The Dragon-Muse Christmas Photo Shoot Incident of 2010 (by Jerry)

The more time I spend with humans, the more I really start to like their human holidays and traditions. Take Thanksgiving. I have often chased turkeys, but I never considered them to be tasty snack options. As Thanksgiving approached and I learned that turkeys were the traditional Thanksgiving food, I offered to go get "Mom" a nice fresh turkey, but she said she had already purchased a frozen one. It was already defeathered and everything. Can you imagine NOT wanting to pluck out all those lovely feathers by yourself? I mean, that's like half the fun! FEATHER FIGHT! (By the way, Bion is extremely ticklish).

So "Mom" cooked (she declined my offer to roast it via Dragon flame) up her lovely turkey, and it turned out quite nice.

We called him Mr. Sizzles.

She also had pumpkin pie, but she wouldn't let me have any. She caught me trying to steal some.

It just looks...so...tasty...

But she did let me have some cranberry sauce. What I neglected to tell "Mom" is that Dragons tend to get a little silly when they've had cranberries. In ye olden times, cranberries were actually referred to as Dragon Nip. Since both Pneuman and Tai also had some Dragon Nip...I mean, cranberry sauce, we were in for an interesting evening.

(Please note that Bion had NO cranberry sauce whatsoever. We just dragged him into our cranberry-induced silliness for the fun of it.)

Fuse bead hearts are the perfect way to say "Merry Christmas."

Pneuman "This hat clashes with my beautiful scales" Claus

Tai "Do I look like an elf or what?" Claus

Bion "GETITOFFGETITOFF" Claus

Jerry "COOL! I look like Princess Leia" Claus

GODZILLA VS. BABY JESUS!

(Please note I was heavily under the influence of cranberry sauce)

Jerry: I'm a bucket of JOY!"

Bion: Shut up, Jerry.

Serious Family Christmas Photo Attempt #1:

Jerry: Does this hat make my nostril look fat?

Serious Family Christmas Photo Attempt #2:

Bion: I don't WANT to wear the hat.

Tai: But it balances out the picture.

Bion: Believe me, there is NOTHING "balanced" about ANY of this.

Serious Family Christmas Photo Attempt #3: (Third time's the charm??)

Everyone: Merry Christmas!

Jerry: Now how about a hug!?

Bion: NO.

The End.

Thankfulness (by EVERYBODY)

The Human here. I thought it would be fun this Thanksgiving to ask all of my Dragon-Muses what they're thankful for.

Tai:
What am I thankful for? Well, this is an easy question and a difficult question. I'm thankful for pretty much everything, but I'm sure our readers want a more specific answer than that. So I guess I'll just say that I'm thankful for the ability to be thankful. I'm thankful for those times when it seems that things aren't going the way we want them to go. I'm thankful for the ability to still find something to be thankful for. I'm thankful to be able to see, in time, the way things are worked out. I'm thankful to be known by the Creator of the universe who is able to work things out while we wait for Him. There's beauty in the waiting, in the trusting, in the hoping--and I'm thankful for the ability to thankfully wait on God to bring about what He's planned.

Bion:
This might surprise you, but I'm actually thankful for Jerry. I'm thankful for Tai, Pneuman, and my human, as well, of course, but I'm particularly thankful for my brother Jerry. Yes, he annoys the fire out of me--literally. Yes, he steals my tail cap and pours hot chocolate in it for no apparent reason. Yes, he bothers me by never taking anything seriously. But I've found that we all need a little Jerry from time to time. I get caught up in my editing and work. Work and responsibility are very, very important. Sometimes, though, I forget that it's also important to rest. It's important to take a few minutes to laugh and just be the tiniest bit silly. While Jerry annoys me and will always annoy me, I must admit...well...that I kind of like the guy. I'm glad he's my brother. Don't tell him I said that.

I'm also thankful that my scales don't itch. Sometimes that happens when the weather gets colder.

Jerry:
I'm thankful for warm hugs, grape nerds, fishing lure, rabbit holes, chocolate chip cookies, Star Wars, socks, teddy bears, tarantulas, gummy bears, llamas, juggernauts, astronauts, cosmonauts, other kinds of nauts, pickled herring, coo-coo clocks, ribbons, lazer beams, gingersnaps, VCRs, drumsticks, yellow, doorbells, encyclopedias, tacos, and your mom.

Pneuman:
Well, let me see. I'm thankful for writing and for inspiration, of course. I'm thankful for every breath we're given in this beautiful life that allows us to work, write, sing, pray, laugh, dance, eat, dream, and just BE. I'm thankful for the delicate taste of a roasted peasant and the sweet scent of lavender candles. I'm thankful to be able to create and help create, to do and to encourage. I'm thankful to be truly alive.
I'm also thankful that I'm such a good looking Dragon. While no good Dragon is unattractive, I'm glad I'm exceptionally handsome.

And The Human:
I'm thankful for being able to get closer to my goals (and better define my goals) this year. I still have a long way to go, but as Tai was saying, there's something to be thankful for in the waiting. I'm thankful for all my quirky muses and for the ridiculously wonderful life that I have. I'm thankful for the serious, grown-up parts of my life, as well as the silly childlike parts. This year I've been able to see God working more than I've been able to in the past five years. It's been amazing. I'm so looking forward to Christmas and for 2011. Life is amazing and weird and unpredictable and beautiful. Even if I don't know what's going to happen to me and my writing, I know that God's working.
I'm thankful that I have food on my table, money in my bank account, a roof over my head, a car that's doing really well at the moment, friends who I can rely on when my car isn't doing so well, three jobs that involve the most incredible kids/staff ever, the bestest nieces and nephew an aunt could ask for, an amazing large family whom I can't wait to see come Christmastime, and I'm thankful to have something to work towards.
My life isn't perfect. I think that's part of what makes it interesting. I am a blessed, blessed person. I'm very thankful.

Everyone:
Happy Thanksgiving!

Bion: Jerry, STOP HUGGING ME!
Jerry: It's a Thanksgiving hug!
Bion: Oh, all right. But just for Thanksgiving. And JUST ONE HUG.