Bring on the Dogs of Christmas--Sunday Stealing

1. Do you send out Xmas cards and if so how many do you send? Not anymore, Most of my Holiday Greetings are done through social media....I know I'm a terrible person.

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2. Do you write and send a holiday letter to describe your year? Sometimes, I wrote a longer message in my Cards, I never liked just sending a signed card.
3. What do you think of photo cards? I like them. I would send this one of Gwennie.

4. How about the tree thing – do you have one every year? Do you prefer a real or artificial?  We had a lovely artificial tree, out in CA, due to allergies.  I have 2 small ones back here in MO, and they are up if we are spending the holidays here. They are here.

5. Describe your typical tree (size, decorations, type). If you don’t have a tree, do you decorate and if so, tell us about it. (If you don’t decorate make up a story here…) See #4

6. Do you hang up stockings? Whose names are on them (and relationships)? My mother knitted stockings for all of her family and some nieces and nephews....my guess is they still have them.

  7. Your favorite Xmas movie(s) are? Mentioned them in Saturday 9 here.

8. Tell us about an Xmas movie you hate. I do not like the horror ones and won't watch them.  Gremlins was bad enough.
9. What’s favorite Xmas Song(s) That would be hard to decide.

10. What holiday song makes you want to hurl? I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, it is being used on a USPS commercial and I get an ear worm every time.

11. What do you prefer for your holiday meal? Something simple.  We have chili on Christmas Eve and this year we are going to have lasagna, salad and Italian pastries. We use to do turkey and trimmings and I hated being in the kitchen all day. 

12. When do you open your gifts? When the girls were small, they got to open their Christmas PJ's the night before....but every thing else on Christmas morning.

13. Do you buy gifts for your pet? Of course.

14. What's the worst gift you've ever gotten? Nothing that stands out in memory. Maybe some Christmas exchanges gifts.

15. Do you ever travel for the holiday? We travel to family....but never to a Christmas destination.
16. Did you see Santa as a child? Yes, but we haven't taken the dogs to see Santa.

17. Have you ever gone caroling? Yes. In Girl Scouts.

18. Do you drive around and look at the Xmas lights? Not any more....there is just a lot of inflatables around and boy do those look funny on the ground in the morning.
19. Have you ever had a white Christmas? Oh sure!  Not in CA though!

20. Do you know how to ice skate? If yes, when did you skate the last time? I took lessons....again in Girl Scouts, i was about 12, I haven't been back.
21. Are we crazy for thinking that the holiday season is WAY too commercial? We're not crazy....the reason for the season seems to be material goods.

22. Have you ever worked Xmas eve or Xmas day? Years ago I liked to work on Christmas, lots of great overtime and since my teenagers no longer got up early, I use to do an early shift and someone else in my family got to do Christmas dinner.
23. What are your Xmas pet peeves? Traffic, we even have it here in MO. Christmas starts too early and so lasts way too long.
24. What’s your favorite thing about the holidays? We will be a small family group this year, and I would love to be spending it with the boys as well. They will be in Belgrade for 2 Christmases and New Year.

  25. Here's your chance to say something significant to our players. Go for it! 

Saturday 9-Happy Holidays

1. As you can see, Sam loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. Yet some children are reluctant to climb into Jolly Old St. Nick's lap. Did you enjoy the tradition or were you shy? Or did you by pass it altogether -- either you wrote him a letter or because your family didn't celebrate Christmas? We went to see Santa when I was 8 and my brother was about 1.5. I didn't believe much but since I had a new baby brother, I continued on for several years.  I remember writing a letter once and burning it in the fireplace, that was suppose to get it to him quickly.

2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there? I think I am on the Nice List.  I don't do too many Naughty things anymore.

 3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest? My thing go from Amazon to Santa Barbara.  The grandsons will be in Belgrade, Serbia, this year so I shipped early.  I have some books that I am saving to bring for birthdays in February. Most all shopping was done online this year.

 
4. Did you buy yourself a gift this year? Not really.  It is easy not to do that when I am online shopping....I put a bunch of things on Amazon's wish list for Mr BC to follow up on. I bought a humidifier, but that was for all of us.

5. What's your favorite holiday-themed movie? It is a toss-up, Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation

 

 6. Thinking of movies, Christmas is lucrative for Hollywood. Have you ever gone to a movie theater on Christmas Day? We were going to see Star Wars last year, but Mr BC was still sick. Now that I haven't got so much to do during the holidays, I don't find Movies on Christmas Day so odd.

7. Have you ever suffered an embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party? I am sure I have, but now that I don't work, I don't have anyone bringing it up.

8. What's your favorite beverage in cold weather? One of my own creation....Apple cider heated with equal amounts of Tazo Chai Tea concentrate....Hot Spiced Cider. Lovely in the afternoon.

9. Share a memory from last Christmas. It was kind of a sad Christmas, Mr BC was still sick, and was not eating well. We had tickets to see Willie Nelson, so DD1 went with me, as Mr BC was just out of the hospital. This Christmas Mr BC went shopping online and there will be gifts.

Friendly Fill-ins and Friday Fragments

 

he Friendly Fill-Ins are four fun and easy statements to complete. Ellen of 15andmeowing provides the first two statements and the final two are offered by myself. We try to make sure they will be fun to both answer and share. On Friday, the linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM. Please come back, link up, and share your thoughts! Here are this week's statements with the blanks:

Week 33: December 23, 2016

1. I still need to wrap presents, though I got my shipping stuff done early and had Amazon wrap them, before Christmas.

2. My favorite episode of Seinfeld is The Hamptons.

3. What I really would like for Christmas is having my whole family together for the holiday, not happening again this year.

4.  My favorite part of Christmas time is getting my tree up....this year I have 2 little trees.

These are my diningroom and livingroom trees, respectively, this is about all the decorating I will do, except for my table centerpiece and stockings.  I miss my fireplace back in the CA house. 

I have the new humidifier running and I hope to see a difference by Christmas Eve.

I use the list function on my phone for my shopping list and took it to the grocery store ...... without checking the battery.....and it expired before I finished shopping, so there will be  another grocery run before tomorrow. 

As my dogs are aging....they are both 11.....they are beginning to get grumpy with each other.  I am going to take them to get their teeth cleaned next month in case they have teeth problems.  I have them in calming collars, which I think has actually worked somewhat for them in the past, the aggressive teeth baring has slowed some.  I am going to try calming chews when they arrive in today's Amazon shipment.  I will report on the results.

And now a selection of fun......

 

My all time favorite Christmas Movie?

 

This has happened a lot during the Holidays.

 

A questionable Christmas sweater choice, perhaps too much to drink at the Office party?

 

Checking My List-Wednesday HodgePodge

 

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1. What's left to be done on your Christmas to-do list? 

Shop for 2 more gifts

Wrap several gifts....i.e. put them in a bag.

Grocery shop for Christmas Dinner
Cook: I decided to have Lasagne for Christmas Dinner this year.  I am going to use the recipe from my old Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.  It is very tasty.  I haven't baked it for many years, as I have been using vegetarian, Mexican, and quick version recipes of lasagne, when I have made it over the last few years. Christmas Eve is just us two, so it will be quiet, so I can finish this list off.
DD2, will spend Christmas Day with us, DD2 is in Belgrade with her husband's family. The boys are good travelers.  They are all going to make a side trip to Rome. 
 

2. The Hodgepodge lands on the first day of winter this year. What's your favorite thing about winter? That we only have 3 months to endure and then it will be Spring. That will be helped along when I go to CA for a couple of weeks.

3. In what area of your life are you immature? Feel free to elaborate or not. I still wait until the last minute to do things. Procrastination is my middle name.

4. What was the most (or one of the most) important lessons you learned in 2016? Where do I start? I misunderstood just how truly divide our country is now, and will be, for at least the next 4 years. Also, that I really have very little, in common with the folks of middle America, who are my neighbors. I am truly disappointed, and don't have a lot of hope, that HE will surprise us in a positive way.

5. It's Fried Shrimp Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite way to eat shrimp? Will there be shrimp somewhere in your holiday feastings? Shrimp Alfredo or fried shrimp.  We won't be having shrimp during the holidays.

6. What sound lulls you to sleep? The snoring of my sweet corgi, Gwennie. 

7. What one word best describes your 2016?  Grateful....that Mr BC made such a good recovery, and is doing so well with his dialysis.  Our life is getting back to normal just a little.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. I still have a lot of packages to come this week from Amazon. I did most of my shopping online, as did Mr Bankerchick. One interesting thing I found on Amazon was this: 

I got two of them, they really match my hardwood, and kind of disappear on the floor. I will put them in my stocking.  I also have a multiroom humidifier coming tomorrow.  My hands are like sandpaper and my nose is really dry.  I am hoping we will all feel better. 

Wednesday HodgePodge on Thursday*

1. Are you more task oriented or people oriented? Elaborate.  I think I am more task oriented,and even thoughI can be a procrastinate, things get done.  I love people, however, they tend to get in the way of a task.  I trained adults for most of the last years of my career, in a 6 week course, and to be honest, I would have to say that the year before I retired, I tended to get annoyed if we got behind....then, have to mend fences when it was brought to my attention.....I was ready to move on to retirement.

 
2. December 15 is National Wear Your Pearls Day...do you own/wear pearls? If you're a man answering the question, does your sweetheart own or wear pearls? Everyone share a 'pearl of wisdom' with us here today. I had a string of pearls, Mr BC gave me many years ago and I believe, one of the girls lost them.  I never really cared for pearls and rarely wore them.   Rightly or wrongly, I felt only the elderly wear pearls.  Now that I am elderly, I still don't care for pearls.
My pearl of wisdom:

3. Speaking of pearls...oysters? Are you a fan or not a fan? If you answered yes, tell us your favorite way to eat oysters? If you said no, be honest-have you ever tried one or does just the idea of eating an oyster make you gag a little?
I have tried oysters:

4. Time Magazine has named President-elect Donald Trump Person of the Year. Let's take presidents and presidential candidates out of the mix for a minute. If a political figure had not been chosen who would you name Man or Woman of the Year for 2016? I just checked Times short list and of those, I think Simone Biles would have been a better choice. The 19-year-old gymnast earned four gold medals and one bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to become the most decorated American gymnast ever. 

5. The Pantone Color of the Year for 2017 has been announced, and it's a vibrant green aptly named-greenery. Your thoughts? Is this a color currently in your home or wardrobe? Will you add something in this shade for the new year? Click here to see the color. As an accent color it is very pretty.  Mr BC would like it, green is his favorite color.  As a room color....too dark.  

2016 was really this color

6. Today I've had too much laundry to do.  We had plumbing problems and pipes burst and water was all over in the place.  I am currently washing almost all of the towels that got wet ......trying to mop up the laundry room.  We had to dig out the shop vac. Now that our water is back on I am trying to play catch up.

7. Share a favorite lyric from a favorite Christmas carol.
Here were are as in olden days
happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
gather near to us once more

Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Went to the eye doctor today for check, it had been 3 years, because nothing was done last year due to Mr BC being so sick.  It seems the cataracts have grown such, that I need to be examined by a surgical ophthalmologist. Have an appointment in January and no new prescription and frames, because.......cataracts.  

*This post did not get published on time, because I did not hit publish before I left for shopping.