Happy (Insert Your Holiday Here)

Peace On Earth ... please.

That's it.

Fa La La La Cough, La Sneeze Wheeze Achoo!

So, I go on vacation for 10 days and all I have to show for it is this lousy cold. Sniff. Hopefully it's gone in time for Christmas and the 15 lb turkey I'm cooking for 12.

This is post number 36 for me. Refinnej just topped 500. I'm feeling a little inadequate. And I have post envy.

Almost done Christmas shopping. Which is good, because it's a fucking nuthouse out there. Just need stocking stuffers and a toaster for the hubby - yes, a toaster, in which I'm putting his concert tix for Eric Clapton - and a loft bed for K. That and the groceries for Christmas eve, Christmas breakfast, and Christmas dinner. REALLY looking forward to grocery shopping on Friday. Joy to the world, now get out of my fucking way. And put those carrots down, bitch.

And, because it is all about me, 3 Things - with shouts out to Refinnej and Betty.

Three things that scare me: losing track of my kid, bees, a room full of Sparks
Three people who make me laugh: my husband (in a good way), my kid, Jon Stewart
Three things I love: my life, my family, my car
Three things I hate: raisins, Mondays, intolerance
Three things I don't understand: football, organized religion, physics
Three things on my desk: my Christmas coffee cup, hand moisturizer, kleenex
Three things I'm doing right now: answering this thing, pretending to work, trying to stay awake
Three things I want to do before I die: watch my daughter get married, see the world, feel good about my body
Three things I can do: wiggle my ears, sing in tune, compose a sentence
Three things you should listen to: Your gut, your personal truth, your children
Three things you should never listen to: bigots, racists, the internet
Three things I'd like to learn: piano, guitar, patience
Three favorite foods: pasta, bread, chicken
Three beverages I drink regularly: water, tea, white wine
Three TV shows I watched as a kid: Looney Tunes, Bewitched, Gilligan's Island

Enough about me - what do you think of me?

So, I haven't been here in forever again. Two weeks at another job does not a productive blogger make. But I'm back again, and I thought I'd make it all about me - with a shout out to refinnej. Cheers!

1. EggNog or Hot Chocolate? Egg nog - preferrably in a Starbucks Latte or with a generous kiss of rum. Yum!

2. Does Santa wrap presents, use bags or just sit them under the tree? Wrap.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Coloured on the tree, white on the house and windows.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually 2 weeks before Christmas, this year will be a little later.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Turkey with all the trimmings.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Driving around to look at Christmas lights.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember how old I was, but I remember crying to my mother and insisting he was real. I was pretty broken up about it, actually. Not looking forward to my daughter finding out.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We did when I was a kid - usually new pj's - but we don't now.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Lots of ornaments, red LED lights, strings of beads, usually tinsel but probably not this year because of the Zeds.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Both. Love it on the mountains, hate it on the roads.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but I haven't in many years and would probably bruise my kiester if I tried.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? They're all my favourites until I open the next one.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? The feeling of peace and wellbeing, and the fact people are marginally less rude than during the rest of the year.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Christmas cookies from my grandmothers' recipes.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Opening stockings before the 'rents get up. Now that I am a 'rent, I still get up early and open them with my daughter.

17. What tops your tree? an angel

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving is the nice, politically correct answer. But honestly, I like both.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Right now it's "The River," an old Joni Mitchell song redone by Sarah McLaughlin. Along with "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree," "The Christmas Song," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and on the religous side - even though I'm not religious - "Oh Holy Night."

20. Candy Canes or Chocolate Covered Cherries? I'll take the chocolate any day.

21. Favorite Christmas movie: Liking the newer ones, like "Home Alone" and "Love Actually." And I still watch all the old stop-animation TV Christmas specials like "Rudolph" and "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" - I own them on DVD.