It's Lovely Weather For the Hodgepodge Together With You

I'm joining Joyce@From This Side of the Pond today and answering her fun Wednesday Hodgepodge questions. After you read my wonderfully witty and thoughtful (oh, where is that sarcastic font when I need it?), click on over to Joyce's and read some more!

1. What does it mean to have the 'holiday spirit'?

You know, I have no idea. I have heard it talked about over the years, but not really sure what is meant by it. Maybe when I read the other answers I'll be enlightened. If it means that having the Holiday Spirit is being more kind and loving and giving, why reserve it for the holidays? Just saying.

2. What sits atop your tree (s)? Why?

A star. Because I like it. (How's that for logic?) But really? After 26 years of marriage, I am ready for some new and different decorations. One of these years I'll get out shopping before Christmas and find some new ornaments and a new star for the top. The one I use now is not very fancy and bought because the awesome red star that lit up was too heavy for the fake tree we now use.

3. When was the last time you gave yourself a pat on the back?
Monday night (and still today). I was doing laundry that day and noticed the dryer seemed to take a long time and was damp around the door when I opened it. The second load was even worse. So I started thinking about the possible causes. I wondered about where the outside dryer vent and was it buried in snow?  When Hubby got home from work, we headed outside with a flashlight to look. The vent was not buried in the snow, it is about 10 feet off the ground and had frozen shut! So hubby got a long-handled something out of the garage and reached up and popped it open! And the clothes dried beautifully! He was very proud of my problem solving skills. :)

4. Which of your senses is most sensitive this time of year?

My sense of cold! I went grocery shopping this afternoon and did not take off my coat the whole time. That is quite unusual for me, I typically can't stand to have my coat on for more than 30 seconds when I'm inside. Oh well, I'll thaw out in oh, four or five months.

5. What do you have too much of in your kitchen?

I have too much non-use of my mixer. (How's that for an awkward sentence?) I really miss baking every week for our Bible study group.

6. What do you do for meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Big meal? Breakfast tradition? Open the cookie tins and have at it? 

We don't really have a set tradition. We have always had our family Christmas on different days to accommodate the extended families, so we have done different things over the years. If we plan on opening gifts in the morning, we'll have a nice brunch and later in the day we'll have a special, big meal. The menu varies.This year we are actually having our family Christmas ON CHRISTMAS DAY! I can count on one hand the number of times we have done that.

One tradition we do have is we DO NOT wash the dishes before we open gifts. I'll put the food away, but the dishes wait. When I was growing up, my mom insisted the dishes be all cleaned up BEFORE we could open gifts. I remember well that sometimes it would be my day to wash dishes and my siblings would yell at me to hurry. You'd think they would pitch in and help? Nope. My mom still wants the dishes done before the gift exchange. These days, the men are the ones usually cleaning up.

7. What is the best thing about winter?

When it's over. Seriously. When we had a huge snow storm here the beginning of November, a friend who lives farther south asked a few days later if the snow was melted yet. Um. No. Not until April.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I might as well post a random video. I think I've done that on most of these hodgepodge posts. This one has a Christmas theme. (and for you Caleb...)