I know you're busy making lists and checking them twice, but still, I am hoping you will find a little time to share the gift of self.

Saturday was December 18.  Veteran readers at the House of Shine know that means time to stop what we are doing and reflect on our lives over the past month.  It's our ritual - a gift to one another.  You tell me about your past month and I tell you about mine.  Do it enough times over the course of enough years and eventually we build the bonds like those shared by family and friends.

Participating is easy.

Take a minute to think about your past month.  Tell us your highs from the month (best thing(s) that have happened; your lows from the month (worst thing(s) that have happened; and ahas (thing(s) you have learned).

Or, this month, if you want to get in the holiday spirit, how about: naughty, nice, and hoho (funniest thing that has happened)?

I'll start.

Naughty: I custom ordered a set of gifts that arrived in my mailbox this month and the woman responsible for making them was naughty!  They looked nothing like what she advertised and they were the antithesis of anything that even remotely shines.  They were so bad, I rendered them unusable.

Nice: I had a lot of very nice interactions with people this month.  I said good-by to a group of students I thoroughly enjoyed teaching, I ate lots of lunches with colleagues I enjoy, Richard and I spent lots of time together, and both of my sisters have come to visit in the last 30 days.

HoHo:  The funniest thing that happened in the last month was listening to Richard's new staff sing for their bonus checks.  It's a office tradition that, in order for newbies to truly earn their Christmas bonuses, they must sing for their check.  It added lots of levity to their Christmas party.

Your turn.

Visit us in the Community Forum labeled, Today's Post and tell us all about your Naughty, Nice, and HoHo list from the past month.

Shining off until tomorrow...