Auld Lang Syne or Something Like That

So tonight we say good-by to 2006, with all its good and bad moments, and look forward to a brand spanking new year. I want to wish everyone health and prosperity in 2007. We've all worked very hard this past year, and I think we deserve to be handsomely rewarded, don't you?

From the postings I've seen around, it looks like you all had great Christmases, even if some of you suffered from Santa Claus saturation (Tink!). I've been thinking about my holiday, and I must say I had a really nice and quiet one. It was just my mom and me, for the first time without my dad. There was a bittersweetness to the day, as I found myself missing him at the oddest moments. But we raised a glass to him at dinner, and listened to some of his favorite Bill Cosby CDs in his memory. I think he would have been pleased...

...but this post isn't meant to be totally sad...

I was also thinking about all the LITTLE things that make a holiday and its traditions so special. One of my favorites is something my mom started years ago - so long ago I can't remember when. Anyway, she started writing clues on our gift cards that would give hints as to the packages contents. Some of them are very simple, such as the "Ah sew!" on my little portable Janome sewing machine this year (which I should mention is a Hello Kitty machine! One of my favorites!). Some are more complicated, such as, "Santa says looks as though things are going to 'pot' this Christmas." That was for my new Faberware stock pot. Then there's "By the pricking of my thumbs, something purple this way comes. (Sorry Will)," on my purple leather gloves. I find I look forward to reading the tags and then trying to guess what's in the package as much as I look forward to actually opening the present!

Then...we ALL started getting into the act in our family! Now every present we exchange comes with a little hint. If there isn't a hint, it just wouldn't seem right. Sometimes, when I'm running behind on my package-wrapping, it means I have to do all my tags at the last minute, and coming up with something clever can be quite the challenge. But I wouldn't have it any other way! My best work this Christmas? The tag said, "Ah, the tales I will spin for you...cherchez l'enfant, alert the Secret Service, suspect everyone, but do it all in the pink!"

I'm not going to tell you what was in the package though - YOU have to leave a comment and make a guess!!

Meanwhile, I wish all the wonderful bloggy friends I've made this past year a very Happy New Year! I'll see you soon, and hopefully more often, in 2007.

Have Yourself a Merry Little...

Meme...I know, I know. My last post was a meme too, but this is a really neat one. It helped me really think of all the wonderful things that make Christmas so special to me. I got this from Heather...

1.Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg nog – cuz I can put it IN my hot chocolate, and IN my coffee!
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Oh they have to be wrapped. It prolongs the suspense that way.
3. Colored lights or white on tree/house ? Colored on the house, white and blue icicles and retro colored big lights on my deck. With a pink ball of lights in the middle. I’m such a kid about the lights at Christmastime!
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No – no one here to kiss!
5. When do you put your decorations up? Before, during, and after Christmas! Some stay up all year…
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? The German dish we have for dinner, called rouladen.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Sitting around the fire and listening to “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” by Dylan Thomas
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Whaddya mean, “the truth”?
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was a kid we opened one gift from our Grandma on Christmas Eve, but now we wait until Christmas Day.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Tons of little lights, then ornaments – I love glass ones in different shapes, and I have lots of little colored iridescent glass balls, then a big long ribbon for the garland.
11. Snow… love it or dread it? I love it when it first falls, and I can look out on a winter fairyland. If I have to drive in it – not so much!
12. Do you know how to ice skate? I did…once…
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? There have been so many…my Tammy doll when I was about ten, my Madame Alexander doll for my “last doll” when I was twelve, my silver charm bracelet…
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Time with my family, and enjoying all our traditions
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? YES!! (I’ll second Heather’s sentiments here!)
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? We hang a papier mache Santa in his sleigh from the ceiling, and Santa leaves little presents in there that we open after dinner on Boxing Day. That’s where my bracelet was…Santa leaves us the neatest things in his sleigh!
17. What tops your tree? A white teddy bear that’s an angel bear with wings and a halo that I made him.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving - I love the feeling I get when I see someone I love open something I found or made that is "just perfect" (Again, I’m going to leave Heather’s answer…because it’s just exactly how I feel!)
19. Favorite Christmas Song? “I’ll Stop the Calvary” by the Cory Band.
20. Favorite Flavor of Candy Canes? Are there chocolate ones?

Now...to everyone out there in Blogland, have a very Merry Christmas, and enjoy your family and friends and all the wonderful things that are this time of year.

It Just Gets Weirder...

...the weather and me, that is! Contrary to popular belief, I am still around. Nope, I didn't get frozen in the deep freeze, get buried in the snow, drowned in the drenching rains, or get blown away by the hurricane winds - all of which we have had here in the Pacific Northwest in the last month. Crazy weather I tell ya - just crazy!

Anywhoo...Miss Heather tagged me awhile ago with this Six Weird Things About Me meme, so here are a few (well six anyway) weird things:

1) I absolutely LOVE a cold glass of buttermilk. I've loved it since I was a kid, and when I lived in California and could get Knudsen's real churned buttermilk, I thought I was in heaven!

2) When I leave the house, I have to check three things and make sure they are off or unplugged: The iron, the thermostat, and the stove. If I can't remember if I checked them, I have to open the door, turn off the alarm, and check them again.

3) I could give Heather a run for the money when it comes to "Friends." Every night, we get two reruns here, and I watch them every night. I can tell you what the next line will be on most of the shows.

4) I love to eat slices of lemons and limes. Yummmm!

5) Tailgaters make me absolutely nuts. Worse still is when I look in my rearview mirror and see some young thing yakking on her cell phone and following me wayyy too close!

6) If a movie gets too much hype in the press, I absolutely refuse to go see it, I'm so sick of hearing about it. Hence, I have never seen ET, Titanic, or Lord of the Anything. Probably never will, either.

7) Like Tink, I can read and write backwards. In my senior year in high school, I signed everyone's annuals backwards. When they said, "Thanks!" and then closed their annuals, I always said, "Aren't you going to read it?" Then I watched their faces as they tried to decipher my writing!

Did I say six? How about seven!

I don't know if there's anyone left to tag now...so if you haven't yet told us six weird things about yourself, I tag you.