I do what I need to do for myself and push aside all the things that others feel I must do. As time has went, I have begun to create a Christmas time that works for me as I borrow from all my experiences and as I lean on to that which I truly feel like doing in a year. And yet I know, that whatever I do it will be enough for me to enjoy or tolerate Christmas in whatever way I so desire. I am not obligated to do Christmas just because it is that time of year. The only thing that matters is that I take care of myself and nurture the little boy inside of me.

The Reason For The Season

Okay, I know not everyone does this.  I know that some keep the balance but still love Christmas and the holidays and shopping.  I'm not one of those.  And this blog post isn't about those that keep the balance.

Unfortunately for all too many people, the reason for the season is about buying stuff and getting stuff and getting more stuff and buying even more stuff.  I know, it makes the economy go round and round, and after all, isn't this what is written in the Bible and preached in the churches.  The reason for the season is all about buying all kinds of gifts and hoping that your loved ones will love you even more.

Now, if I'm offending you and you're not one of these people, please go back and read the first paragraph again.

This Keeps Christ In Christmas?

Tis the season to shop has begun.  You know, the one that everyone claims is horrible, but yet thousands flood the local stores.  You know the one that everyone screams, keep Christ in Christmas, but then they see how many presents they can buy baby Jesus.

I am never disappointed in being shocked by people and this Black Friday sales event was no exception.  Our refrigerator went out on Thanksgiving, so we're trying to find another one.  We figured that Best Buy in Sanford, Florida was on our way home from Thanksgiving meal and since they were open, we would stop in.

Oh my land!  It was complete pandemonium there. Yes, I was crazy for even thinking about going in a store to look for another one on this day.  Go ahead, call me crazy!

Dozens of cars were circling the parking lot looking for a place to park.  People parking anywhere they could and walking a distance to the store.  I guess, I should have known by that moment, but no - I had to go find a distant parking place and walk to the store. I ignored all the things that were telling me, this was not a good idea!

You couldn't see it until you were in it...

Once I got in the store, it looked like just a lot of people shopping.  However, as I made my way through the crowd that didn't seem as bad until I got in the middle of it, I realized that the store had the isles blocked with merchandise routing people around the store to their specials and the checkout lanes.  Of course, until you were in the middle of this, you didn't fully realize what you were in the middle of at that moment.  You couldn't see it until you were in it.

Realizing that about 30 people were standing in front of the appliance isle I needed to go to, I quickly determined there was no reason to stay and I started to leave.  Now, I'm claustrophobic and this type of scene dramatically increases my anxiety.  The walls were closing in quickly and all I wanted to do was get out of this store.  It was the moment of my anxiety where it was either me or others that were not in a good place and I knew I had to get out quickly.

I started to panic...

As I looked up and saw just what a mess it was in the store, I started to panic.  It was then that I almost put the football pads on and went plowing through people.  I knew I had only minutes before the anxiety would completely take over me and take me down.  Fortunately, I made my way out of the place before that happened.  I'm still shocked and stunned by what I saw.

If there would have been a fire in the store or some crazy person loosing it with a gun, there is no way anyone could have gotten out of their.  I can't believe the Sanford Fire Department would allow this type of behavior, but either they didn't know, they didn't care, or they just didn't want to be bothered.  Best Buy should have done something (anything) to deal with crowd control, but I'm guessing the all-mighty dollar of Black Friday sales is more important than worrying about the safety of their customers.  After all, if something bad doesn't happen - then what's the worry?!

This morning though, I saw the Orlando Sentinel with the headline, "Thanksgiving Day Shopping Falters On Shrinking Crowds".  Really?  Exactly where did they go to determine the facts for such a statement?  I mean, if you looked at the closed stores, sure I would agree with you.  There were no cars there.

According to the Orlando Sentinel...

Quoting their newspaper article, "But judging by crowds at Central Florida stores Thursday, Thanksgiving shopping just doesn't draw the same interest it once did."  Really?  Obviously they picked stores and places we were not at.  I mean, every open store we saw was jam-packed.  The roads were packed.  The interstate was bumper to bumper.  Exactly what part of "Central Florida" did the Orlando Sentinel travel to for this article?

It irks me when the media just flat out doesn't do their homework.  Some might call it dishonest and lying.  To make a statement as they did in this headline is beyond belief.  It isn't backed up by any facts other than trying to make a sensationalized headline to grab someone's attention.  Facts aren't necessary.  All you need for the media is hype and people will buy it.

So last night, not only did Best Buy fail their customers, but so did the Fire Department and law enforcement of this area.  And - so did the Orlando Sentinel for reporting bogus facts to make a bogus story.  That's what keeping Christ in Christmas is all about?  That's celebrating the season of peace and joy and love?  This is how we are human?

And no - its not all the other people out there.  Don't let yourself off the hook that easy.  It is everyone that gets caught up in the greed and "I have to have this" type of behavior.  It is everyone that gets caught up in being hoodwinked into reading news that isn't true.

Maybe we all want to ask ourselves a very hard question - is this what it means to be human?  Is this what Christmas is about?  What is our role in all of this - and don't let yourself off the hook!  I saw far too many that would be standing on the street corner claiming we need to keep Christ in Christmas!

#ChristmasShopping

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Black Friday Craziness

I'm sure we all sit here gasping when we read various headlines.  After all, we see this black Friday craziness and wonder if we reside on the same planet with these shoppers that purport to be human.  I've seen accounts this year of someone claiming they will stab another if they try to shove their way in.  I've seen accounts of a lady that fought with police to get in line until they held her down, handcuffed her and hauled her to jail.  There are the people who spend days of their life waiting in line, trying to get a deal that saves them a couple hundred bucks.  Last but not least, there are the ones that spend day and night shopping and buying everything they can get their hands on.

Of course, we have the other side of the issue where some people boycott businesses on Black Friday and urge everyone else to do the same.  There are ones who could care less what is going on in the store and try to stay away from all the Black Friday Craziness.  Yet, you also will find people who have waited all year to buy some items that are now deeply discounted and make them more affordable.  I'm sure I am leaving out many other people as well.

Mother's Day Facts, Trivia and Things To Do

This post is a tribute to Mom's across the world as we get ready to celebrate Mother's Day on May 8, 2011 (at least here in the United States). I know some parts of the world celebrate it at different times and most likely differently than we do here in the US. I would love to hear how you celebrate it where ever you live and please leave a comment describing that.

This post is of course, dedicated to my own mom who left this world on Jan 4, 2002. www.mothersdaymusic.net



Here are a few facts and trivia about Mother's Day.

- Celebration of Mother's Day officially began in 1914.
- Mothering Sunday in Great Britain took place on the 4th Sunday of Lent.
- In 1872, Julia Ward organized a day of peace for mothers on June 2.
- Ana Jarvis managed to persuade her church to celebrate a day for mothers.
- Ana Jarvis was trying to begin a national campaign until she died in 1905.
- Ana Jarvis's daughter continued the campaign after she passed away.
- Ana Jarvis wanted a quiet day of reflection, prayer and peace with family.
- President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation establishing this day in 1914.
- There are over 82 million mothers in the US.
- Approximately 81% of women between 40 and 44 years old are mothers.
- There are 4 million new mothers each year.
- The average for a new mother is 25 years.
- July is the most popular month to have a baby.
- Tuesday is the most popular day of the week when babies are born.
- In 2010, there were 5 million stay at home moms.
- Mother's Day is the third most popular holiday after Christmas.
- Eve is considered the mother of all living in the bible.
- Over 120 million calls are made on Mother's Day.
- Nearly 80% of Americans by a card for their mom on Mother's Day.
- Approximately 139 million Mother’s Day cards are given each year
- 83% of the cards purchased on Mother's Day are by daughters.
- Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants
- The special flower for Mother's Day is a carnation.
- In 2008 in the US, 42,746 births did not occur in hospitals.
- Cards and Flowers are the most popular gifts on Mother's Day.
- In 2008, there were 777,817 child care centers in the US.
- There are 9.9 million single mothers in the US in 2010.
- In The US, Mother's Day is always the second Sunday of May.
- Mother's Day is the second most popular gift giving day.
- Hallmark has been producing cards for this day since 1920.
- The average person will spend about $127 on Mother’s Day gifts.
- About $1.9 billion are spent on flowers for Mother's Day.
- Almost $2.9 billion is spent on taking mom to lunch on this day.
- About $1.5 billion is spent on Mother's Day gift certificates.
- Men spend much more than women on Mother’s Day
- Having children later in life may help moms to live longer.
- Over 30,000 single mothers have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Most moms like to just spend time with their families and children on Mother's Day. Sure, going out to eat or buying her something makes the day special. I'll bet though if you asked any mom what she enjoyed most, and it would be spending a leisurely day, relaxing, talking or doing something together. So here's a few ideas to get you started but be creative! This is only a start! And Mom's, feel free to print this out and leave it laying around the house. Maybe you could wall paper the bedroom doors of your kids room with it. Just kidding of course (or am I?)


Things To Do With Your Mom On Mother's Day

- Spend time and hang out with your mom.
- Visit the park with your mom.
- Take mom to the movies.
- Go ice skating or roller skating.
- Clean the house for your mom.
- Wash and wax your mom's car.
- Go on a picnic.
- Buy or build her a front porch swing or hammock.
- Create a hand made card for her.
- Make a scrapbook together with your mom.
- Play a board game together as a family.
- Create an inspirational book of her favorite quotes.
- Create a coupon book of things you'll do for her during the year.
- Go for an ice cream cone.
- Treat her to a nice relaxing afternoon at the spa.
- Just talk to your mom and share your life with her.
- Make a simple breakfast in bed for her.
- Have her go on a scavenger hunt for thank-you's around the house.
- Plant flowers with her.
- Put a CD of her favorite music together.
- Bake something together and you clean up the kitchen.
- Go shopping together.
- Take her to a concert, a zoo or area attractions.
- Take a day trip.
- Go to a coffee shop.
- Take your mom out to eat or cook her a meal.
- Take a walk together.
- Give your mom a day away from everyone to relax.
- Tell her you love her.
- Give her a list of things of how much she means to you.
- Play her a song on whatever instrument you play.
- Compose a song and sing it to her.
- Give your mom a day to just read a good book by herself.
- A day of rest or a do absolutely nothing day.
- Those truly touching we appreciate you moments and gifts.
- Anything you can do that makes her feel special and wanted.
- Weed and clean her flower bed out.
- Create a photo album of old memories.
- Make a tribute video to your mom and be creative.
- Take her to the beach for the day.
- Download for your mom a relaxing music CD.
- Have a family portrait taken or painted.
- If you're a kid living at home, clean your room without being told.
- Write a poem together for your mom.
- Create an ecard for your mom.
- Check out local resources for activities on mother's day.
- Create a family history with your mother.
- Enjoy and celebrate the holiday of Mother's Day.


Whatever you decide to do on Mother's Day, keep it simple and make it something that you will cherish with your mom for years to come. It isn't about seeing how much money you can buy or how much you can impress your mom. Mother's Day is about showing your mom how much you care about her and how much she means to you. Hopefully you have had a mom that truly cared for you and if you did not, my heart does go out to you.


I created a CD called, Relaxing Spa Music: Mother's Day, and the music came out of my love and dedication to my mom. I lost my mom in 2002 and she is forever in my heart and in my music. This CD is one that is just as the name implies, it is a relaxing spa CD. I hope you will take a moment and check it out. It is available on Amazon or iTunes. You can listen to sound clips and learn more about it on my website.

Relaxing Spa Music: Mother's Day by Don Shetterly

Buy On Itunes

Buy On Amazon

Buy On CDBaby.com




Some Sources Of Information:
1) Mother's Day Music.net
2) US Census Bureau
3) Hallmark - Mothers Day
4) National Retail Federation



Blog Post & Images (c) 5/1/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com