​ These are images from an interview I did with Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez on December 19, 2019. Her article focused on how I wrote and self-published  my debut book. She finished up with a very nice book review for NEIL ARMSTRONG'S WIND TUNNEL DREAM.

Click on this link, and you can read our December interview: 
https://mathiseverywhere439319476.wordpress.com/2019/12/20/giveaway-and-interview-with-debut-author-rinda-beach/?fbclid=IwAR0aWgc3fKKJrUa3iJQROmm8C-sfDXBU-cFBWAa3WtXQeYZ3XWUblMF81zE


​

I was thrilled to be part of READING, WRITING & STITCH-METIC’S 2nd birthday. It’s June McCrary Jacob’s website. She picked her top 5 posts from last year, and I was honored to be NUMBER 4!
​
June asked me two questions:  1.) What lessons did I learn from writing and publishing my debut book? 2.) What is my next project? My answer included the first illustration from my new book coming out in May, LAKE FUN FOR YOU AND ME.

Click on the link below and scroll down to NUMBER 4 for my interview. https://authorjunemccraryjacobs.blogspot.com/2020/02/mmgm-2nd-blog-birthdaycelebration.html?  fbclid=IwAR0_TFw9MTH2f4C_q8HEEVFta3_BZyEBh6eAzzQtljzUrALYTj3OLweVZnY


​

​ Thanks to my critique friend Karen O’Leary, you can listen to the first chapter of my book for free. She recorded it on her website, Time Out With Bear. The price - 7 minutes and 21 seconds to listen to the recording.

​Two confessions - first I finally listened to Karen’s recording tonight, and I loved it!  It came out around Thanksgiving, and I’m sad to say I didn’t make time to listen back then. Karen even added in sound effects! My favorite . . .  my words made her giggle, and she didn’t mean to. Making someone laugh is a great thing!

My second confession – I like hearing Karen read my words better than hearing myself do it. I don’t know why. I listened to the computer read them millions of times before I finally published them. My best guess is the writer in me is listening for mistakes on the first page or two. After that I can relax and enjoy reading aloud to kids. When I hear Karen read, I just feel the joy of listening to my words read back to me. It’s lovely!
Here’s Karen’s link. I hope you also take a little time to check out her other read alouds. Karen has some GREAT titles!

Link:https://shows.pippa.io/timeoutwithbear/episodes/neil-armstrongs-wind-tunnel-dream?fbclid=IwAR16nUuwNdcu3u8Q7G4x9LsoWYYf7OK-xW3sbXBT7aBOrHQ0l7avRWsC-J4

When I was a kid, I loved magnetic letters on the refrigerator. I loved moving them around, making new words, and taking them apart. It was one of my earliest reading and writing experiences. Now that I’m an adult, guess what’s on my refrigerator!
​
It starts with the name of my favorite place, Norris Lake. Below it are the names of the people I love most, my family. My husband and I are there, our parents, our three kids, and two spouses, so far. It’s like a crossword family tree. But in December, suddenly someone was missing, the newest member of our family. 

Everyone was there,  till December 21st. That’s when GG was born, and I needed more magnets, matching ones. I messaged my magnet guru, Rochelle from Rovals. She sent me the letters to spell GG’s name, plus a little surprise. When I opened her package, there were my favorite two letters – GG – for grandgirl!

​​Look at the picture below. It’s GG’s name on the refrigerator. I connected it to her mom because their names both end in ‘N.’  The second picture is a crossword of their brand new family – my son, his wife, and my GG!

​Someday GG will play with all those names on the refrigerator. She’ll move them around, make new words, and take them apart. My refrigerator will be full of mismatched names, but that’s how it should be. They’re meant to be used, to help a child’s brain come to life. Best of all, I’ll be there to watch, and play with GG too.

My original idea for the alphabet post started with two questions for quizclub.com. They asked how many letters were in the English and German alphabets.

I was curious so I asked a search engine, DuckDuckGo. My source said about a thousand, but they were based on  a hundred alphabets that could be boiled down to nine. After writing about each one, I never got back to the two original questions. Tonight I tried again, but the post grew once more. I found eleven languages. Here’s that world map to help you locate each one. They include:

      English, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Italian, French, Greek, and German
     My Source: https://wordcounter.net/blog/2015/11/24/10950_how-many-letters-alphabet.html
​

​#1.
Do you recognize the English alphabet, and do you know the importance of this phrase?
It uses all 26 letters.

​Did you know two hundred years ago there were 27? The dropped letter is still used today. Curious? It’s &!

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_alphabet
& https://colinfalconer.org/27th-letter-alphabet/
​
Phrase Source: By No machine-readable author provided. Moyogo assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=701210

#2.
Can you read this? Me neither! It’s a sample from the Arabic alphabet.
​___________________________________________________________________________________________________
​

​
​It has 28 letters, but, they’re all consonants. Arabic has vowels, but you add them with a mark beside the consonant, like this – ‘a.
 
You read and write Arabic from right to left, and it’s all done in cursive. English is the exact opposite. It’s printed from left to right.
 
Arabic has contextual letterforms. That means a letter is shaped by its position within a word, depending on if it’s first, in the middle or last. If it stands alone, it may have yet another shape.
 
I’ll stick with English, but I love how Arabic flows across a page! 

                                                                                                    #3

​OH NO! There’s something harder than Arabic – Chinese! It doesn’t have a letter alphabet representing sounds. They use ideas and pictures, i.e. ideograms or pictograms. 

​
​I read that if you want to have functional literacy, you need to know three to four thousand characters. Would you believe there are TENS of THOUSANDS of Chinese characters? Thank goodness for English!
 
Ancient Chinese was even harder. It ran in columns from top to bottom, like that green sign with orange letters. It also ran from right to left, like Arabic.
 
Today it’s a little more like English, running across the page from left to right. It still goes from top to bottom. The Bus Stop sign reads 2E  6C   6F. Then 41   45.
 
If you’d like to try reading a little Chinese, click on this link, I picked up a teeny tiny bit! https://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2013/04/25/learn-to-read-chinese-in-eight-minutes/#56ff63a2179
​
Picture Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Chinese
By Maloongkai - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8004756

​

 4. The next alphabet is a little easier than Chinese, and it also comes from Asia. Do you recognize it? It’s Japanese. I know – it looks a lot like Chinese, or Korean. That’s probably because they come from the same part of the globe. To read basic Japanese, you need to recognize about 2000 symbols from three different alphabets.
 
The first is called Kanji, and it’s based on those Chinese pictograms. The other two alphabets are phonetic. Both hiragana and katakana have 46 letters each, 92 total. Only 1908 more Kanji symbols to learn. Easy Peasy!

 Long ago you read Japanese from top to bottom in columns. It was called vertical writing. You started on page right and moved left.
 
Today there’s horizontal writing. It moves from left to right. It’s more like how we read English. There’s still one big difference. Japanese book spines are on the right. The book cover is on the back, and the back cover is on the front. To read Japanese, you start at the back and read to the front.
​​Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_writing_system
                  https://teamjapanese.com/japanese-read-right-left/

​ 
 
5. This could be Chinese or Japanese, but supposedly it’s easier to read than the other two. Did you recognize it as Korean? South Korea uses Hangul, and the North uses Chosan’gul. Modern Hangul has 14 consonants and 11 vowels, 24 total. Chosan’gul has 19 consonants and 21 vowels, 40 total.

The hardest part of reading or writing Korean is that it’s written in syllable blocks. I see 2 symbols to the left, then 3 and 3. I might be right, but there might be more symbols that I don’t see.
 
Korean was once written vertically, but now it’s horizontal, going from left to right. Looking at that red sign again, I’m not sure if there are three syllables or three words because Korean has space between its syllables, and its words, if I read correctly. Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangul

​ 


6. Drive down this highway, and you’ll need to read, write, and speak Russian, but you can keep going. Explore Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the rest of the former Soviet Union too.

​
​The Russian alphabet is based on Cyrillic. Modern Russian has 21 consonants, 10 vowels, and 2 extra symbols, or 33 total. It’s phonetic so you can learn the letters and sounds at the same time. Best of all you can still read from left to right, from top to bottom.
 
​Source: https://omniglot.com/writing/russian.htm


​

​7. This alphabet is golden! It’s Greek to me, but it’s one of the oldest alphabets still in use. Did you know the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets came from Ancient Greece? They only had capital letters. It was the Romans who later developed lower case letters for the Latin alphabet. 

​ The Greek alphabet has grown and changed over the centuries. Now it has 24 letters that match up with English. No Greek J’s or V’s.

If you want to learn Greek, you’ll have to learn to write in syllables. Start with 1, 2, or 3. Then you can move into longer words with more syllables. Greeks like to make l-o-n-g words!
 
Today the Greek alphabet is still used in technical symbols and labels. If you go into some fields, you must master Greek.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet
https://www.mezzoguild.com/beginners-guide-to-modern-greek/


​

​8. Can you read the sign? I can, but it’s not in English. It’s Spanish. I’d mangle every single word on those signs except for Valencia. That’s because there’s one in California. The Valencia below is near Madrid, in Spain.
 
Spanish doesn’t belong to just Spain. Thanks to the conquistadors, it’s the official language for most of Central and South America, who are also called Latin America. 

My original source said there are 29 letters in Spanish, but if they have 4 extra letters (ch, ll, ñ and rr) shouldn’t there be 30? 
 
The letters look like our English ones, except they have accent marks. (papá  or güero) Those marks change the pronunciation, even the meaning. Letters in Spanish sound different. For example, their “h” is always silent. In our English word ‘house,’ it’s voiced, but not in ‘hour.’  
​
Source: https://www.enforex.com/language/spanish-spoken.html
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/how-to-write-in-spanish/


​​

 9. Here are more signs that look English, but they’re actually Italian. My only clue, Roma. Americans always write it as ‘Rome.’ If you want to see and hear Italian, take a trip to Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, Slovenia, and Croatia.

Yay! The Italian alphabet has 21 letters, only 21! It matches up to our alphabet, but it uses foreign letters like ‘j, k, w, x, and y’ for foreign words with those sounds. The Italian alphabet has 3 different kinds of accent marks. You can see them in Métro, pescà, or genî.

​Source: https://omniglot.com/writing/italian.htm

​​10. This sign looks like it’s from a farmers’ market – in France. It uses the French alphabet, and it’s spoken/written in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Switzerland.
 
You’ll also find it used in former French colonies in Africa, Asia, North/South America, and Oceania. I didn’t recognize Oceania so I googled. It’s made up of Micronesia, Polynesia, Australasia (Australia, New Zealand, and the islands around them), and Melanesia (the islands from New Guinea to Tonga).

​ The French alphabet has 26 letters, including all 20 of our consonants. It also has all 5 of our vowels (aeiou) – plus y. Y is only a vowel in French, never a consonant. W and K’s are mostly used in foreign words.
 
French, like the other European languages, uses accents on its vowels. Examples: à, é, î, ü. They also combine them – æ and œ. And C’s look like this: ç.
 
Sources: https://omniglot.com/writing/french.htm
https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/French/Alphabet



​

​11. I can’t begin to read this sign, but I see double dots on the last word. That’s German! The sign says stay off the ice. Deutschland or Germany is where 78% of German is spoken.
 
You’ll also find it in Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and South Tyrol, Italy. Three of those countries also speak French. My guess is that German’s spoken in the north, and French in the south. It’s also spoken in the former German colonies and in the Amish, Mennonite, and Hutterite communities in North America. I googled again – the Hutterites are found in the Great Plains and in Western Canada. 
​

​The German alphabet has the same 26 letters as our English alphabet, but the pronunciation of some of them doesn’t exist in English. The G, CH, and the R are pronounced from the back of the throat. I can’t imagine how!
​
They also have a few letters with double dots, plus a fancy B – ä, ö, ü and are ß. BTW, if you’re curious, the sign says stay off the ice. I knew it was important . . . there are 2 exclamation marks.        Sources: https://www.thoughtco.com/where-is-german-spoken-1444314            
                                           https://www.thoughtco.com/the-german-alphabet-1444644

How many alphabets are being used around the world?           100           9           1000 

Depending on how you define alphabet, it could be all three. I found each answer from a source below. The top one from Quora made sense to me. It said if you look at pure alphabets that have a letter for every sound, there’s about 100, and they boil down to these nine: 
Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Armenian, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic, Braille, and Georgian
Tomorrow, I’ll look for  pictures of each one. I’m curious to see how they’re alike and different.

​Sources:   https://www.quora.com/How-many-alphabets-are-there-in-the-world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet            
 https://www.answers.com/Q/How_many_alphabets_are_there

Here’s a world map so you can find each of these nine alphabets. 

1.  This is the Latin alphabet. It’s everywhere, North and South America, Europe, India, Australia, and most of Africa. Click on the source link to see the ground it covers. The Latin alphabet looks a lot like ours. Did you notice anything missing, like the letters J, U, and W?

​Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_alphabet    Photo by Joannes Arnoldus Bergellus -
http://wally.rit.edu/cary/cc_db/16th_century/9.htmlhttp://www.bl.uk/collections/early/1540.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4409965

2.  ​The letters on this piece of pottery are from the Greek Alphabet. It only reached the land around the country of Greece. If you’d like to see the map, the pottery, or learn more about the Greek alphabet, click on this link:
 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_alphabet
​

​​3.  This is the Cyrillic alphabet. It spread – across the entire former Soviet Union, all of it!

Do you recognize this writing? It’s from the book of Matthew. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_alphabets
Photo Source:
Unknown - Герранъ мія̈нъ. Шондю-руохтынанъ святой іôванг̧ели матвѣйста, Карьяланъ кїӗлѣлля, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15401241

4.  This is the Armenian alphabet, from Armenia, of course. Where is Armenia? It was once part of the Soviet Union. Now it’s its own country. It shares borders with Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Georgia so it’s north of the Middle East, and it was in the southern part of the former Soviet Union. ( I looked it up!)
Sources:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_alphabet
                     https://www.worldatlas.com/as/am/where-is-armenia.html

5.  This is the Korean alphabet, and it’s found on the Korean Peninsula, of course. Did you know it has two names? In South Korea, it’s called Hangul. In North Korea, it’s called Chosŏn'gŭl. (I had to paste that in. I’m missing three important  keys.) 
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangul
 
Photo by Kbarends - cropped from en:Image:Hunminjeongeumhaerye.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4210804 

​6.  This isn’t my computer keyboard, and it probably isn’t yours either. It was designed for people who use the Hebrew alphabet. If you’re Jewish, or live in the country of Israel, this might be your keyboard. 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_alphabet
​

7.  Here’s another keyboard. I bet you recognize half the letters, but not the other half. That’s because they’re from the Arabic Alphabet. You’d find this keyboard in the Middle East and in northern Africa.

Article Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet
Keyboard By Mohsen Madi - Intellaren Inc., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14688041 
​

8. Do you see two books? One looks like a real book, in German. The other is a notebook of bumpy paper. That’s a braille book. 

​Braille is an alphabet made up of bumps. Its letters match up with other alphabets from around the world, like English or German. My source listed 104 alphabets that have been translated into braille.
 
If you’re blind, you can’t see so you read with your fingers. You can read paper books or special computer screens. You can write with a slate and stylus or with special computers and printers.   Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille

 9. Can you read the letters on the car? Me neither! It’s a police car, but police is written in Georgian, the country, not one of our 50 states.
 
The country of Georgia was once part of the Soviet Union. It’s bordered by the Black Sea, Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
 
There are three different ways to write Georgian. The most common is Mkhedruli. That’s what you see on the car. The other two, Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri, are only used by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
 
Sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_scripts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28country%2

I started to share my cover story last night, but I didn’t like how the images fit together on my web site so I’ll try, try again tonight.
 
This is my final product from the Twelve Days class. It was supposed to be a book cover for the writing I did during class, but I’d rather have it as a poster because it’s my 2020 road map for where I want to go as a writer this year.
​
My title for the last three years has been ‘Use Your Word Power, Rinda Beach.’ We constantly tell young children to use their words, but it’s exactly what I do every day as a writer. You probably use yours daily in whatever job you do. Words ARE important!

​ KEEP   US  GOING
​These are the things that I’ve been doing for a year or more successfully. I want to keep them going. 

                                                                                             REVISE  AND  SUBMIT  US
These stories are sitting in my computer, waiting. Waiting for me to polish them till I believe they’re      submission ready. 

                                                                          WRITE    SOMETHING    NEW 
​The first one is as new as my grandgirl, but the others have been around for a while. The last one was my first story. It’s time to re-imagine it.

​Try  Something  New
These ideas are all new. I don’t know if they’ll work, but if they don’t, I’ll learn from the experience.

​ I won’t share everything I wrote this year for my class with Julie Hedlund – it’s too long! Instead I’m sharing the parts I posted in our private Facebook Group. It all started with surprises. I had 20, but these are my top 4.                                                                   SURPRISES:

1. I discovered a month before self-publishing that Neil Armstrong's name and image are trademarked. OOPS!

2. Within a day or two I had a few friends who helped me figure out what to do. It took a month, but 17 days after my original book birthday, Neil was published

3. The best 2-fer ever - The day I watched my daughter get married. That night I saw the sonogram of my first grandchild

4. Best of all, here's one of first photo ops. Look at all that hair!

​                                                                  SUCCESSES

It’s great to look back at 2019. I had 34 successes, more than 2018, but I’m only sharing the Fab Five.

1. I self-published my debut chapter book, NEIL ARMSTRONG’S WIND TUNNEL DREAM.

2. Neil was ranked #4 on Amazon over Christmas. He’s #8 today, but he’s still on page one in those all-important search results. ‘I am over the moon!’

3. I'm on track to self-publish my debut picture book, LAKE FUN FOR YOU AND ME in May.

4. I have a debut group and a May 20th interview already scheduled for the lake book.
​
5. Best of all, I've been a grandma for almost a month! 2019 was a very good year!​

​​Disappointments, Judgements, The Truth, Learning,  and Action Plan

I wasn’t going to share this with the private group, but confession is good for the soul, so I did, and I’ll share them with you too. I wrote five, the number Julie recommended. This disappointment encompasses elements of the five I put down.
 
DISAPPOINTMENT - I’m not getting enough done – writing, marketing, using my blog, etc.
 
MY BIG FAT JUDGEMENT - I don’t push myself hard enough or use my time well enough. URGH! There’s always more to do – no matter how hard I work.
 
MY HEART KNOWS/THE TRUTH - I’m learning as I go. I do as much in a day as possible. There is no more than my best.
 
LEARNING - In 2019 I learned how to target an area and stick with it. In 2020 I need to extend this to the business side of writing.
 
​MY ACTION PLAN - Each Sunday I’ll target one piece to write during the week, one place/thing to market, and one way to grow my blog. The next Sunday will find me reviewing, re-targeting, re-engaging, and repeating,

​                                                                                                                                                           BALANCE

​​Last year I picked “Know When to . . .” from Kenny Rogers’ song, “The Gambler.” This year my word is balance. Sorry, no song, but balance is something I’ve always struggled with.
 
I tend to put more time into work than anything else, especially when I was teaching. My father was a principal, and I was a daddy’s girl so I put my heart and soul into teaching. It got trickier when I married and had a family. Now as a writer, I want to balance work with family and fun. Here’s to this year’s adventure with balance​.

​ Writing Prompt for this Year:  During a visit to the library, a book flies off a shelf and bonks you in the head. What book is it, and what happens next?

My Response: ​​
I searched the shelves for the new book about Elizabeth I.

Thud! Thud! Thud! I turned and stared. Three books encircled my feet. I’d read two – The Royal Diaries Elizabeth, Tangled in Time, and the new one, The Heretic Heir. (YA title)

Tangled opened and whispered, “You’ve been reading about our girl since you were little. Now, write about her.”
​
My head spun. I stumbled, sat on the floor and held my head in my hands. “Me? I’d love to, but which one? The toddler who lost her mother. The girl who watched her stepmothers disappear. The imprisoned princess. Which!”

The book answered, “Read us again. Open your imagination, and you’ll find your story.”

I nodded, picked up the books, and checked them out.
​​
 The Result:
I already have a chapter book idea, for Elizabeth. It came to me like magic!

Back in 2018 I posted My Twelve Days of the New Year. It’s a writing class I took back with Julie Hedlund. Tonight I’d like to show you how to find it on my Pinterest boards. I have 156 posts pinned across the 8 boards titled Pictures and Text. They’re sorted into Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies.

Pinterest is THE easiest way for kids to find facts for a school report. Teachers, it’s also a great way for you to find content for your classroom. Here’s the link for this post: http://www.rindabeach.com/blog/the-twelve-days-of-the-new-year 

If you’d like to learn how to find it, try clicking on this link. It will take you straight to all of my Pinterest Boards.  https://www.pinterest.com/rindabeach/

I have 8 boards of pictures and text from my website’s blog. The post about Twelve Days is on my language arts board. You can click on it from Pinterest or from this link: https://www.pinterest.com/rindabeach/pictures-text-language-arts-posts/
 
My Language Arts board is divided into 15 sections. You can browse, or slide down to Writing Friends/Classes. This is where you’ll find those Twelve Days.
​
Then click on Writing Friends/Classes and it will take you to the 6 pins in this section. The link doesn’t work so I won’t share it. Sorry!

 Here are the 6 pins from this section. The only one that’s labeled is Twelve Days. I’m working my way through all my pins, adding in the TITLE and STRANDS. My goal is to finish it by the end of February. Now, all you have to do is click on the pin titled The Twelve Days of the New Year. It works! So does this link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/201325045826994590/

t will take you here, with this image. It will tell you the TITLE, the Twelve Days, and the STRANDS. This one is only for Language Arts. If a book is listed several places, it will tell you here. Finally click on the image, and it will take me straight to my Blog. 

If you want to practice, try starting at my original Pinterest Board. See if you can find those Twelve Days again. If you get lost, no problem! You can browse my boards and see if there’s anything you’d like to read. Happy New Year!
 
PS – My next post will be on this year’s class. I’ve been with Julie Hedlund since 2017.  Her classes have shaped who I’ve become as a writer, and I’d love to share my new one with you!

​Part 1
Besides America, what country is home to the most McDonald’s restaurants?
China          Japan          Canada          France

t’s not even close, but Japan claims the honor with 2,975 restaurants in the country. You can still get Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, Happy Meals, and McFlurries, but in Japan you can also order Mega Macs, Bacon Lettuce Burgers, Ebi Filet-O, and McPork. Warning – you’ll have to give up your supersize drinks and free refills. They’re not on the menu.

Click on this link to find Mcdonald's ten happiest countries.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets-economy/091716/10-countries-most-mcdonalds-locations-mcd.asp
​Question source: https://www.traveltrivia.com/answer-besides-america-what-country-is-home-to-the-most-mcdonalds-restaurants/.”

​Map Source: By Connormah - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6913659
​Source for menu (with pictures): https://delishably.com/dining-out/JapanMcDonalds

​Part 2
​Take a look at that world map again. Which country has the only ski-through McDonald’s?
​Canada       France       Russia        Sweden

It’s Sweden. Want to visit? Take a trip to the Lindvallen ski resort. It’s 200 miles north of Stockholm. The ski-through opened in 2014, and it’s still going strong.

You can go inside. There’s room for 140 people. But if you’re in a hurry, you’ll ski up to the window, place your order, and pick it up. No need to mess with coats and gloves. You’re back on the slopes – and you’re loving it!

Click on the first source if you’d like to look at the Swedish ski-through.
Delish | Date Updated: December 18, 2019 
https://www.traveltrivia.com/answer-which-country-has-a-ski-through-mcdonalds/
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My map source:  By Rob984 - Derived from File:Germany on the globe (Germany centered).svg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70142703

​Click the link to hear this ad from 1974. Watch for Gordon Jump. (He was the station manager for the old TV show, WKRP in Cincinnati.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEBCV0ic6Tc
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This link was from 1975. My brain teacher would say ‘repeat to remember. Remember to repeat.’ That’s what this commercial had us doing back in 1974/75. Oh, the good old days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK2qBbDn5W0
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​Enjoy! I hope you’re loving it! (No LOL – that's another McDonald’s commercial.)

​Christmas is almost here, and so is Christmas trivia. 

​        Part 1
​What is glögg?     

 A Christmas coffee                        Hot cocoa             
Mulled wine                                        Spiced Cider

Glögg is a special mulled wine that’s made just for Advent. Answer the next question to find out where it comes from. Click the information link, and you can try it without crossing the Atlantic. 

   
Sweden              France                        Germany           Spain
​
Go to Sweden, but only during Advent. That’s when you can get a glass of glögg. Traditionally it’s served in small glasses.
​
FYI – the spices were originally added because back then the wine didn’t taste so good, but now it’s added because it’s tradition. Don’t forget to put the almonds and raisins in your glass before you pour in the glögg. Cheers!

​
For More Info:  www.swedishfood.com
Source: https://quizzclub.com/games/bonus/what-european-country-celebrates-christmas-time-by-drinking-gloegg/answer/346761/

 Part 2
 Where was the Advent Wreath invented?                     England          Sweden           Germany          Italy

Welcome to Germany where Johan Hinrich Wichern invented the Advent Wreath in 1839. His version was made of wood, and it had 24 candles, 4 big ones for Sundays and 20 little ones for weekdays.

​Today’s Advent wreath is made with fir branches and cones, ribbons, ornaments, and those original 4 candles. One for each week like the one to the left.

What did a mother from Munich invent to keep herself sane when her son asked every day how long till Christmas?      A calendar         An advent calendar         A paper chain         Balloon bouquet to pop    ​

​​​In 1885 Gerhard Lang’s mother did. He saw the first Advent candle lit and didn’t understand waiting till his mother drew 24 squares on a box. Each square equaled one day, getting up once and going to bed. From then on, Gerhard got a calendar every year until he outgrew them.
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Around 1900 Gerhard started a publishing company. During a slow sales period, he remembered his old calendars, and in 1904 he sold the first “Munich Christmas Calendar.” Its subtitle was “The 24 Waiting Days,” and it sold for 30 pfennigs or about 15 cents. Today you can buy cardboard ones, felt ones, bags on strings, and little towns, but, they all still share 24 days of waiting.

My Sources: Kaiserslautern American | Date Updated: December 6, 2019
https://www.traveltrivia.com/answer-where-was-the-advent-wreath-invented/

Part 3
What’s the name of the little town where Jesus was born?     Bethlehem     Jerusalem     Judea     Samaria
Bonus Points: What’s the song title that tells the story of that birth?

The Song – O Little Town of Bethlehem – Sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj2fwME46GM
​
For More Info: en.wikipedia.org
Source: https://quizzclub.com/games/bonus/according-to-the-gospels-of-both-matthew-and-luke-which-town-is-the-birthplace-of-jesus-christ/answer/293923/

​The Gospel of Luke said (Luke 2: 1 – 5; paraphrasing) Caesar Augustus ordered a census of the entire Roman world. Everyone went to their family’s hometown to register and be counted. Joseph left Nazareth in Galilee. He traveled to Bethlehem in Judea because that’s where his family came from. Joseph was descended from King David’s family. In Bethlehem he registered with his fiancee Mary. She was going to have a baby.

My Source:
https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/where-was-jesus-born.html

Part 4
This is a Nativity Scene. I grew up with one, and so did my kids.
Who was really there when Jesus was born, and who wasn’t?
Mary, Joseph and Jesus          Shepherds       Wise Men       Animals          Angels

According to Luke 2: 7-21, paraphrasing, Mary gave birth to a baby boy. She wrapped him in cloth and laid him in a manger. There was no other place for them to stay.

That night the shepherds were out in the field with their sheep. An angel appeared, and the shepherds were terrified until the angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I bring good news for all people. Today in Bethlehem your savior was born. The baby is wrapped in cloth, laying in a manger, which is a feeding trough for animals.” 

Then a group of angels appeared. They said, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on Earth.” The angels returned to heaven, and the shepherds hurried off to Bethlehem. They found the baby in the manger. The shepherds returned home, telling everyone what they’d seen and heard. Eight days later Jesus was named and circumcised.

So a Nativity according to Luke would look like this –baby Jesus would be lying in a manger with Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds looking on.

No animals are mentioned, but the most likely ones would be an ox and a donkey. That’s what Saint Francis of Assisi used, and he made the first nativity scene. I don’t know about the sheep. If the shepherds were in a hurry like Luke said, they probably would have left the sheep behind. Maybe a young shepherd watched over them until the others returned.
​
The angels only went out to the fields to send the shepherds into Bethlehem. Then they returned home to heaven. 

​ As for the wise men, here’s their story according to Matthew 2:1-12, paraphrased . . .  After Jesus was born, Magi from the east came to ask King Herod about the star. They followed it to Jerusalem. They wanted to worship the new king of the Jews.

They’re called Magi in Luke, but in other stories they’re called kings or wise men. Usually nativities have 3 kings, but Luke never mentioned a number.
​
Herod sent for his chief priests and teachers. They looked back to Micah, who prophesied that the baby would be born in Bethlehem in Judea. Herod sent the Magi there. He told them to worship the child, and then report back so he could visit him too. 

The Magi followed the star, this time to the baby in Bethlehem. They might have looked something like this when they bowed down to worship the child in the manger.
​
The Magi gave him gifts fit for a king – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Frankincense is a tree sap that was burned to worship the gods. Myrrh was a perfume made from sap too. It was either burnt as incense or used as oil for anointing someone. All three gifts were part of Temple worship.
 
My Sources:
https://www.crosswalk.com/special-coverage/christmas-and-advent/where-was-jesus-born.html
https://outdoornativitystore.com/blog/manger-scene-animals-history/
http://blog.discountcatholicproducts.com/2016/12/understanding-nativity-scene/

I found this site when I was researching and writing Neil Armstrong’s Wind Tunnel Dream. I didn’t understand how a wind tunnel worked, and that was kind of key to the story, no LOL! Since then, Instructables have been sending me emails with ideas, and I’ve been looking for the right projects to share. This one came yesterday, and it’s perfect. Here’s the link:

https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Christmas-Ornaments/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

                                                      Ready . . .  Set . . .  Let’s make some ornaments!

​#1 - First up is something easy-peasy. I could make it, and I’m not crafty at all. All you need is a bulb and some foam letters.
​
https://www.instructables.com/id/Emoticon-Ornament-/
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​My Idea: I’d change it up with other foam shapes because I love re-imagining things. Must be the writer/editor in me!

#2 - This is an Oregon Duck Christmas Tree, as in the University of Oregon.

It’s a little harder to make because you sew sequins onto one piece of green felt, and then onto another piece. If you do it their way, it’s just a little longer, just a little harder, but very doable for someone like me.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Sequin-Christmas-Ornament/

​My Ideas: First I’d make it an OSU tree, as in scarlet, gray, and buckeyes. I also wouldn’t sew all those sequins on. I’d attach them with a clear glue, and I’d only do one side. I’d put something on the back, like a kid’s picture and date, but then I love to edit things!

#3 - This is an X-Wing Fighter Ornament. I loved the idea, and I thought you might too.
https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-X-Wing-Fighter-Ornament/

My Ideas: This is way too complicated for me. I like easy peasy. Do you have a Star Wars or Lego toy that would work? All you need to do is attach a hook.
​
If you and your family want to make one yourself , try this idea with Legos or K’Nex. They’re easier to work with!

#4 – Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree! I wanted to post this ornament last night, but I couldn’t decide whether I should keep it or pull it down. I slept on it.
 
This ornament is SO difficult to make! It has 15 steps, and most of them are highly technical. That’s because this ornament is an LED Circuit Board Christmas Tree Ornament.
 
I decided to save it because it might help you win a contest, teachers only, for a 3-D printer. I know – a 3D printer! WOW!
 
https://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Circuit-Board-Christmas-Tree-Ornament/
 
My Idea: I wouldn’t even attempt a circuit board! I’d get something in a shiny green material. I’d find great stickers and sequins, and I’d try really hard not to over-decorate. I love this tree’s simplicity!
here to edit.

#5 – If you have a 3D printer, try making this floating snowflake ornament. The secret – tulle, the stuff you use for tutus and veils. If you like this idea, you can also make jewelry using the same idea. Click the printing on tulle trick.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Floating-Snowflake-Ornament/
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My Idea: Go to the craft store and buy your snowflake and frame. You could use tulle to hold the snowflake in place. But if your frame comes with plastic, just lay your snowflake inside. Done!

#6 – This ornament is hands-on. It’s a diorama inside a glass ornament – with sand. The hard part – fitting things like trees and photos inside.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Snow-Diorama-Glass-Ornament/
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My Idea: If you can’t find a fillable ornament, try decorating on the outside, but be careful! Sometimes flat images don’t fit well on round objects. You may have to do a little nip/tuck surgery.

​#7 – If you’re crafty and have a 3D printer, this is the project for you! Who doesn’t love Star Wars?

https://www.instructables.com/id/Baby-Yoda-Ornament/
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My Idea: I don’t have a 3D printer so I’d look for my figurine in the nearest toy store. Just be careful that it fits inside your ornament.

Teachers, could your school use a 3-D Printer? Check out this link!
https://www.instructables.com/contest/stem2019/https://www.instructables.com/contest/stem2019/

From Instructables – “This contest is for ALL teachers (professional and otherwise) and open to any projects that have a definable STEM focus.

We are looking for projects that are replicable in the classroom or other educational setting, that teach skills related to Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math.

There is a special Judges' prize for the project that best uses the Makey Makey invention kit.
Only 39 days left to enter the STEM Contest!”