Politically Incorrect Christmas

There's always a bit of controversy during the holiday season about the political correctness of Christmas.

Home shopping is not immune to this.

There's been an ongoing debate about whether or not the hosts are encouraged to say "Happy Holidays" and not "Merry Christmas."

Well according to an article in the Tennessean about former QVC host, Steve Bryant, they certainly are:

His [song] "I Still Say Merry Christmas" was inspired "by the many years I spent on QVC and had to say 'happy holidays' instead of 'merry Christmas' on-air," he said.

Although there were Christmas trees and decorations everywhere at QVC, the phrase was verboten on the air, Bryant said.

"I slipped the occasional 'merry Christmas' in, and I heard about it," he said.

Also, be sure to check out his website here and the Christmas song here. He's got a great post on the home page about the current and many woes of home shopping channels. Here's a snippet:

At QVC, we used to debut new and exciting products all the time. Today, it seems that most televised shopping channels rely on a core of products they sell all the time. Recently, one of them sold a cookware set for over 3 hours straight. Now there’s compelling television. They sold a bunch of them, but how many viewers did they turn off in the process. How many of those disgruntled viewers/customers will be back soon?

I just love three hours of Green Pans, don't you? Ugh!

Anyway, this all seems so strange to me since home shopping channels, along with other retailers, make most of their money in the forth quarter because of Christmas sales. Besides, who exactly is offended by Christmas? I'm not offended when my grandma's Jewish boyfriend celebrates Hanukkah. Nor was I offended when a co-worker fasted during Ramadan. And, for the record, my friend's agnostic husband doesn't bug me either. I just don't get it.

Isn't it almost time for Christmas in July?

Queen Bea's Big Thank You!

Merry Christmas in December--not to be confused with everyone's favorite home shopping tradition, Christmas in July!--and a big fat "Thank You!" to you for making this blog so much fun. You guys are an absolute blast to hang out with--even the haters and trolls ... you just add a little spice to the entertainment. ;-)

This blog has only been up and running less then a year now, so I need your help. What do you love to read about on the blog? What do you want to see more of? What could you do without? Be honest, I can take it. I think ... stiff upper lip and all that.

Oh! And I have to tell you about my Christmas present that I found for myself. I 'm sooo excited! On Craigslist, I snagged an 18k yellow gold band ring with channel-set square natural emeralds and baguette diamonds (yes, I do wear real stuff too, people). And get this, the band is HEAVY--I hate flimsy gold jewelry, you know--I think it's about 7 grams of gold stuffed into that little band. I love it! It's gorgeous, it's high-quality, and I got a great deal on it. Apparently some lady was unloading everything her no-good ex-husband ever gave her. In any case, I got a rockin' deal on it. For what I paid for my heavy 18k gold emerald and diamond ring, I would have ended up with some hollowed-out nothing from just about anywhere else.

I will probably be posting sporadically this week. Even though I am lucky enough to get the week off to spend with my family, it's going to be busy. So I'm not making any promises about the quantity or quality of the posts this week. We'll just have to see how it goes.

My family is coming here for Christmas so there is lots of shopping and cooking to do--and that's not even counting all the present wrapping and delivering for everyone on my home shopping Christmas list.

Anyway, my father just started Weight Watchers a few weeks ago, so I'm trying to make the menu a little healthier for his sake. The main dinner is shaping up nicely (brined pork tenderloin with apple glaze, roasted rosemary potatoes and winter squash, hearty vegetable soup, dried cranberry, walnut, and blue cheese salad with balsamic vinaigrette), but the rest of it is a big calorie bust, I'm afraid. Oh well, tis the season! There will be a revolt if there is no spinach dip and bourbon cake!

We're also planning on hitting Dollywood after Christmas to see the lights.

So, by Queen Bea's royal decree, have a very Merry Christmas!!!

I'm Baaaaaaaa-aaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!

Just like Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Vacation, Walley World was closed for two weeks and ruined all my big vacation plans. Ugh!!! So, instead of riding roller coasters or relaxing at the beach, I spent my vacation moving. And just in case you weren't already aware, MOVING SUCKS! I'm exhausted. At least most of it is over with and I didn't have to strap Aunt Edna to the top of the car.

It's gonna take me a bit to sort through my stuffed email inbox and get some posts up again. I missed so much! Suzanne Somers flashed her underwear to everyone and Christmas already came and went ...