Christmas Survey

Thought I'd follow Allison's lead on this Christmas Survey... Here we go!

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I do like a good nog, but I still think that Chocolate is always the best idea.

Colored lights on tree or white?
We do white lights on our tree, but I'm not anti-colored lights. On the outside, I would definitely stick to white.

When do you put your decorations up?
When I'm done with classes for the semester, or when I'm trying to avoid writing papers for class. I don't really have a plan, I just do things when I happen to have the motivation.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Sweet potatoes/yams/whatever you want to call them. I like them the standard way, but I'm not opposed to marshmallows on top.

Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve with the Kneifel clan - most if not all of my cousins from that side were there. (I remember my cousin Jessica mutilating her candle during the service and then playing with the wax. Not sure why that stands out, but I must have watched her more than I watched what was happening in the service.) I was so excited to have everyone there. I wished that I could have every Christmas with all of my cousins, but it rarely seemed to happen at all after that Christmas. I must have been in 5th/6th grade? Not sure...

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I don't know if I ever fully bought into the idea of Santa, though I did have one Easter where I vividly remember seeing the tail of the Easter Bunny as he left our house in the middle of the night. I can still picture it - and I still think my parents may have had a hand in tricking me, though they claim no responsibility. And as far back as I can remember, I would sneak into my parents' closet to see what we were getting for Christmas... not sure about the answer to this question, I suppose.

Snow! Love it or dread it?
It's fun and pretty, but it does cause a lot of accidents. And I like shoveling as winter starts, but by the end of January, I'm ready for spring.

Can you ice skate?
Yep. I have to get used to it again every year, but I pick it up pretty quickly. As I've packed on the pounds, it's become a little more difficult to balance, but I think I can handle myself pretty well (except when I am on those dreadful entrance/exit ramps at the iced-over parking lots...)

Do you remember your favorite gift?
I had some good ones - bikes, CD/tape players, a Secret Sender, etc. But the gifts that I still remember and wish I still had were Precious Places. The most fun plastic dollhouses ever. They each came with a "key" that had a basic disc magnet in the end of it, and you could use the key to do various things. You could turn a switch in the chimney, and the lights would come on. The front doors had a magnet in them so you could "open" them with the key. All the people had magnets on their feet, so you could make them "walk". And the houses all connected with elevated sidewalks so the people could travel between homes. Over a few years, I collected a small town. Sad to say I have no idea where they are now. Probably lost in a move during my parents divorce. :-(

What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Time with family/friends, and a break from the daily grind to refocus on what's important.

What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Fudge - our family makes a Fannie Mae fudge recipe. I like to make a ton and force everyone I see to eat it with me.

What is your favorite tradition?
Don't know if I have any yet. All my family traditions from growing up have been squashed by my parents' divorce. Time to make some new ones... I guess I do like making fudge each year...

What is your favorite Christmas Song?
The Christmas Song. (a.k.a. "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...")

Ever recycled a Christmas present?
Don't think so, but it is possible. I see nothing wrong with doing so.

Busy Busy!

It has been ages since I posted. :-( Sorry!

I have been so distracted with things lately. School, work, and now practicing for the Christmas concert have taken over. Oh, but I am glad to have found some time for scrapping. My Christmas cards are done way ahead of schedule! Now to get together addresses...

I have only one more "learning" class left for the semester, and one additional class for presenting final papers. Still not sure what I am going to do for my final paper, but I will probably choose a topic tomorrow. I also have to participate in a discussion board this week for class. School is so close to wrapping up - wow did the semester fly by! I do like being in school, but I will be glad to have one less thing on my plate between December 16th and the end of January.

The music for orchestra is manageable, but I am having to practice a lot, and I'm still struggling on the fast parts. Though this is to be expected, I'm a little more nervous since I've lost Jennifer D., Jenny W., and all the other wonderful flautists who could sight read stuff that I couldn't even dream of playing up to speed... I do think with a bit more practice, it will come together nicely, though. And I have three other flute players joining me, so hopefully they practice hard this next week, also. Gosh darn flute parts - they are always so fast!

And one more thing about orchestra - yay for the strong Xpedition turnout! We are definitely representing. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anyone, but our class has contributed two trumpets, a french horn, a trombone, a saxaphone, a clarinet, a viola, a flute/pennywhistle, and a somewhat reluctant auxilliary percussionist.
:-) Woohoo! Anyone else want to join? There's still time!

I so want to just practice and not think about projects for school... can you tell?

My hives have hives!

So, this may not be a very pleasant post, but for some reason, I can't seem to think about anything else right now...

I got my allergy shots today a little later than normal. It was about 3 PM when I received my weekly stab. I waited my 30 mintues and drove back to the office. Soon after, I began to itch - slightly more than normal. Particularly under my arms and on my tummy. Then it got worse... I headed home about 30 minutes early.

So, now that I've had a chance to show Matt and look in a mirror, I have had a good look at the biggest hives since I had that virus attacking my nerves. Maybe it's back? I don't know, but man, do I want to swim in a tub of ice water right about now.

And yes, I did have Matt take a picture, but I'm not sharing online. :-) Too awkward...

Catching up

Since the writers' strike last year, Matt and I haven't watched much TV. Recently, we decided that it was about time to catch up on Heroes and Smallville. It was a little easier to catch up on Heroes - fewer episodes. But Smallville - in the last couple of weeks, we have made it through the 2nd half of season 7 and we are now caught up to the current episode of season 8 (or so we think.)

I'm pretty excited about this season of Smallville. I think it's the last one... They are finally starting to transition things towards the standard storyline of the movies. Things are starting to heat up between Clark and Lois... :-) I think it's about time to wrap this series up. Looking forward to the series finale!

Corn Maze!

Now that Matt has been layed-off, we are trying to be even more frugal than before. Still, we do have to have some fun... so... we had been planning to meet with the refugee family to teach them more English this morning, as Matt, Jason, and Spring have been doing for a while now. Just before we were going to leave the house, Jason called to let us know the plans had been cancelled, b/c the family was having some sort of family event, so they wouldn't be available. New plans? Jason and Spring wanted to go to an apple orchard and a corn maze.

I've been wanting to go to a corn maze for a long time. I found out this morning that my mom does not really care for them - probably one of the reasons I never went as a child. (At least I never remember going as a child...)

Anyway, we decided to go ahead and spend some money on a fun day at the orchard today. Good times, good raspberries and apples, and lots of good walking/exercise. Fall is definitely my favorite season. I think it is about time that I actually pull out the fall decorations. Guess I know what I'm doing tonight!