So Thanksgiving is over and the mad dash to the New Year has begun. Instead of being ‘the most wonderful time of the year’, it seems to me, this is ‘the most stressful time of the year’. Between relatives, office parties, gift shopping, and actually seeing people you want to visit with, most people don’t seem to be having much fun at these ‘fun’ events. What to do? Go to your library—it is a place where you can escape into a quiet area and just relax. You can find books on beating stress such as ‘Ties that stress: the new family imbalance’ by David Elkind (Non-F 306.85 ELK).
Don’t want to deal with your stress right now? Try something designed to make the holidays easier. A good pick is ‘Entertaining 1-2-3: More than 300 recipes for food and drink using only three ingredients’, by Rozanne Gold (Non-F 641.555 GOL). The party food & hors d’oeuvres section is excellent for this time of year when guests unexpectedly drop-in. The recipes are really easy and many are made with items you probably have or could easily get. If you are like me, cooking only adds to your stress, but this book can still help. Check out the drinks section. The Mexi-Freeze, a combination of frozen lemonade concentrate, tequila and grenadine, sounds like a potent stress buster!
Still too much and too stressful? We have books that can make you laugh. My favorite is ‘Holidays on Ice’ by David Sedaris (Non-F 817 SED). His story about being a Christmas Elf at Macy’s has helped me through many years of working during the holidays—no matter how bad my experiences, I have never had to wear an elf outfit! I have already read it once this year after a particularly difficult Black Friday. I am sure I will use it several more times before the calendar changes.
Finally, if you don’t have time for any of this, stop in and grab a DVD. I recommend ‘The Party’ (DVD F PAR) staring Peter Sellers. It is super silly and would really go well with a Lemon-Tini from the Entertaining 1-2-3 book! Have a wonderful holiday filled with good food, good people, and good books….
Submitted by C. Lambert.