The time has come to pause these posts to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas start my annual Christmas movie marathon (Elf, A Christmas Story, the various and sundry Lampoon’s if you were wondering).

One point of business, our main site will be down intermittently through the New Year for maintenance and upgrades. It’s coming back better than ever in January.

So with that, may you all have a safe and joyous holiday, and a prosperous New Year.

See you in 2013.

Here’s a collection of some of the best stuff we found this week. Enjoy!

• Ron Edmonds at the Principium Group has a good collection of major acquisitions from 2011.
• Cynthia Barnett has a new book on how we can fix America’s water crisis. (Via UTNE)
• Today is Epiphany, so you’re allowed to take down your Christmas tree. Here are a few ideas on what to do with it.
• 2012 looks bleak for consumer spending.
• ArtisTree supervisor exceeds customer expectations, refuses customer kisses.
• Jeff Korhan’s predictions for business and social media in 2012. (Better content, more videos.)
• Why marketing for small companies follows the “fake-it-til-you-make-it” model.
• Above: A good illustration of turf’s benefits from BASF TurfTalk.

Editor’s note: The L&L team will be out today through next Monday for the holidays. So, we’ve compiled a (mostly) Christmas-themed round-up for you. Enjoy!

• Jeff Korhan on why you should write every day, and how Stephen King can help.
• Davey launches a new mobile app to calculate the value of trees on a property.
• Woody Guthrie’s list of New Year’s rulin’s. (See related here and here.)
• Thanks to the crushing Texas drought, a mistletoe shortage threatens a loveable (if somewhat creepy) Christmas tradition.
• The year in photos from National Geographic.
• Seth Godin: “No one ever bought anything in an elevator.”
• When was the last time you saw a robotic chainsaw reindeer? That’s what I thought. (via @VoiceOfTreeCare and @husqvarnausa)

Above: Image via the wonderful Jessica Hagy’s Indexed.

Here’s the next installment of our December book giveaway: “7 Principles of Public Speaking” by Richard Zeoli. You may not give keynote addresses, but these tips will help you lead team meetings and present at your next Chamber of Commerce event, for sure.

And, I’m still unpacking a Honda Civic’s worth of boxes, so stay tuned for more chances to build your library.

Congrats to the winners of our book giveaway so far! Hope you all enjoy them.

• Jan Gross, Heritage Landscapes, San Anselmo, Calif.
• Jerry Solis, Omega Lawn Care, Riverside, Calif.
• Graham Oldreive, Ducke’s Lawn Care, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
• David Burger, Burger Landscapes, Rome, Ill.
• Paul E. Morgan, The RainHarvest Company, Snellville, Ga.
• Matthew Lawonn, Lawonn Lawn & Landscaping, Milwaukee

You always hear that it’s no fun to have a birthday around Christmas because you get cheated when it comes to gifts. Well, don’t tell that to Barbara Hoefler. According to northjersey.com, R&S Landscaping wanted to reward one of its first customers with a holiday treat.

Barbara Hoefler of Glen Rock wants to mark the occasion of her upcoming 70th birthday in a big way and R&S Landscaping is giving her a chance to do just that. The company, upon learning about its longtime customer’s milestone birthday, surprised her with a free holiday lighting package designed specifically for her home.

She and her husband Fred will have an opportunity to show off the holiday lighting display on Monday, Jan. 2, when friends and family visit the house for a birthday celebration.

You can read the full article here. This sounds like a great idea on how to reward a loyal customer (and a great way to get some free publicity!) So, what do you do to show your customers they are appreciated?

During the next week, we’re moving our editorial offices from our palatial corporate HQ in Richfield, Ohio, to our company’s historic main headquarters in Cleveland. Apart from making very important and serious decisions about desk assignments and where the printer needs to go, I’m also cleaning out my bookshelves.

So, all this month, I’ll be giving away the best business and books I’ve collected during the past few years. All you have to do is email me your mailing address, and our elves I will drop the book in the mail.

First up is Robert Glennon’s “Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What to Do About It.” Glennon, a professor at the University of Arizona, spoke at the 2010 Irrigation Association show, and is an expert on water rights and the impact they’re having on our country. It’s a great read.

Happy Holidays from DANIELS on Vimeo.

There’s nothing as exciting and heartwarming as the unadulterated joy and violence with which children approach the holiday season.

Happy holidays from all of us at the L&L blog. May they be full of joy and free of any attacks from malicious packages.