Brr. Cold here. The solar hot water heater froze up last night. Seriously, we had to disconnect it from the hot water heater in order to bathe this morning. They had melted by 8:00, and nothing looks broken. All's well that ends well. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be in the 40's. Better.
Ooh. Today was our big field trip today. We went to the old Pioneer Village today for a Christmas craft day. I personally love the place. The old buildings, the school, the barns, the animals -- they all transport me back to the 1800's. (Yes, "pioneer" only goes back about 150 years here, at least in terms of Protestant, English-speaking, American people.) I always get a sense of real history under my feet there.
It's a surreal experience to be in a place (or book) and become so engrossed that you suddenly realize that you're still where you started and not somewhere else. I like it. Most people like it. Sadly, places and books that transport a person really scare the piss out of The Boy. He started the trip by getting carsick in the parking lot. Then the complaining started, along with the rude, defiant comments. He initially refused to go in the building with the group. Assuming that he was just being difficult and controlling, and that he'd enjoy it once he got inside, I made him go. When he burst into tears in the classroom, I figured it was time to make a break for it. Seriously, I was pretty sure he'd get over it and have a good time. But no.
Happily, the farm part was outdoors, so The Girl and I went and visited the chickens, sheep, goats, peacocks etc. The dude that was doing the outdoors presentation was really cool. His oldest kid is about 45, so he's about my mom's age. He's been a farmer or rancher most of his life, part of it in Colorado. Cool. We got to hear about all the animals. All the sheep had twins last spring, and one is expecting now. He says she'll lamb on the coldest full moon of the winter. I don't know how they know, but I'm betting he's right. We couldn't get too slobbery because all the water pipes for washing up were frozen. Yayy. The Boy wasn't going anywhere near the animals, but he was content to hang around long enough for The Girl to check them all out.
The day had turned nice by 10:45, so after visiting the vegetable gardens, we all headed home. At least I got to see the farm, The Girl enjoyed the animals, no one threw up in the car. I'm not sure it was really a $15 petting zoo, but I've done worse.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Ballet and Birthday Pie
Well, I took The Girl to see the Nutcracker last night. It went just a little better than I expected. Let's say it was a good thing that it was a local cheap ballet; otherwise the people around us would have been pissed at the chattering. She hid behind her jacket most of the time, but when the music changed, she would peek out to see what just came onstage. All in all, I think she liked it.
The OT has us doing "brushing" right now, and I think it's helping. Basically, every three hours, I have to brush her arms, legs, and back, and compress her arm and leg joints. It's a little like getting a massage five times a day. No wonder she's mellowed out. I know I would be. Still, the things we do for love, eh?
The Husband's birthday was today. We really hadn't planned to do all that much partying for it, as he's a pretty mellow individual. We ended up having Michael Angelo's veggie lasagna and an apple pie. The Boy decided that the shirt and khakis that The Husband bought himself last week would NOT be a good birthday present. (That's usually how we work it -- your own birthday present must be presented to the spouse by close of business on the Wednesday before your birthday weekend. Present will be wrapped by excited children, and you must act surprised and happy when you open it.) I had already bought my dad a Whitman's chocolate sampler for Christmas, so that was the emergency birthday present. In case you were wondering, you should NEVER put birthday candles in an apple pie. Why? The candles melt right into the hot apple filling. WHO KNEW?!
The OT has us doing "brushing" right now, and I think it's helping. Basically, every three hours, I have to brush her arms, legs, and back, and compress her arm and leg joints. It's a little like getting a massage five times a day. No wonder she's mellowed out. I know I would be. Still, the things we do for love, eh?
The Husband's birthday was today. We really hadn't planned to do all that much partying for it, as he's a pretty mellow individual. We ended up having Michael Angelo's veggie lasagna and an apple pie. The Boy decided that the shirt and khakis that The Husband bought himself last week would NOT be a good birthday present. (That's usually how we work it -- your own birthday present must be presented to the spouse by close of business on the Wednesday before your birthday weekend. Present will be wrapped by excited children, and you must act surprised and happy when you open it.) I had already bought my dad a Whitman's chocolate sampler for Christmas, so that was the emergency birthday present. In case you were wondering, you should NEVER put birthday candles in an apple pie. Why? The candles melt right into the hot apple filling. WHO KNEW?!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Of Dentists and Christmas sweaters...
Thanks for the encouragement! The dentist didn't go too badly. The first thing she did was to ask, "You understand what we're doing today, right?" I said, "Yeah, you're going to grind down two of my teeth to stumps and glue fake ones on." She says, "Yeah. I guess so." ;)
The saving grace was that I charged my iPod shuffle and loaded up some fun Jack Johnson music. Every time she got out the God-awful grinder, I just cranked the volume up again. You have to check out that link for Jack Johnson. He's also the man who did all the music on the last Curious George movie. It's hip, catchy, and really relaxed. I mean, the man grew up on the north shore of Oahu. He should be.
Anyway, the laptop's still broken, so I'm sitting in the not-so-comfortable desk chair, trying to type on a really clunky keyboard. And it's cold over here by the sliding glass doors. Brr. And speaking of cold -- brr! It's gone below freezing twice this week, and we're due for another cold shot on Monday or Tuesday. This is seriously cutting into my gloating time.
But the silver lining is that I could wear my sequined sweater to The Husband's office party. Yup, I propped my old dad in front of the TV and left the kids with him for three hours. I know, it doesn't sound like a really good idea, but they're almost eleven years old, so I figured it'd be okay. That was the story I had prepared for Child Welfare anyway. Naturally, The Girl took that exact moment to realize that even though I had taken her to the grocery story after the Hair Cuttery (the proper sequence), I had failed to buy cheese at the deli. Hell hath no fury like a girl denied Land O Lakes white American cheese, sliced thickly. To make a long story short, it all worked out, and I have to go get out of this sequined sweater and have it washed for Christmas Eve. Ironically, it's not very warm. Life. Meh.
The saving grace was that I charged my iPod shuffle and loaded up some fun Jack Johnson music. Every time she got out the God-awful grinder, I just cranked the volume up again. You have to check out that link for Jack Johnson. He's also the man who did all the music on the last Curious George movie. It's hip, catchy, and really relaxed. I mean, the man grew up on the north shore of Oahu. He should be.
Anyway, the laptop's still broken, so I'm sitting in the not-so-comfortable desk chair, trying to type on a really clunky keyboard. And it's cold over here by the sliding glass doors. Brr. And speaking of cold -- brr! It's gone below freezing twice this week, and we're due for another cold shot on Monday or Tuesday. This is seriously cutting into my gloating time.
But the silver lining is that I could wear my sequined sweater to The Husband's office party. Yup, I propped my old dad in front of the TV and left the kids with him for three hours. I know, it doesn't sound like a really good idea, but they're almost eleven years old, so I figured it'd be okay. That was the story I had prepared for Child Welfare anyway. Naturally, The Girl took that exact moment to realize that even though I had taken her to the grocery story after the Hair Cuttery (the proper sequence), I had failed to buy cheese at the deli. Hell hath no fury like a girl denied Land O Lakes white American cheese, sliced thickly. To make a long story short, it all worked out, and I have to go get out of this sequined sweater and have it washed for Christmas Eve. Ironically, it's not very warm. Life. Meh.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
more "good" news...
Well, the laptop is toast. It's still breathing, but it's in a coma. I have the repair disk I made when we got it. I have the restoration disks that I made at the same time. Neither seems to be able to resuscitate it. *sigh*
And if that's not enough fun, tomorrow I'm having two teeth ground down to stumps so they can glue fake tops on them next week. Yayyy. I am unreasonably unhappy about this. UNHAPPY.
And if that's not enough fun, tomorrow I'm having two teeth ground down to stumps so they can glue fake tops on them next week. Yayyy. I am unreasonably unhappy about this. UNHAPPY.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Just Sunday, sliding in to Christmas vacation...
Well, I'm done Christmas shopping. Yeah. You heard me. Done. Me and my laptop are D-O-N-E. I'm loving it. ;) I had to clear $50 at Hearthsong to get cheap shipping, so I bought me a calligraphy set. Pretty...
Nothing much else is going on. Today was breakfast at church day, so The Boy and I ate bacon, "eggs", and grits, and then killed an hour before church started. He's gotten so tall, I hardly recognize him across the church yard. We remembered our Angel Tree presents, so that's check-o-la. Then we went home, had a snack and slept for two hours. I think the (mythical) Billingsly family may have given us a cold or something.
Either way, I avoided doing any housework today. Hey, it's kept this long, it'll keep a few more days. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
We have our shopping done. I have only my two and my brother's three kids, plus The Husband, my parents, and a few stray aunts. We found these nifty ball point pens that you put a picture in. Those will do nicely as at least part of the aunts' presents. My father is getting a t-shirt that says, "History Buff. (I would find you more interesting if you were dead.)" Yeah, you wonder where I get my sense of humor? I'm sure I'll have more grousing to do about my mother's present, but the high-stakes kid presents are d-u-n.
Anyway, it's Sunday evening again. Time for Doc Martin and some mild panic that I have to drive to The Big City tomorrow. If I could get the kids to turn off the TV for six hours a day, I'd give them a couple of weeks off. I guess that's coming soon enough, eh?
Before then, though, I have to have my teeth cleaned, get a mammogram, and go to a meeting at Learning Rx. I have ballet tickets for The Girl and me, and The Husband and I are going to a concert. We have an office party on Friday. Soon enough, though. Soon.
Nothing much else is going on. Today was breakfast at church day, so The Boy and I ate bacon, "eggs", and grits, and then killed an hour before church started. He's gotten so tall, I hardly recognize him across the church yard. We remembered our Angel Tree presents, so that's check-o-la. Then we went home, had a snack and slept for two hours. I think the (mythical) Billingsly family may have given us a cold or something.
Either way, I avoided doing any housework today. Hey, it's kept this long, it'll keep a few more days. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
We have our shopping done. I have only my two and my brother's three kids, plus The Husband, my parents, and a few stray aunts. We found these nifty ball point pens that you put a picture in. Those will do nicely as at least part of the aunts' presents. My father is getting a t-shirt that says, "History Buff. (I would find you more interesting if you were dead.)" Yeah, you wonder where I get my sense of humor? I'm sure I'll have more grousing to do about my mother's present, but the high-stakes kid presents are d-u-n.
Anyway, it's Sunday evening again. Time for Doc Martin and some mild panic that I have to drive to The Big City tomorrow. If I could get the kids to turn off the TV for six hours a day, I'd give them a couple of weeks off. I guess that's coming soon enough, eh?
Before then, though, I have to have my teeth cleaned, get a mammogram, and go to a meeting at Learning Rx. I have ballet tickets for The Girl and me, and The Husband and I are going to a concert. We have an office party on Friday. Soon enough, though. Soon.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Wherein I am the Grinch. Seriously.
So, today I put up the outdoor lights. For Florida, it's a pretty darned tasteful display. We have some icicle lights over the garage door, a 7-foot-tall rope-light palm tree by the front door, and some bush netting over the shrubs. Voila. Merry stinkin' Christmas.
Yeah, my attitude toward Christmas hasn't improved yet. That'd probably require Vallium, a much more quick-acting drug. But at least I think I've figured out one of the things that really honks me off about Christmas. And I've made a new rule:
Persons using any form of the word "magic" with any form of the word "Christ" in the same sentence gets slapped.
Really -- magic and Christ? I think that gets you excommunicated in some parts of the world. Like Italy, maybe. I hope.
"This is the Magic of Christmas!" "Make this Christmas magical!" "Come see the magic at Christmas World!"
There's no way I'm pulling anything magical out of my not-so-magical... ear... this year. Or any other year, for that matter. I'll go through the motions and help The Husband with the Usual Festivities, but my heart's not in it.
"The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season..."
Yeah, my attitude toward Christmas hasn't improved yet. That'd probably require Vallium, a much more quick-acting drug. But at least I think I've figured out one of the things that really honks me off about Christmas. And I've made a new rule:
Persons using any form of the word "magic" with any form of the word "Christ" in the same sentence gets slapped.
Really -- magic and Christ? I think that gets you excommunicated in some parts of the world. Like Italy, maybe. I hope.
"This is the Magic of Christmas!" "Make this Christmas magical!" "Come see the magic at Christmas World!"
There's no way I'm pulling anything magical out of my not-so-magical... ear... this year. Or any other year, for that matter. I'll go through the motions and help The Husband with the Usual Festivities, but my heart's not in it.
"The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season..."
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Christmas Survey...
Well, as the prozac is starting to kick in, I thought I'd give Sunnyview's holiday question list a try.
Keep in mind that I basically hate Christmas, and my husband is in charge of making sure the children aren't traumatized by my behavior.
See, Christmas was a religious holiday when I was growing up. We were always in the pageant. We always had new church dresses. We always had an Advent wreath. My mother played carols on the piano for us. We had one real tree decorated in (extremely hot) colored lights and different-shaped, colored, frosted glass balls. (My favorite had Snoopy etched on it!)
We had plenty of presents, but my mother didn't feel the need to make it a Perfect Childhood Memory for us. In fact, I remember going back to school after Christmas break in 7th grade and having a classmate ask me what I got for Christmas. I couldn't remember anything I got in particular, yet I knew I had gotten presents and I had had a great Christmas. It was a puzzlement for me.
So here goes.
1. Hot chocolate or eggnog? Neither. I like "dark chocolate truffle" flavored coffee. It's a calorie thing. I've tried eggnog in the coffee, and it just doesn't work as well as you'd think.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? The Husband decreed years ago that Santa does not wrap, so no, Santa does not wrap. Hey, what do I care? I'm easy!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Again, The Husband likes colored, as do my Philistine children, so my white lights went a long time ago. Outdoors, we still have white -- mostly because I have to put them up!
4. Do you hang mistletoe? You gotta be joking. I won't even have holly or poinsettia in the house since I brought the kids home. Those nuts will put anything in their mouths. When I lived in New England, I always put real pine garland over the doorways to make it smell good! I got a whiff at Lowe's last week, and it stopped me in my tracks.
5. When do you put your decorations up? The Husband's birthday is December 13, so we wait to put the tree up until after that. The outdoor ones go up about a week before that. I'm from an Episcopalian family, and we still like to think that Christmas starts on the 25th and runs for 12 days -- through Epiphany.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? How much time ya got? Seriously, I've really started to avoid high-calorie, high-sugar foods since I lost my 20 pounds last year. There isn't any food that I have to have in order to make it officially Christmas. If I had my choice, I'd give up all the cookie baking in favor of making peanut brittle, no-bake cookies, toffee, and vanilla-mint bark. I like making candy!
We don't do a Christmas meal, per se, but we have a Christmas morning brunch. Mostly, my dad comes over around 9:00, eats some quiche, bisquick-sausage balls, and pecan pie. He opens his presents, and leaves before my mom gets off from church. She arrives around 11:00, eats fruit salad, quiche, and stuffed dates and opens a present or two. Then we're on our own.
I also found out from The Boy that one of his favorite Christmas things is having Chinese food on Christmas Eve. We call it in from the parking lot of the church after children's mass, and pick it up on the way home. It's usually dark before we get home, so we drive once around the block to see the lights. Nice.
7. Favorite Christmas memory as a child? The Christmas pageant at church. My sister and I were always readers or in the choir. I can probably still recite the entire thing from memory. "...but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." Ooh, and for some reason, I remember my mom playing with the warm wax on the advent wreath candles after dinner. I guess it was an excuse to sit and talk after dinner. We liked the excuse to take the time to sit with her and chat.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I remember we found the doll boxes in the trash one year, and my mom half-heartedly tried to support the Santa lie. I wasn't disappointed, as I remember it.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope. Christmas starts on the 25th.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I just found out that The Boy likes our ratty preschool-made ornaments. I hate 'em. But mob rule persists, and we keep putting them up. It's not about me. :)
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it. Don't get any, but love it. I grew up in the mid-Atlantic states, so 40 degrees and raining meant Christmas to me. (Sometimes when it's cold and the streets are wet, I still have flashbacks.) Most of my adult life, I lived in New England, so that meant snow. Either way!
12. Can you ice skate? Yes. The Husband and I went skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa quite a bit BC (before children). We skated the entire eight miles and slept it off in the Chateau Laurier. Ahh.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I got a gorgeous coat when I was 11, and still remember it.
14. What’s the most important thing about Christmas for you? Music. Good music. And handmade chocolates. Give me Harry Connick's Christmas album, Loreena McKennett's Christmas albums, and the King's College choir, and leave me be.
The church here doesn't do a children's pageant, nor do they play any music written before the year 2000, so church isn't the cornerstone of our celebrations that it could be. We do choose three presents from the church's Angel Tree to buy and wrap. We like doing that. The high school band comes around with their luminaria to sell, so we donate to that, too. We try to give to the local charities as we can, and donate our outgrown bicycles to the firemen. The Christmas parades here in Florida are really nice, and we usually catch the boat parade afterward on the river.
15. What is your favorite holiday Dessert? Buche de Noel. My mother used to make it. I think the icing is half butter and half chocolate. And the cake is half icing, so that's a good thing.
16. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? The Advent wreath. Until last year, we always sang "Oh come, oh come" and lit the candles before grace at dinner. Last year, The Girl threw a complete freak out, so we're not doing it anymore. Maybe next year. Or the year after that.
17. What tops your tree? Gold star. Call me a cynic (CYNIC!) but those angels look like they have a tree up their butts.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? We were never into getting or giving TONS at Christmas. It makes me nervous to give, as the gift usually isn't as good as something they'd buy themselves, and none of us can really afford to spend the money anyway. Seriously, I feel like I spend $50 on a gift for my dad that he doesn't really like, and he spends $50 on a gift for me that I don't really like. It's like spending $50 on something for myself that I don't really like. Who needs that? We don't send Christmas presents to anyone outside the immediate family unless they're under 12 years old. I don't mind giving those -- they're the only part I like! We have a four-year-old and twin 9-month-olds. That's pretty easy and fun.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? "In the Bleak Midwinter" is lovely, soft thing. I used to sing The Coventry Carol to my son when he was colicky. There were days when Herod could have had that one. ;)
20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Yum -- crushed and stirred into white chocolate, allowed to cool, and broken into bark.
21 Favorite Christmas Show? The Christmas Story, hands down. It cracks me up! I never liked Rudolph. I'm sorry, but those people are creepy looking.
22. Saddest Christmas Song? Gotta be the shoe song. But yesterday, I heard a song about a terminally ill child having Christmas in October before he died. That one sucked, too. And I hate "Dominick the Christmas Donkey" That one makes me flip the channel before that sucker gets stuck in my head. Again.
23. What’s your Wish for Christmas? Peace. In my house. In my country. In the world. Oh, and a new pencil sharpener.
Still waiting for that prozac to kick in completely. I'll let you know how it goes. In the mean time, try this. It is the essence of what I love about Christmas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYmrUmRsATI
Keep in mind that I basically hate Christmas, and my husband is in charge of making sure the children aren't traumatized by my behavior.
See, Christmas was a religious holiday when I was growing up. We were always in the pageant. We always had new church dresses. We always had an Advent wreath. My mother played carols on the piano for us. We had one real tree decorated in (extremely hot) colored lights and different-shaped, colored, frosted glass balls. (My favorite had Snoopy etched on it!)
We had plenty of presents, but my mother didn't feel the need to make it a Perfect Childhood Memory for us. In fact, I remember going back to school after Christmas break in 7th grade and having a classmate ask me what I got for Christmas. I couldn't remember anything I got in particular, yet I knew I had gotten presents and I had had a great Christmas. It was a puzzlement for me.
So here goes.
1. Hot chocolate or eggnog? Neither. I like "dark chocolate truffle" flavored coffee. It's a calorie thing. I've tried eggnog in the coffee, and it just doesn't work as well as you'd think.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? The Husband decreed years ago that Santa does not wrap, so no, Santa does not wrap. Hey, what do I care? I'm easy!
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Again, The Husband likes colored, as do my Philistine children, so my white lights went a long time ago. Outdoors, we still have white -- mostly because I have to put them up!
4. Do you hang mistletoe? You gotta be joking. I won't even have holly or poinsettia in the house since I brought the kids home. Those nuts will put anything in their mouths. When I lived in New England, I always put real pine garland over the doorways to make it smell good! I got a whiff at Lowe's last week, and it stopped me in my tracks.
5. When do you put your decorations up? The Husband's birthday is December 13, so we wait to put the tree up until after that. The outdoor ones go up about a week before that. I'm from an Episcopalian family, and we still like to think that Christmas starts on the 25th and runs for 12 days -- through Epiphany.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? How much time ya got? Seriously, I've really started to avoid high-calorie, high-sugar foods since I lost my 20 pounds last year. There isn't any food that I have to have in order to make it officially Christmas. If I had my choice, I'd give up all the cookie baking in favor of making peanut brittle, no-bake cookies, toffee, and vanilla-mint bark. I like making candy!
We don't do a Christmas meal, per se, but we have a Christmas morning brunch. Mostly, my dad comes over around 9:00, eats some quiche, bisquick-sausage balls, and pecan pie. He opens his presents, and leaves before my mom gets off from church. She arrives around 11:00, eats fruit salad, quiche, and stuffed dates and opens a present or two. Then we're on our own.
I also found out from The Boy that one of his favorite Christmas things is having Chinese food on Christmas Eve. We call it in from the parking lot of the church after children's mass, and pick it up on the way home. It's usually dark before we get home, so we drive once around the block to see the lights. Nice.
7. Favorite Christmas memory as a child? The Christmas pageant at church. My sister and I were always readers or in the choir. I can probably still recite the entire thing from memory. "...but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." Ooh, and for some reason, I remember my mom playing with the warm wax on the advent wreath candles after dinner. I guess it was an excuse to sit and talk after dinner. We liked the excuse to take the time to sit with her and chat.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I remember we found the doll boxes in the trash one year, and my mom half-heartedly tried to support the Santa lie. I wasn't disappointed, as I remember it.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Nope. Christmas starts on the 25th.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I just found out that The Boy likes our ratty preschool-made ornaments. I hate 'em. But mob rule persists, and we keep putting them up. It's not about me. :)
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it. Don't get any, but love it. I grew up in the mid-Atlantic states, so 40 degrees and raining meant Christmas to me. (Sometimes when it's cold and the streets are wet, I still have flashbacks.) Most of my adult life, I lived in New England, so that meant snow. Either way!
12. Can you ice skate? Yes. The Husband and I went skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa quite a bit BC (before children). We skated the entire eight miles and slept it off in the Chateau Laurier. Ahh.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I got a gorgeous coat when I was 11, and still remember it.
14. What’s the most important thing about Christmas for you? Music. Good music. And handmade chocolates. Give me Harry Connick's Christmas album, Loreena McKennett's Christmas albums, and the King's College choir, and leave me be.
The church here doesn't do a children's pageant, nor do they play any music written before the year 2000, so church isn't the cornerstone of our celebrations that it could be. We do choose three presents from the church's Angel Tree to buy and wrap. We like doing that. The high school band comes around with their luminaria to sell, so we donate to that, too. We try to give to the local charities as we can, and donate our outgrown bicycles to the firemen. The Christmas parades here in Florida are really nice, and we usually catch the boat parade afterward on the river.
15. What is your favorite holiday Dessert? Buche de Noel. My mother used to make it. I think the icing is half butter and half chocolate. And the cake is half icing, so that's a good thing.
16. What is your favorite Christmas tradition? The Advent wreath. Until last year, we always sang "Oh come, oh come" and lit the candles before grace at dinner. Last year, The Girl threw a complete freak out, so we're not doing it anymore. Maybe next year. Or the year after that.
17. What tops your tree? Gold star. Call me a cynic (CYNIC!) but those angels look like they have a tree up their butts.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? We were never into getting or giving TONS at Christmas. It makes me nervous to give, as the gift usually isn't as good as something they'd buy themselves, and none of us can really afford to spend the money anyway. Seriously, I feel like I spend $50 on a gift for my dad that he doesn't really like, and he spends $50 on a gift for me that I don't really like. It's like spending $50 on something for myself that I don't really like. Who needs that? We don't send Christmas presents to anyone outside the immediate family unless they're under 12 years old. I don't mind giving those -- they're the only part I like! We have a four-year-old and twin 9-month-olds. That's pretty easy and fun.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? "In the Bleak Midwinter" is lovely, soft thing. I used to sing The Coventry Carol to my son when he was colicky. There were days when Herod could have had that one. ;)
20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Yum -- crushed and stirred into white chocolate, allowed to cool, and broken into bark.
21 Favorite Christmas Show? The Christmas Story, hands down. It cracks me up! I never liked Rudolph. I'm sorry, but those people are creepy looking.
22. Saddest Christmas Song? Gotta be the shoe song. But yesterday, I heard a song about a terminally ill child having Christmas in October before he died. That one sucked, too. And I hate "Dominick the Christmas Donkey" That one makes me flip the channel before that sucker gets stuck in my head. Again.
23. What’s your Wish for Christmas? Peace. In my house. In my country. In the world. Oh, and a new pencil sharpener.
Still waiting for that prozac to kick in completely. I'll let you know how it goes. In the mean time, try this. It is the essence of what I love about Christmas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYmrUmRsATI
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