What's Your Holiday Wish?

My Holiday Wish is Being with Family and Friends

The holidays are near and dear to your heart. You don't need much to make you happy this time of year. As long as you're able to be near the people you love most, you are content. It's really that simple. You want nothing more than a full house of people celebrating the season. It doesn't matter if it's your house or not, just as long as everyone is there. And if someone doesn't happen to be around during the holidays, you think about him or her often. You get very sentimental this time of year.

Take the quiz to see What's Your Holiday Wish?

and share your results in the comments.

This quiz is right on for me. I do get sentimental around the holidays and think about years past when I spent holidays with my parents, grandparents, aunts, family and friends.

Thinking back, when we were kids we'd each get a game and then we spent the afternoon learning to play them all. It was always a challenge to decide what to buy for my parents. We always managed to find something they could use though. After I got married, one Christmas they came to our house, but usually we would go to theirs because it was easier on them. After my mom died and my dad had all the cats, we would always buy things for them. My dad got a big kick out of watching them play with new toys or lounging in their new beds.

We went to my sister's several years which was always fun. I always liked buying for her kids. When her four kids grew up though, it got to the point where we would give them gift certificates and they'd give us gift certificates. After that, I suggested we just get together and don't bother exchanging gifts, it seemed silly. So that's what we started doing. She had the biggest house so it was logical for us to all go over there.

When we were kids, we always looked forward to going to grandma's for Christmas. I had three unmarried aunts who also lived with my dad's mother and they would always give us nice things. I remember thinking how funny they were because every year when we visited at Christmas, they would still have packages sitting there that they hadn't opened and they'd say every year, "They look so pretty, we hate to open them.!" I never understood that! Of course, the adults were at the big dining room table and us kids were off to the side at a smaller "kids" table usually, but when we got older, they included us at the big table. I liked that!

For New Year's Eve we used to get together with my mom's best friend's family. They had a daughter my age and two older boys, one of which I sort of had a crush on. He was always nice to me and even taught me how to play Chess. I always looked forward to these times because it was so much fun playing games together.

I am glad we have movies, video and photographs of past Christmases. I like watching the videos especially because I can hear my parents voices and it seems they are back at least for that little time. I encourage you to take pictures at your get-togethers.

This year we are going to visit with Gerard's sister and her adult children. I think it's very nice of her to invite us to join them for Christmas dinner. I think I'll bring a camera along, maybe even my Flip for some video.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and hope you enjoy being with your families for the holidays! Make the most of them while you can!

To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here.
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I Am A Bit of A Procrastinator, What About You?

Every year I debate if I'm going to send Christmas cards and then end up doing it. I know it's nice to hear from people at Christmas time, especially ones we don't see throughout the year, but I know our cards just get tossed into a basket. Then next year we throw them away to make room for the new ones. I update my "card" list throughout the year and usually buy cards for next year when they go on sale after Christmas.

When I used to ask my dad if he was going to send Christmas cards this year, he always would. He'd always be sure to buy a religious one to send. They are getting harder and harder to find. Most say "Happy Holidays" or "Holiday Season." Many have very cute pictures of animals or beautiful scenery, but those aren't really projecting the true meaning of Christmas. Therefore, I too always buy the religious ones. I figure if the Christians don't, who will.

I used to call my dad a "fuss budget" because he always made extra unnecessary work for himself in my opinion. He'd fuss with stupid things. His Christmas card "ritual" is one example. He kept track on paper of who he got cards from and would make sure to send them one back if they weren't on his list. But just a check mark wasn't good enough. He put the date he received a card. Then he'd also have a list of people that he sent cards to and keep going over and over his lists.

Harry sent out cards every year in December. The last six years or so of his life, I printed out mailing labels for him so he didn't have to write as much. It was a bit difficult for him to write because of arthritis in his fingers. The last Christmas before he died (2006), he got behind schedule and didn't get his cards out on time because of the medication he had been taking that made him so drowsy that he'd fall asleep for long periods through the day and wouldn't get anything done. I felt bad for him and offered to do them for him, but he wouldn't hear of it. He said, "Oh no, I can do it." I suggested that it wasn't mandatory and that maybe he just shouldn't bother with it this year, but he said, "Oh, I want to send them out so people know I'm still alive. Otherwise, they may wonder."

So, his last Christmas, came and went and he didn't get his cards done in time but sent them out after Christmas so people would know he was still alive. He said he wanted to put a note inside explaining to the people why his cards were sent so late so I offered to type up little notes for him to just insert inside. After I explained he could tell me what he wanted it to say and I would type it up, and print them from the computer, he finally understood and started dictating away. He died the following February, two days after Valentine's Day. (This is reposted from 12/22/08)

Are You a Procrastinator? Click here to find out

To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here.
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Harry Didn't Think His Life Was Boring--What About You?

According to this Blogthings quiz, my dad had a boring life; however, it wasn't boring to him. Even though every day was pretty much the same and he generally stayed home, he was very happy and content and often said he never got bored. Because he did everything slowly, he never seemed to get done everything he hoped to do in a day.

Harry always had several projects in the works such as cutting the grass, fixing something, indexing his magazines, reading the newspaper, cleaning the litter boxes, feeding his cats, reading his mail and paying his bills. On rare occasions he would even straighten up something or clean something!

You Live a Boring Life

You aren't necessarily a boring person, but you've fallen into living a pretty boring life. Somehow you've gotten yourself stuck in a rut, and life just isn't that interesting anymore. You need to start acting and stop thinking so much. Just go for it, and don't let yourself come up with excuses. The only way to make life less boring is to start living it. Let go of your hang ups. Go out and have an adventure!

Is Your Life Boring?