Activist. Navy Veteran's wife. Proud mum of 3 kiddos and 1 angel. Lyme/Lupus/Fibro/Ehlers-Danlos/POTS/MCAS/etc. warrior. Unashamed, unafraid bleeding-heart liberal snowflake tree-hugging vegan-type. Defender of all the living things - except the evil ones. Empath. Ally to and glad co-conspirator with LGBTQ+ & BLM communities. Inquire within.
Hello, fellow friends of Samantha and beyond! Seems like, for those of us who celebrate it, Christmas is nearly upon us. I'm excited this year - haven't always been, but this should be a fun one. However you celebrate whatever you celebrate, if anything, I hope it's as happy and merry and joyful as it could possibly be. 🎄
Now getting down to brass tacks. Crazy Sam has brought us back to some holiday-themed questions of yore. Like to answer with the rest of us? Link up here. Now let's do the thing:
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SATURDAY 9: HAPPY HOLIDAYS (From the archives)
1 As you can see, when Sam Winters was a little girl, she loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. If you could ask Santa for anything at all, right now, what would it be?
Honestly, right now? It would be a re-gain of the huge loss of income we experienced earlier this year, through no fault of our own. It hurts.
2 Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?
I think I'm currently on the Nice list, because I'm basically the Happiness Manager around here, and I'm pretty sure everyone's going to have a good Christmas. And I'm really just too ill right now to be anything else! I'm sure someone(s) out there would beg to differ, though. I have a pretty nasty breed of internet stalker/harasser/bullier/whatever/UGH!
3 Are you traveling this Christmas? If so, are you going by car, plane or train?
NOPE! Staying home, just like we pretty much always do! Although a destination Christmas sounds fun...
4 Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If yes, which one traveled the farthest?
We shipped a couple of gifts to my dad and his new wife (number six!) in South Carolina; they'll get there today and tomorrow. If we'd shipped them directly from us instead of, erm, Amazon, they'd have traveled just 583 miles. (The above is not one we ended up giving them.)
5 Did you buy yourself a gift this year?
Well, yeah, how else would Rob know what to give me?
I'm pretty sure there is something socked away that he bought me himself, but otherwise, when I see a hot deal for one of us - myself included - that we'll like, I pretty much grab it!
6 Which do you prefer: candy canes or gingerbread?
I'm not terribly fond of either!
7 Close your eyes and tell us the first carol that comes to mind.
"The First Noël"
8 What's your favorite winter beverage?
Definitely hot cocoa! Oh, WAIT! Darn it, I spent all this time looking for a hot cocoa buffet photo that I wanted to borrow, I forgot all about mulled apple cider. Eh, it's a toss-up. I love them both.
9 Share a memory from last Christmas.
It was a rave, y'all! You know, without all the street drugs and police raids, and stuff. And yes, that is our dog Tapioca. So, the second - I swear, THE. SECOND. - it's 12.01 AM on Christmas Day, our kids have historically been on us like white on rice to open presents. We always do our stockings on Christmas Eve, so you'd think that would hold them, but no. The problem is, we parents also feed into the excitement and want to get in there and see them unwrapping, too, so I don't think a year has gone by when we've ever been able to make them wait.
Part of the goodies I packed into their stockings and under their tree included Silly String, these funny water guns, and a whole lotta glow-in-the-dark stuff. Can you imagine, in the middle of the night, hyping your kids up on purpose? Ha. Nah, but they're grown. We can go to bed and they'll be fine... right?
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If you're not celebrating anything for the rest of the year, or if you observe something else, I wish you and yours well! If you do celebrate this one, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Hello there! I hope you're having a good holiday season, whatever you may celebrate -if you do. And, you know, like, just a great December if not. Hee.
It's 10 days away from Christmas already, and we don't even have one of our three trees up, let alone decorated; the stockings aren't hung up on our faux mantel, and I think my husband still just doesn't understand the level of inner chaos this causes me. I'm the one who makes the lists, the budget, the menu at least in part, everything to do with sending Christmas cards (which we haven't done this year because, frankly, I don't feel well enough, and I'm tired), and everything. I started my Christmas shopping in September - maybe even August? - and have coordinated with Chloë to have her wrap each person's bin of presents in beautiful cloths, furoshiki-style. I'm going a little nuts over the tree being up, can't you tell?
Regardless, I'm joyful that I'm able to do this, this weekend! I've been pretty absent lately and as I always say, I've missed you guys!! Everyone else, you should get in on this! Link up here to join in the fray this weekend. And away we go!
1) In this song, Dean Martin sings that the streets are white with snow. Do you anticipate a White Christmas this year?
No, not here on Maryland's Eastern Shore: too far south and too coastal Not that it hasn't happened, even during our brief tenure here; it's just not common.
2) He tells us he's done plenty of window shopping this season. Do you find you're influenced by a retailer's window dressing and store décor? Are you more motivated by price? Or do you do most of your shopping online, making holiday decorations irrelevant?
I'm wholly an online shopper nowadays. At most, I shop online for Rob to pick up. Anything else, and Rob has to shop for it completely in store. I rarely have it in me to go out these days.
3) Dean was born in Steubenville, OH. Though he rarely returned to his hometown, it was in his thoughts during the holidays. Every Christmas he made like Santa and sent toys to hospitalized children in the Steubenville area. Are there toys on your shopping list this year?
Yeah, I sent a few toys to my good friend's four boys. They're all so special to me - even though I've only been fortunate enough to meet the older two!
4) He had fast hands when it came to cards and before he was famous he worked as a dealer in Atlantic City. When you play cards, what's your favorite game?
Uhh, Uno? I guess? I'm not terribly good with cards of a gamblin'-type nature, ma'am.
5) Dean Martin was an avid reader ... of comic books. Especially in bed when he was on the road and couldn't sleep. Much as he enjoyed comic books, he was embarrassed by them. What do you do when you can't sleep?
Oh, only the worst things. I've been binging through Duolingo on my phone, mostly Spanish now, although I certainly haven't given up on Japanese. And I've been reading a lot of news - and telling myself not to read the comments, and then I do. Arghhhh!
Now let's have a few holiday-specific questions:
6) Every year, the United States Postal Service introduces special holiday stamps. Do you purchase them?
Sometimes. Well, usually, but only sometimes "on time." Sometimes it'll be in May, but hey, you know what? Forever is forever.
7) Do you have a funny/ugly holiday sweater?
Do you know what? No. I can't say that I have ever gotten one. It's a travesty.
8) Do you wrap your presents or use gift bags?
Historically, some of both. But now, none of either.
Now we're using nice silks and other cloth to wrap our gifts furoshiki-style, like the Japanese do, and plan to continue doing this sustainably from now on. Chloë tied all these. I love them!
9) We're doing Christmas karaoke! What holiday or winter-themed song will you perform?
"I'll be home for Christmas" -- that's my Christmas jam right there! I sing it - if I have a voice that year - until I annoy everyone in the family, and then I try sososo hard not to sing it again. (Usually fail once or twice.) My other big one is "The First Noël," which has special meaning for me.
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Well, I made it to the end, and we're not even an hour into the day. Look at me go! I hope all of you out there have a splendid weekend and, if I don't happen to make it back until 2024 (perish the thought!), a marvelous rest of December. Enjoy!
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