The Friday Five

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?

I love the cold weather, especially now that I don't have to go to swim practice five days a week all year round. :)

Wait, let me specify a bit. I love the cold weather in central and southern California. :) I don't live wear it snows a lot, so I don't know if I'd like it or not. I think I would though. Just for the holidays.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?

My ideal holiday celebration would be at my parent's house (because the grandparents don't have their house anymore) with all the cousins and aunts and uncles and everybody happy and healthy and in attendance. Including my brother. I'm crossing my fingers that certain things fall into place for him today so that he can fly home for the holidays. I'd get to see him, and so would my parents, and that would make them extremely happy. So that would be the perfect Christmas this year.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?

My family used to have holiday traditions.

Every year my dad would pull out the fake tree (which I loved!) and set it up. Being the dad and the man of the house, he'd rig up the lights. Then my brother and I would decorate it. My mom would supervisor, being our official Big Gaping Empty Spot spotter.

Another tradition: mom would always shake the presents. Mom's a big time shaker. One year, when my brother and I were really little, my mom was really into jigsaw puzzles. So one of the presents my dad bought her was this awesome looking jigsaw puzzle. But a problem existed. Mom was a shaker. When you shake a jigsaw puzzle box its obvious what's inside, especially to someone who plays a lot with jigsaw puzzles. What to do? Well, my dad opened up the box and put the small jigsaw pieces in a plastic bag. He then wrapped up that plastic bag with lots of tape and put it in the box. Then he wrapped up the box in wrapping paper. When he shook the box it didn't make sound! My brother and I looked at my dad in awe. Daddy is a genius! He put the present under the tree and true to form, a day later Mom was there, shaking the present. And it stumped her! It was great. Then one day, while shaking the present yet again, my mom says something like, "What in the world is this?!" And my brother, being about 5 years old says something like, "It's a jigsaw puzzle mommy!" And the jig, as they say, was up. Oops. I don't think dad let us see any of mom's presents for awhile after that. :)

Growing up, the family would always get together at my Aunt Judy and Uncle Buzz's house for Christmas Eve. After the cousins grew up and moved away my brother and I were the only kids still in town. Aunt Judy would always let us open one of her gifts to us on Christmas Eve. When we were little it was the highlight of the evening. As I got older, it was still a cool thing to look forward too, but it wasn't the only thing. The Christmas Eve that sticks out most in my mind was when I was about 12 or 13, and I felt like such an adult as I was allowed to stay up past midnight, playing cards with my grown up college aged cousins. It was cooler than cool.

That was also the year one of my cousin's friends from high school came to visit. The friend was cute and I, in all my early adolescence glory, had the biggest crush on him. He was cool and he played the guitar. And when he played and sang 'Brown Eyed Girl' I crushed even harder. (I still think of that memory every time I hear that song) ::sigh::

Every Christmas Eve my brother and I would set our eternal alarm clocks to wake up the next morning just in time to wake up our parents before they could reach the Decent Amount of Sleep mark. Our stockings would be stuffed and laid out at the foot of our beds, but the rule was we couldn't open the presents inside without our parents present. And it took them forever to wake up. Cruel. My parents were cruel. :) My brother and I were equally cruel as we bugged them to wake up faster. "Come ooonnnn! Hurry uuupppp!" "Coffee." My parents would mumble back. "Coffee."

After presents were opened and pieces of wrapping paper were thoroughly scattered about the living room we'd have breakfast. Sometimes we'd open up one of the family games Santa brought and play a round. Then we'd head over to my grandparents' house. As long as I can remember that was Christmas Day Headquarters. Some years it would be just the family that lived in town that would show up. And some years relatives from Too Far Away would visit. We'd laugh and eat and play cards and eat more and play cards more.

Now times they are a changin'.

I'm all grown up (well not really, but I don't live at home anymore). I no longer wake up on Christmas morning with a goodies stuffed stocking on my bed and an urgent desire to wake everyone else up so that the day can officially start. There are no more Christmas Eve's at Judy and Buzz's house. They moved out east to retire. My brother now lives in another state as well. There are no more Christmas' at my grandparent's house. They sold the house and moved into a tiny little apartment in a senior living community. It's a little sad to think that the holiday traditions I grew up loving and have such fond memories of aren't going to be around any more. But it's not too sad though, because now there is room for me to make my own traditions, to change things about and make new traditions, to create a tiny little family of my own and make traditions for them. Change is good. Change is fun.

Except for when change decreases the amount of presents you get, of course. :)

4. Do you do anything to help the needy?

Not lately I don't. But lately I can barely help myself at the moment. I'll help the needy when I can.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself?

Other than love and peace and good health?

Money! No gifts. I don't need gifts. What I need is my rent paid. :) And a digital camera. Wait... NO! No gifts! I can't buy myself anything else and claim its part of a Christmas present to myself.