Still here...

I haven't blogged for this long while because...well, it's a long story. Mostly because I've wanted to rage and judge and admonish people in our extended family, and it's been difficult for me to adopt an attitude of mercy and forgiveness. I'd like to say it's all water under the bridge now, but my struggle persists. Prayers would be appreciated.

Still, though, the holidays are upon us and I have been trying to focus on that part of our lives. To that end, I'll answer the survey posted over at Two Sleepy Mommies.

1. Egg nog - yum or yuck? Does it come in chocolate?

2. Stay up until midnight on New Years? I'm usually still doing a bit of housework at that time, so I wouldn't be surprised.

3. Prefer white or colored lights? Colored on the tree, white on the house. But alas, I don't have any white lights to put on the house...or an outlet to plug them into if I did. So there are colored lights on the inside of the kids' bedroom windows (which face the street).

4. Favorite holiday song. "O Come O Come Emmanuel" for Advent, "What Child is This" and "Silent Night" for Christmas Eve, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" for lyric appreciation and historic relevance (there's more here on this hymn if you scroll down a bit), "Babe in the Straw" when my husband is singing, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" for Christmas parties or carolling, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for lullaby purposes, and "Everybody's Waitin' for the Man with the Bag" just 'cuz it's fun to sing.

5. What is your tackiest holiday decoration? My husband has this ugly ornament -- one of those "satin" balls, but this one has Elvis silk-screened onto it. It's about 5" in diameter (huge) and getting threadbare. But he won't part with it.

6. Do your kids have too much and you wonder just WHY you are getting more?? They're not getting all that much from us, but I know I'll feel like they have too much (from grandparents, etc.) when it's all said and done.

7. If you celebrate Christmas, when does your tree go up and come down? We usually put up the tree sometime Thanksgiving weekend (whenever we run out of turkey) and then decorate it slowly over the next few weeks. We keep it up until Epiphany, so it's up for more than a month. (My husband is a bit nuts about Christmas...)

8. Christmas again - open presents on Christmas eve, morning, or other? The children get to open gifts from cousins and grandparents at the family gathering on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning, they get their stockings (with just a few things in them), then after Mass, they get to open presents from us and my side of the family (which arrived by mail earlier in the month and have been taunting them under the tree all that long while). We usually let them open one gift and play with it until they are tired of it, then open another, so it takes most of the afternoon, but I like it better that way.

9. Favorite holiday tradition? I made angel ornaments for all our family and special friends (including teachers now), plus one each for our kids so they'll have ornament collections when they are grown and on their own. Also, my husband hosts a Christmas party for local musicians and they sit in our house playing instruments and singing Christmas carols till the wee hours of the morning. It's wonderful because they are all so talented.

10. What do YOU want for Christmas? Peace on earth, good will to men. REALLY. I know it sounds cheesey, but I'm really weighed down by inter-family and international disputes right now. I just want everybody to be nice to each other and stop killing, discouraging, rejecting, and insulting one another.

--Sparki