Chicken Soup for the Soul with Amy Newmark

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and with spring coming, it’s getting more colorful out there. But what about color in our lives, not just in nature? Today I want to talk about color and boldness and stepping forward to participate more in life. Whether it’s your clothing, your home décor, or the projects that you do, are you having fun with color? What prompts me to ask this is a terrific story that we published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Curvy & Confident. The story is called “A Flowering” because that’s what it’s about—a person learning to blossom instead of hiding herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Do you ever think that maybe you should focus a little more on stepping outside your comfort zone and broadening your world? I think we all have the tendency to stop doing new things… because it’s easier. But then we’re surprised when we try doing something new, or going to a new place, or meeting a new person, and we really enjoy it. Saying “yes” is something that we can ALL do, and it only takes a second to just plain decide that you will make that your new policy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Today I’m going to share with you my most popular piece on Medium. If you don’t know what Medium is, it’s a place where writers can get their short pieces published, either by themselves, or in someone else’s publication. I started getting published on Medium in April, mostly on two publications which feature interesting stories and great writing. My most popular story so far appeared on a publication called Crow’s Feet, and it’s called “What You Shouldn't Say to a Cancer Patient.” I wrote it one night after having a couple of glasses of wine and it’s basically a rant about all the things that well meaning people said to me when I was diagnosed with cancer. So, if you’ve ever had cancer, I think you’ll enjoy this. And if you never know what to say when someone shares their bad news with you, perhaps this will help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Do you ever feel like you’re missing out because you’re starting to resist doing new things? I know I have to resist that all the time, even for simple reasons like I don’t know where to park at whatever place I’m thinking of going. It’s really easy to fall into a rut and accidentally let your world become smaller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and in these unsettling times that means you need a big dose of laughter. We have it for you in the form of our latest book, because if laughter is the best medicine then this is your prescription. I know some people think that Chicken Soup for the Soul is all about self-help or heartwarming stories but no, this is the eighth humor book that we’ve published since I became publisher in 2008. It’s filled with funny stories from 100 different writers, many of them making fun of themselves and sharing their most embarrassing moments. We’ve got stories about domestic disasters, wedding snafus, technology traumas, wardrobe malfunctions, words that came out wrong, marital mishaps, and all the other ways in which we find humor in our daily lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. There’s a lot going on out there right now and it’s confusing and divisive and no one is sure how it’s all going to work out. So it’s the perfect time for our new humor book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Laughter’s Always the Best Medicine. Just go ahead and turn off the news, shut down your social media, and return to one of the most basic, and most healthy, skills that we have—and that is humanity’s ability to laugh at itself. Our new collection of funny stories documents the mishaps and misadventures of daily life, as shared with us by about 100 different people. What I want to share today is two stories about mistaken identity, but not of the human variety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and in these unsettling times that means you need a big dose of laughter. We have it for you in the form of our latest book, because if laughter is the best medicine then this is your prescription. I know some people think that Chicken Soup for the Soul is all about self-help or heartwarming stories but no, this is the eighth humor book that we’ve published since I became publisher in 2008. It’s filled with funny stories from 100 different writers, many of them making fun of themselves and sharing their most embarrassing moments. We’ve got stories about domestic disasters, wedding snafus, technology traumas, wardrobe malfunctions, words that came out wrong, marital mishaps, and all the other ways in which we find humor in our daily lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. So let me ask you this: Are you stuck in a rut? Do you never try anything new? How does it make you feel? I know I talk about it all the time, but our writers send us thousands of stories every year about how energized and empowered they feel when they start saying Yes instead of No to new things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today we’re going to talk about getting older and having a great attitude about it. In our first story, Geneva Coleman tells us that she was 55 years old when she decided to reinvent herself. The first thing that went was her hair dye. She went silver—on purpose. And she discovered how much healthier her hair was when she stopped dyeing it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Are you competing to be the favorite grandparent? Grandparenting is so different these days—the unconditional love and mutual admiration between grandchildren and grandparents are still the same, but what’s different for many families is they are so spread out. Sometimes they live in different countries, or hundreds of miles apart, or the grandchildren need to see multiple sets of grandparents because of divorces. So grandparents have to get creative—and travel a lot, and use Skype or Facetime, or pair up with other grandparents to share events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. There’s a lot going on right now and it’s confusing and divisive and no one is sure how it’s all going to work out. So this may be the perfect time for our new humor book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Laughter’s Always the Best Medicine. I suggest you turn off the news, shut down social media, and return to one of the most basic, and most useful, skills that we have—and that is humanity’s ability to laugh at itself. Our new collection of funny stories documents the mishaps and misadventures of daily life, as shared with us by about 100 different people. And one of the places where a lot of those funny things happen is in marriages, and I love the stories we get about spouses pranking each other or reporting on each other’s various mishaps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and in these unsettling times that means you need a big dose of laughter. We have it for you in the form of our latest book, because if laughter is the best medicine then this is your prescription. I know some people think that Chicken Soup for the Soul is all about self-help or heartwarming stories but no, this is the eighth humor book that we’ve published since I became publisher in 2008. It’s filled with funny stories from 100 different writers, many of them making fun of themselves and sharing their most embarrassing moments. We’ve got stories about domestic disasters, mistaken identity, wedding snafus, technology traumas, wardrobe malfunctions, words that came out wrong, and all the other ways in which we find humor in our daily lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. There’s a lot going on right now and it’s confusing and divisive and no one is sure how it’s all going to work out. That makes it the perfect time for our new humor book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Laughter’s Always the Best Medicine. So turn off the news, shut down social media, and return to one of the most basic, and most useful, skills that we have—and that is humanity’s ability to laugh at itself. Our new collection of funny stories documents the mishaps and misadventures of daily life, as shared with us by about 100 different people. And one of the places where a lot of those funny things happen is in the kitchen, and while we’re entertaining. We have a whole chapter of what we call Domestic Disasters in this new book, and I’m going to share a couple of those stories with you today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today I’m going to share a couple of stories with you from our newest book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: All You Need Is Love. We have a lot of stories about FINDING love in the book, but what about later? How do you keep the love alive? That’s the topic of the stories I’m sharing with you today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today I’m going to share a couple of stories with you from our newest book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: All You Need Is Love. Love can happen to anyone at any time, and the stories in this book— of dating and romance, second chances, love rekindled, and happiness at any age—will put a smile on your face. And today’s stories, about listening to your dreams, will wow you as well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today I’m going to share a couple of stories with you from our newest book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: All You Need Is Love. You know, the miracle of love can happen when you least expect it—in new relationships and in old ones—at any age and any stage of life. What I love is the stories about destiny, about loves that were meant to be. For example, Lori Chidori Phillips’ story, which is mindblowing in so many ways. We first published her story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dreams and the Unexplainable because it is about dreams and it is truly unexplainable! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with today’s Chicken Soup for the Soul for you, and today I’m sharing two stories about how you can truly talk yourself into having a more positive attitude. The amazing thing is that even if you just pretend to be a more positive person, everyone will react to you differently and then before you know it, it will be true. This is proven over and over again in our new book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy. It’s so simple to implement these practices and they are so effective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and today we’re talking about positive thinking because after all, it’s the new year and it’s time for some new perspective. Our new book about 101 ways to think positive will give you lots of great ideas for adopting a new attitude, a new more optimistic approach to the ups and downs of life—and how about this?—motivation to pursue that passion or follow that dream that you’ve been thinking about for a while, maybe even for years. Because it’s never too late. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Today I’m going to talk about one of the two keys to happiness, and that is forgiveness. You know we talk about a lot of different ways to create a happier life for yourself, and the two keys to happiness that I think are absolutely essential are gratitude and forgiveness. What is very cool about forgiveness is that you can use its power to create an instant change in your attitude. All you have to do is decide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and it’s Friend Friday, which means I’m chatting with someone interesting from the Chicken Soup for the Soul world. Today I’d like you to meet Ashonti Ford, who wrote an inspirational story for our latest book about 101 Ways to Think Positive. Ashonti graduated from San Francisco State with a degree in Broadcast Communications, took an unpaid internship at a TV station far, far away, and is now an award-winning journalist who appears on over 100 different television news stations every morning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and today we’re talking about positive thinking because after all, it’s the new year and it’s time for some new perspective. Our new book about 101 ways to think positive will give you lots of great ideas for adopting a new attitude, a new more optimistic approach to the ups and downs of life—and how about this?—motivation to reach out and make new friends, and be open to even the most unlikely people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. II don’t know about you but I still feel like it’s New Year’s because I’m still making resolutions. When I think about it, I’m actually making resolutions all year as I try to develop better habits. And one of those habits is to try to remember the good every day and not just focus on what happens to be going wrong at any given time. Making a habit of focusing on good things is a common self-help theme that we see in our stories… because it really works. And that’s what I’m going to talk about today, with two stories from our new book about 101 ways to think positive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and this month we’re talking about resolutions, and not always the traditional ones like dieting and exercising. There are lots of other possible resolutions that are life-changing, or at least life-improving. So, I’m going to propose some of those to you as well this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today I’m going to talk about resolutions. It’s January, time to think about the ways in which we want to improve our habits, our behavior, and how we interact with the world. Everyone knows the old classics—stop smoking, eat less, exercise more, be neater... and we’re going to talk about some of those resolutions this month. But there are lots of other possible resolutions that are life-changing, or at least life-improving. So, I’m going to propose some of those to you as well this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today I’m going to talk about resolutions. It’s January, time to think about the ways in which we want to improve our habits, our behavior, and how we interact with the world. Everyone knows the old classics—stop smoking, eat less, exercise more, be neater... and we’re going to talk about some of those resolutions this month. But there are lots of other possible resolutions that are life-changing, or at least life-improving. So, I’m going to propose some of those to you as well this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and today we’re talking about positive thinking because after all, it’s the new year and it’s time for some new perspective. Our book about 101 ways to think positive will give you lots of great ideas for adopting a new attitude, a new more optimistic approach to the ups and downs of life—and how about this?—motivation to reach out and make new connections. I don’t know about you, but I always feel like I should be working on making new friends and expanding our social circle or at least remembering to keep up with existing friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. This is the time of year when we are already re-examining our New Year’s resolutions and deciding which ones are actually do-able. I want to share one today that is an all-year resolution for me and my husband, and that is to face our fears and have more fun as a result. We are constantly fighting off that tendency to NOT do something new, usually for some dumb reason like we don’t know where to park there. But we’ve gotten way better about doing new things, eating new things, going to new places, having new experiences. So when you’re thinking about your New Year’s resolutions, you might want to add one about facing your fears or insecurities. And that’s what I’m going to talk about today, with two stories from our new book about 101 ways to think positive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and today we’re talking about positive thinking because after all, it’s the new year and it’s time for some new perspective. Our new book about 101 ways to think positive will give you lots of great ideas for adopting a new attitude, a new more optimistic approach to the ups and downs of life—plus it just happens to be very fun read. There are so many ways that our writers found their path to a happier life and there stories about how they got there are pretty entertaining. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. It’s that time when all those New Year’s resolutions start looking a little less do-able than they did on January first. I’ve learned to be more reasonable and go for incremental changes in my habits. And one kind of resolution that I love is the resolution that you can do inside your mind, one that can work instantly… with no sweating or hunger pangs. So while you’re improving your fitness or organizing your home, you can also do something that will make an immediate difference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and today we’re talking about positive thinking because after all, it’s the new year and it’s time for some new perspective. Our new book about 101 ways to think positive will give you lots of great ideas for adopting a new attitude, a new more optimistic approach to the ups and downs of life—plus it just happens to be very fun read. There are so many ways that our writers found their path to a happier life and these stories about how they got there are pretty entertaining. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. It’s time for all those New Year’s resolutions and besides the obvious ones that most of us have every year – eat less and exercise more – I like to throw a couple of painless ones into the mix--resolutions that you can do inside your mind, ones that can work instantly--with no sweating or starving. And what we find is that positive thinking is one of those new things you can do right away, and a resolution that will make an immediate difference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today I’m going to talk about resolutions. It’s January, time to think about the ways in which we want to improve our habits, our behavior, and how we interact with the world. Everyone knows the old classics—stop smoking, eat less, exercise more, be neater... and we’re going to talk about some of those resolutions this month. But there are lots of other possible resolutions that are life-changing, or at least life-improving. So, I’m going to propose some of those to you as well this month. And today we’re going to talk about the power of saying yes to new things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and this month we’re talking about resolutions, and not always the traditional ones like dieting and exercising. There are lots of other possible resolutions that are life-changing, or at least life-improving. So, I’m going to propose some of those to you as well this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today I’m going to talk about resolutions. It’s January, time to think about the ways in which we want to improve our habits, our behavior, and how we interact with the world. Everyone knows the old classics—stop smoking, eat less, exercise more, be neater... and we’re going to talk about some of those resolutions this month. But there are lots of other possible resolutions that are life-changing, or at least life-improving. So, I’m going to propose some of those to you as well this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today I’m going to talk about resolutions. It’s January, time to think about the ways in which we want to improve our habits, our behavior, and how we interact with the world. Everyone knows the old classics—stop smoking, eat less, exercise more, be neater... and we’re going to talk about some of those resolutions this month. But there are lots of other possible resolutions that are life-changing, or at least life-improving. So, I’m going to propose some of those to you as well this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today we’re talking about the holidays, with two stories from our new bestseller Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Christmas. These stories are about Christmas AND Hanukkah, and how plenty of people manage to celebrate both every year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Christmas is just about here, but I know I’m already looking forward to what’s coming in the new year as well. We ended our holiday book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas, with a few New Year’s stories and I’m going to share a couple of them with you today, about traditions you might want to start for yourself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Today’s episode is all about naughty and nice as we head into the final days before Christmas. I’ve got two very funny stories to share today, one about a grandma ingesting stuffing made with a very special herb that was supposed to be just for the twenty-somethings at their family dinner, and one about taking a Christmas card photo in a very unauthorized location. Let’s start with that one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. I don’t know about you, but I have to say that some of my favorite holiday stories are about the various disasters that have befallen our family events—whether it was a totally raw turkey, or a power failure on Christmas Eve, or an easy to assemble gift that was anything but. Then of course there’s the golden retriever eating all the dessert while everyone’s in another room, or the natural tree that came complete with natural bugs, or the gift forgotten in the back of a closet. Or the time that I wrote “Mom” on the gift list for my children, then shared it with my mother-in-law and she thought “Mom” was her, not my mother, so the kids got two of everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. You know, Christmas is often a time of reflection and a time for remembering the family members who are no longer with us, and that’s hard. But there are so many amazing memories of those people as well, and we carry those with us into our holiday celebrations. My mother died a few days after Christmas seven years ago, so the last time I saw her before she was hospitalized was at my Christmas Eve party. She had such a good time that she and my father were the last to leave. Every other year they had been the first to leave, so I think that somehow, subconsciously, she knew it was her last Christmas. And now I share all her Christmas gifts with my grown children, mostly the excessive number of Christmas ornaments that she loved to give me each year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today we’re talking about Christmas. Now, there are times when you’re not expecting the holidays to be as good as they usually are. Maybe you’re home sick, or your family members aren’t available because they’re with in-laws or traveling, or it’s a tough year financially… Well, I know I’ve been through those less than stellar Christmases once in a while. But there are ways to turn things around. And that’s what we’re going to hear about today in two stories from our Magic of Christmas Coloring Book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul, and today we’re talking about Christmas. Now you may think it’s all gotten too commercial and it’s all about getting gifts, but that’s not what see at Chicken Soup for the Soul. We see a focus on families getting together, and people enjoying the giving way more than the receiving, and people looking out for others in their communities. And that extends all the way down to the kids, who demonstrate all the attributes you’d want to see as far as generosity and compassion are concerned. So today I’m going to share a couple of stories about the natural generosity of kids at Christmastime, from our brand-new coloring book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Magic of Christmas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and today we’re talking about miracles, the ones that seem to abound during the holiday season. We get so many stories about miracles and other unexplained but very cool things like coincidences and answered prayers, and we included a whole chapter of them in our new book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tales of Christmas. And what could be better than a miracle involving a puppy that was supposed to die on Christmas Eve but ended up thriving? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and today we’re talking about the holidays and those special, traditional dishes that families have every year. I know they’re tradition, but has anyone ever asked if anyone actually likes them? It turns out that sometimes people have been polite—for decades—and no one has ever said anything. I know that happened in my family. We had an Italian grandmother who made these awful, dry, weird cookies that we all hated. But Grandamama made them every year, and every year, after she went to bed, we would hide them in the trash compactor. The next morning she would see they were all gone, and of course she would make them again the next year because we all seemed to love them so much. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and the race is on. Whether you’re celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah or something else this month, you’re probably working on your gift list. So today I want to share two stories about wonderful gifts that required a lot of imagination and not a lot of money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Today we’re talking about how to make the perfect Christmas—by accepting imperfection and learning how to enjoy the holidays instead of stressing over every little detail. I’ve always loved that quote about how it matters more who is sitting AROUND the table than what is ON the table, and that applies to all the different aspects of the holidays. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. Today we’re talking about forgiveness, which I believe is essential to being happy. If you’re carrying around all those resentments and disappointments and anger it can be quite a heavy load. One of the ways to free yourself is to make sure that you understand all the facts before you get angry, and I’m going to share two stories about that from our new book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Forgiveness Fix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with today’s Chicken Soup for the Soul inspiration from our bestselling book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive, Live Happy. If you’re like me you like being in control, but today I’m going to share a couple of stories about how sometimes giving up control and accepting a different perspective can vastly improve your life. And by the way these stories are from real Type-A people! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul and today we’re talking about Christmas gifts and spouses and all the kinds of things that can go wrong when a spouse tries really really hard to finally pick out the best Christmas gift ever. I know I’ve had some epic fails myself when trying to find a great gift for my husband. I remember one year I went to the dentist and while I was under the influence of gas I told the dental tech that I had just figured out my whole Christmas shopping list and I made her write it down as I dictated it. And that’s why my new husband got a crystal pair of swans… because they mate for life and I thought it was a very romantic gift… and somehow even when the effect of the gas wore off I didn’t come to my senses. He was not impressed and I think we were both relieved when his housecleaner broke the swans and we had to throw them away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it’s Amy Newmark with your Chicken Soup for the Soul. So have you ever been in a line waiting for a store to open its doors for Black Friday? Well Phil Baisley was, and he said that Christmas came early for him that year because everyone in the line banded together while they were waiting, sharing advice, coats, and good cheer. And we have another story for today, from Allison Lynn Flemming, about how a community came together at a church to put on a huge outdoor show, where you could walk from one stage to the next, watching the actors portray scenes from the nativity. It was such a cool idea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices