I know it’s nearly December and the Christmas decorations have started to pop up, but last week I found some beautiful trees with their last bits of fall color in Western North Carolina. Here’s some amazing red color that I captured from one tree — this is for you Stacey.

The November 23 issue of “New York” magazine boasts “The Gift List,” which made me pick it up this month. I’m a subscriber, but lately haven’t been reading. I’ve been waiting for my subscription to run out, but every now and then I pick it up to read. I secretly want to live in New York city, thus the subscription to magazine that most issues I only read the cover. I’ve loved New York since my first trip in high school, maybe before. I dreamed of becoming a big-wig executive in a glamorous city, sipping martini’s, living the “Sex and the City” life. With two kids, that life is far from what I want, yet I still love NYC — so I live vicariously through the magazine and trips every other year.

After skimming through the gift guide, I stumbled upon an article about “Twilight” moms. Entitled, “Twilight, Take Me Away! Teenage Vampires and the Mothers Who Love Them,” it talks about how the “Twilight” books aren’t just for love-stuck teenagers. Here are some excerpts that intrigued me:

“The books made me feel like a teenager again.”

“TwilightMoms members go so far as to say the books have strengthened their marriages.”

“More than a handful of those (moms) confided that ‘Twilight’ had improved their sex lives

Moms Can Do It

Written by a stay-at-home mom, Stephenie Meyer, she should be inspiration that you can do whatever it is you desire. Stephenie was on “The Oprah Winfrey” show recently talking about how she came up with the now-popular series. It came to her in a dream and she decided to write it down. Don’t miss this important piece of information: Stephenie, the author of the entire “Twilight” series, the now, must be uber-rich, stay-at-home mom took an action to a thought she had. She didn’t let an idea get past her. She also took an important next step and did something with this idea: She sent it to a publisher and didn’t give up when she got several rejection letters. Lesson to the rest of us: Don’t give up in something you believe in. This is crucial for woman, especially mothers, to remember. It’s so easy to get caught up in what our kids’ are doing. We’re so tired at the end of the day that we’d rather give in, just to get an extra 20 minutes of sleep. Stephanie took action, but she also believed it when someone else told her what she did was good (she explains in the Oprah interview that her sister prompted her to submit it for publication). Too often we let that voice of doubt inside our head take over. We can’t let it win.

Popular seems like such a lame word to use to describe the phenomenon behind these books. I just love that the author of such a powerful franchise is 1.) a woman 2.) a mom. It shows that we can do anything.

Back to The Book — What About Those Vampires?

Now, I’m not a vampire person. I freely admit that I never saw the popular Ann Rice/Tom Cruise “Interview with a Vampire.” I know — everyone saw it. I’m just not into vampires. But, I have to say the recent news about the “New Moon” coming out in the theaters and all the media surrounding this series has me intrigued. I want to know what I am missing. I want to support a mother. I want to see what has gotten so many people reading again.

“New York” magazine didn’t have any of the “Twilight” books on its “The Gift List,” but I suspect with 17 million copies already sold, it doesn’t need to be on a gift idea list.

What do you think about the books? Do you recommend them?

Related:

• “New York” magazine’s article, “Twilight Take Me Away!”
• TwilightMoms Web site
• Stephenie Meyer on “Oprah”

I was asked to be a guest reader in my son’s preschool last week. I was allowed to choose any book to read, so I started sorting through all of my steamy novels, um, I mean my son’s bookshelf. I found the “Thanksgiving Day” book we started reading in preparation for the upcoming holiday feast. Perfect.

The book tells the story, by way of a modern-day school play, of the Mayflower and how the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people (aka Indians) got together to have the first Thanksgiving meal. It talks about how the Pilgrims sailed to America and met the Wampanaog people and learned how to grow corn, harvest cranberries, and hunt turkeys.

It’s colorfully illustrated and the text is easily digestible to preschoolers. The kids in my son’s class loved the book. They kept asking me to show them the pages and moved in closer until they were literally touching the pictures of the book. It was a great opening to talk more about a variety of topics such as sharing, hard work, history and what Thanksgiving day means.

• Read “Thanksgiving Day” by Anne Rockwell

It’s birthday cake time and I’m working on my next creation, but first I have to make bake sale items for my son’s preschool fall festival. I like to bake so it’s a natural for me to participate in this, but to be honest, I didn’t really have a choice because all of the other volunteer activities require parental participation during the day. Makes it tough on working moms to participate in these things, but I’ll do my best.

So, tonight I’m making rice crispy treats on a stick. They are turning out cute. I’m taking photos and will post about it coming up soon. For now, I’ve got to get back to wrapping the teats so they will be the first items to sell at the sale tomorrow

Today, officially, Sesame Street turns 40. Back in 1969, the children’s show debuted on national television. It was a different show back then. You can purchase the original shows on DVD, but there is a disclaimer on the packaging saying they are for “adults only.”

Katie McLaughlin from CNN.com wrote a great piece about the differences. “The New York Times” did a piece two years ago about the same issues. I wrote about that article too: Old School “Sesame Street” vs. New School “Sesame Street.”  Remember when Cookie Monster smoked a pipe? Yup, remember when he would eat the pipe? As a kid in the ’70s I never thought twice about this not being appropriate. It seems crazy, but as a mother I can tell you that if I were to watch the “old” Sesame Street I would have something to say about how inappropriate some of the scenes are. Heck, I have issue with Peanuts on the Charlie Brown specials.

As things continually change on “Sesame Street,” some stay the same. Elmo has been on the show for more than 10 years. When asked in an interview (see video below) how old he was, he replied, “three and a half.” I guess as some things change, others stay the same.

Related:

• Read the CNN story about “Sesame Street’ Been Swept, But The Magic of Show Remains 
• Balancing Motherhood archives, Old School “Sesame Street” vs. New School “Sesame Street.”
• USAToday’s At 40, “Sesame Street’” Is In a Constant State of Renewal
• Official “Sesame Street” Web site