Thursday, November 13, 2008

Yet another lousy excuse for a blog post: The Holiday Edition!

While I am a firm believer that quality always supersedes quantity, I also tend to be kinda lazy, so when I come across something I can pass off as a post, I tend to gravitate towards it. So when my friend Christine sent me one of those "fill in the blank" emails, I figured, what the heck? So here goes:

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just Copy (not forward) this entire email blogpost and paste into a new e-mail blogpost that you can send post to your own blog. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to You......Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Whatever -- My mom usually brings gifts to my house in the bags they gave her at the store. So really, I don't have high expectations when it comes to packaging.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial. Again, this stems from laziness. My friend Desiree had a "Christmas tree closet" put in her house. She just rolls it out, plugs it in and presto! Instant Christmas! (I'm more than a little jealous.)

3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving, but not always.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Ah, well. I take a cue from my Catholic friends here: Epiphany (Jan 9?). Gives me a little extra time to procrastinate. (My original answer was "Advent", but my friend Dee set me straight on that one.)

5. Do you like eggnog?

Yes, in small quantities. One year my mom had a big punchbowl full of eggnog spiked with rum. Our cats got into it. Not pretty. We were all hoping not to draw the short straw when it came time to decide who was going to change the litter box. (I know, I know -- TMI.)

6. Favorite gift received as a child?A battery operated pink poodle on a leash that walked and barked. I walked that thing up and down the street until it died. Good times.

7. Hardest person to buy for?

My husband, who says "Don't buy me anything", and actually means it. Conversely, when I say, "Don't buy me anything, just pray for peace on earth and good will towards men", what I actually mean is "Buy me that tricked-out zoom lens for my Canon EOS."

8. Easiest person to buy for?

My 7 year old daughter who wants all things "American Girl". (I said easy, not cheap!)

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

I have several. Or, as my friend Kara's old boss is fond of saying, "They got 4 or 5 of them barn sets!"

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Are you kidding me? I can barely get my bills to the mailbox.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

When my dad walked out on my mom on Christmas Day. That was pretty sucktacular. The good news is that I gave him (and myself) the gift of forgiveness. Something that some other family members have yet to do. So, for them, it's the gift that keeps on giving.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Movie? Elf. But I'm a sucker for the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is coming to Town, Rudolf and the like.

13. When do you start shopping?

Oh, right about now.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Does a bear (rhymes with) sit in the woods?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Everything except the obligatory fruitcake. Like funny man Jim Gaffigan says: "Fruit? Good. Cake? Great! Fruitcake? Nasty crap."

16. Lights on the tree?

Yes - my tree is pre-lit. But I miss the days of the big, multi-color lights. I think they're making a come back, though.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

"The Gift" (from Garth Brook's "Beyond the Season" Christmas Album):

A poor orphan girl named Maria was walking to market one day
She stopped for a rest by the roadside where a bird with a broken wing lay
A few moments passed till she saw it for it's feathers were covered with sand
But soon clean and wrapped it was travelling in the warmth of Maria's small hand

She happily gave her last peso on a cage made of rushes and twine
She fed it loose corn from the market and watched it grow stronger with time

Now the Christmas Eve service was coming and the church shone with tinsel and light
And all of the town folks brought presents to lay by the manager that night
There were diamonds and incense and perfumes in packages fit for a king
But for one ragged bird in a small cage, Maria had nothing to bring

She waited till just before midnight so no one would see her go in
And crying she knelt by the manger for her gift was unworthy of Him

Then a voice spoke to her through the darkness "Maria, what brings you to Me?
If the bird in the cage is your offering, open the door let Me see"
Though she trembled she did as He asked her and out of the cage bird flew
Soaring up into the rafters on a wing that had healed good as new

Just then the midnight bells rang out and the little bird started to sing
A song that no words could recapture whose beauty was fit for a king
Now Maria felt blessed just to listen to that cascade of notes sweet and long
As her offering was lifted to heaven by the very first nightingale's song.

That song gets me EVERY TIME!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner & Blitzen, and Rudolf

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

Star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

One on Christmas eve, the rest Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

Too much money spent on things people won't even remember come February. (Do you remember what you got last year?) Also, people who ignore the Salvation Army guy. He's ringing a bell for goodness sake! You don't have to give him anything, but at least acknowledge that he's standing out there in the cold. (Well, unless he's in Houston, then he might be sweating.)

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

Fred Flintstone Santa from my childhood. (I actually stole it from my brother Fred. Shhhhh!)

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?,

Turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing sandwich the next day. Yes, I know that technically I'm eating a meat, jelly and bread sandwich, but dang! It's good!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

For someone to read my blog in Antarctica. Then I'll have dots on every continent. Incredibly self-absorbed -- I know.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this?

Helen, Beth, Mare, Sherri, Angela, Kris

27. Who is least likely to respond to this?

Antarctica

28. What was your most memorable magical memory from your adulthood?

Coming home from Christmas eve services in the SNOW (in Katy, Texas). Amazing!

29. Have you ever been involved in a Christmas gift prank?

If by "prank" you mean, after hearing the 21 year old fill in pastor begin his sermon (2 weeks before Christmas) by saying, "Do you remember when you found out there was no Santa Claus?", then secretly placing a Grinch doll in his office chair, then yes. Yes I have. Funny thing is, in a church with over 400 members, everyone just assumed it was me. Am I that transparent? Dang!

30. Favorite Christmas Cartoon?

The Grinch who stole Christmas. But it used to scare me a bit when I was little.


Well, that was tons of fun. For an exquisitely beautiful post on the best Christmas gifts to give this year, check out Annie's Blog


16 comments:

Kris said...

she sent it to me too, but i deleted it...in fact it is going around church so i have gotten it twice

kw

Anonymous said...

I have got to say that I am very impressed with you. You are linkin' it up all over!

Congratulations on your accomplishment. :)

Mary Ann said...

I'm with you on the Elf movie and the cats who saw the spiked eggnog as a dream come true bowl of milk...cracked me up.
thanks for that.
that was quite fun.

Anonymous said...

I would love to use this, but I don't kow how to "cut and paste" yet. Is it hard? COuld you splain it to me?

I loved this.

Funny, today, my site directs people to Mare's sight, Your's directs folks to Annie's, And Annie's, to mine.

Cool.

katdish said...

kw - did you like my "Christmas prank" answer?

angela - I owe it all to you and your daft computer skills.

mare - glad I was able to provide a chuckle.

sherri - super duper easy. Just put your cursor on the first letter of the paragraph, click on it, hold down until you get to the end. Once everything is highlighted, right click on the highlighted area, choose "copy" from the menu. Then go to your blog post, right click again, then choose "paste".

If that doesn't work, ask Angela.

And yeah, it's all pretty "circle of life" isn't it? I don't believe in coincidences, and not to get too heavy, but I believe God places others in our lives so that we can an encouragement to one another.

Annie K said...

Katdish,

Funny you mention snow...we take it for granted here (yeah, snow at the beginning of June...I had to plant my garden THREE times this summer.) Consider me from Antartica and check that one off the list! (Seriously, the ski resort is 20 minutes up the road).

Thanks for the mention...and it wasn't even shameless. Things are looking good!

JML said...

It's definitely that time of year. I'm worried about the place that I work... we're going to start ghetto-blasting Christmas tunes 24/7 very shortly here... Oh Lord! YAY! That was funny and insightful. I learned a lot about you!!!!!

katdish said...

Yay! Jake! You're back! I've missed seeing your comments and blog posts.

Helen said...

I have posted my answers on my blog, and sent people here to check out yours, so I have joined the circle. Now someone needs to send people to me...kidding.
Anyway, I 'm going to email this to some of my family who have email. They don't check out my blog, because I haven't told them how to find it. What if I wanted to vent and complain about them? Can't have them finding out, can I? My husband did give it out to some friends, but hopefully they'll talk about other things than my blog if they see each other. I know, hard to imagine people who know me not talking about me, isn't it. I've got to learn that I am not the star of my own reality show...

Sherri Murphy said...

Helen, I say we girls put together our own reality show- you could be the star- you're hilarious!

Can you imagine the fun?

We could all sit around the table, "blogger of the day" would share her days "post" or food for thought, and then the rest of us would just go back and forth with the one liners/jabs/counseling and all the other interesting things we do.
KatDish could throw in an occasional "that's we she said" to engage the male viewership, we could do a cooking segment, I could model the latest high heels for the season, the sky's the limit! Think about it.

My "word" is flerpr. SOunds like a noise the guys at my place make.

Beth said...

As long as it's not a vote-people-off-the-show reality show! I hate those. I get attached to people...then off they go to oblivion. I would also be concerned about being funny in person. I think I'm funnier on paper (on computer screen??) than I am in person. That would be awkward...but as long as we have cats drunk on eggnog, I think our ratings would soar.

Anonymous said...

BEth,
WHo do you think would be voted off first? The SHORT pretentious girl in the heels?

I think everyone is funnier when you're getting prompts from your friends. If it starts getting stale, we'll cut to the punch drunk cats! Shameless. but this is Hollywood!

WHat do ya' say girls? Are you game?

* veri/word today is "buchi".
I was going to get my hair cut today...now , not so sure.

katdish said...

I think I would probably be voted off first. Probably because everyone would be saying, "That woman NEVER SHUTS UP, enough already!"

Helen said...

No voting people off! Well, maybe we could invite guest bloggers, and vote them out when they annoy us...Do you know if Joy Behar (from the view) has a blog? I would so love to vote her off an island...

Sherri Murphy said...

Helen,
I had to quit watching THE VIEW during the elaction, I could feel my blood pressure raising!

ANd say yes, let's invite Joy on our show and set her up and all then pounce on her till she yells "I Love JOHN McCAIN!

Then lets make certain to cut her off EVERY times she speaks, always talk OVER her and when her opinions differs from ours, lets make really catty comments that make her look stupid! I hear she likes that kinda stuff!

Really, I used to like that show, and I liked her, don't even mind the differing opinions, as this IS AMerica and the show is called THE VIEW, but it just became MEAN-Spirited- I don't think it was having a good influence on me (as you can tell from my comment).

God, forgive me and yes, I can forgive Joy. But I would love to have her on our show!

My veri/word is "opinfixi". I think it's a sign.
My opinions may need a little fixin'.

Helen said...

Sherri,
I used to like Joy, too. I grew to find her annoying for the very reasons you describe! I caught the show after the election, but they are still discussing the election constantly, so I only watch a couple of times a week so that I can see when they get back to discussing important stuff that doesn't raise my blood pressure again.