You will never have to pay to be listed as a top neighbor. Period. That important detail clarified, let's discuss how we arrive at two "top neighbors" for a given region:
Localism is a bustling collection of hyper-local communities, and the top neighbors should reflect those members who are most active. When ranking users in a given region, several factors are considered. To get your foot in the proverbial door, you need to have posted at least one "Localism" article or photo for the region.
The very best way to quickly rise to #1 is to post high-quality local content. Keeping a steady strem of incoming posts and photos will massively tilt the scales in your favor.
What doesn't count toward the top neighbor ranking? ActiveRain points and community sponsorships. The top neighbor spots will always go to the most active members in a region. We want to create a level playing field that encourages the growth of communities — talent and dedication are required to win the day.
Christmas 2011 Part 7 - Supper and The Running Game
What is the perfect ending of a perfect day?
Well, a supper consisting entirely of dessert is a great idea. Those who were still hungry later had some “healthy food” as well.
And, after the evening time routine is begun, after jammies are on, what could be a better conclusion than the Running Game?
For you who are uninitiated, it consists of running down the hall at full speed, crashing into grandpa who is sitting cross legged in front of the fireplace, and ending up knocking him over! It is called the Running Game, and it can go on 20 times or more in a row...
The videographer is the victim of the crash, so the video is not TV quality. But the hugs and laughter definitely are...
When it is time to celebrate, it is time to eat together!
This Christmas we had ham. My son in law gave him a name, but then kept it quite in case the little ones heard and got too attached to the giver of the ham.
And yes - mashed potatoes and gravy, and Patti’s wonderful cranberry jello salad! Some corn and bread rolls completed the meal. No one went hungry!
One of my buyer’s agents was busy with his wife feeding homeless teenagers. Pretty amazing! A reminder to us of the needy right around us. And gratefulness for their generous and giving spirit.
Our family has some very clear traditions around the opening of the presents.
First, we have the Christmas story about the Great Present (Jesus coming to earth), then some singing, and only then do we start opening presents.
Our tradition is that the youngest one present gets to hand out the presents. When all 26 of my family used to celebrate Christmas together, the children would take turns handing out presents, starting with the youngest, the the next youngest and so on, down the line.
Here there are only 2 children, one who can read and one who cannot. So a clever collaboration was established. The older one would read who it was to and from, the younger would deliver the present.
Another tradition? Only ONE present at a time. No disorganized free-for-all! Everyone gets to see the present and giving thanks, and giving hugs, and the display of the present are all part of the tradition.
We discovered that the kids enjoyed ripping open the wrapping paper as much as any of the presents. So they helped open EVERY present!
There is another tradition I didn’t think about until we were opening presents. We bring garbage cans, or garbage bags, to put the wrapping paper in. My parents were oh-so-frugal, so bows would be separated and kept. Ribbon that was usable would be separated as well. Any paper that could be preserved would be carefully folded and put aside. In the video I laughed out loud when our three year old grandson came running with an empty garbage can to make sure the paper was properly disposed of!
Opening of presents. One at a time. Proper thanks given. Order not chaos with the wrapping paper. All meant to increase gratitude and decrease the mentality of selfishness and entitlement.
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