I stood with 1,200 or so of my fellow Austrians (for the night,) waving a plastic flower and singing "Eidelweiss" at the top of my lungs. I was surrounded by singing nuns and children dressed as goat puppets and people who never quite made it past the high school stage. We belted "Climb Every Mountain" and hissed when the evil Baroness was on stage. We booed the Nazis and barked at Rolf and noticed (some of us for the first time) how dreamy Christopher Plummer is on the big screen. And, we paid more than the going rate on Fandango to watch a movie that came out in 1965.

And, you know what? We had a freakin' blast!

Tonight, Spokane took part in the Sound of Music sing-a-long. What's that? Think "Rocky Horror Picture Show," but with kids in clothes made out of drapes instead of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Think "Mystery Science Theater 3000," but you're the one sitting in the theater making comments.

Basically, they showed the classic film on the giant screen at the INB Performing Arts Center and asked the audience to sing along. Not only that, they gave us props and instructions on what to do when certain things happened on the stage. My favorite: every time adorable little Gretel was on screen, there was a collective "awww" from the crowd.

Happy Festivus - save your airing of grievances for dinner tonight. Here’s a little more alternative way to wrap those gifts for that other holiday that happens in two days. Take a deep breath - you’re going to need it. Forget that you have family coming over and your may home looks like it’s still recovering from Thanksgiving. Let’s focus on creativity.

Once a year we can really bring out the artist in ourselves - wrapping gifts. A few regional readers share their gift wrapping practices:

Spokane Valley resident, Stacy, says her household uses the classic craft - funny pages gift wrap. She also says she cuts up paper sacks and dresses them up with wrapping paper scraps. I suppose that’s in case the newspaper goes rogue and ends up in a dark and damp ditch on the side of the road.

Carol, a South Hill neighbor, dittos the gift wrap by funny pages. However, she makes sure Mutts is always shown at the the very top. I wonder if her gift recipients ever stop to notice that.

Spokane County Library District’s Board of Trustees announced at its  meeting on December 20, 2011, that Nancy Ledeboer will become SCLD’s new Executive Director effective March 1, 2012.

“We are very excited to have Nancy coming on board,” said Board Chair Tim Hattenburg. “Her passion for libraries, commitment to community partnerships, knowledge of the industry and breadth of experiences make her the perfect fit for Spokane County Library District.”

Current Executive Director Mike Wirt will be retiring on February 24, 2012, after 40 years with the District.