I’d like to wish everyone a happy holiday. I hope everyone is able to enjoy some quiet, quality time with their families.
Another Friday, and another Friday Five.
1. List your five favorite beverages.
Well, I mainly drink water, and occaionally some cranberry Crystal Light. My favourtie beverages are Coke and Cherry Coke, which I rarely drink. I guess I don’t have five to list. *shrug*
2. List your five favorite websites.
Oh! This is actually really difficult. I like websites for so many reasons. Some are have useful information, others are just fun to visit. I guess these five would rank near the top:
3. List your five favorite snack foods.
This is another hard one, since I don’t snack all that often. All I could come up with is four.
4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
Well… I don’t play board games often, or card games. quanta asks me to play Monopoly once in a while, but I always say no. I think the next time he asks I will say yes.
5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
This is an easy one. I love computer games.
I had a pretty nice day today, which is surprising if you know that I went to a mall. Of course, the mall I went to is all but dead. It’s sad really. The hallways are all decked out in their holiday finery, but there are few customers there it enjoy it. There is a Santa’s village, which sat empty today. More then half the storefronts are empty, although they often hold displays for one of the few stores that are still open. But, it was sort of nice to be able to go to a mall this late in December and not be trampled by some harried mother looking for the toy that junior just has to have. The people who were there actually smiled at me. It was lovely.
I think this is the way holiday shopping should be (minus the empty storefronts, of course). Why do so many people rush around trying to find the perfect gift that will likely be forgotten in a matter of weeks? How many of us can remember everything they got last year? What about everything we gave? Actually, I can remember everything I gave, because I made most of my gifts. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to spend time making gifts for others, and I love seeing their reaction when they open them. But… I get the feeling that sometimes they aren’t appreciated. Which is why I didn’t cross stitch something for my friend’s wedding this year, and why I may not make gifts for Christmas next year. I guess that is why so many of us buy useless things. If they are forgotten or under appreciated it doesn’t matter, since we didn’t have anything to do with it beyond paying for it. Very little love was involved, and certainly a lot less time then would be required to make an elegant, personalized gift. 🙁 Blah!
I’ve been playing around with some quizzes. I don’t usually post silly things like that, but I feel like a having a bit of fun today. 🙂
Okay, most of the blogs out there will have an entry about this today, so why should I be any different? CNN is reporting that U.S. troops have captured Saddam Hussein.
I’m glad to hear it, because it will hopefully help quite some of the resistance in Iraq. But, I’m kind of wondering how they know it is really him. Couldn’t it be one of his doubles? And why as the operation to capture him called “Red Dawn”? I think those operation naming guys need to stop watching so many movies.
Anyway, I think this news has just extended my self-imposed news fast. By reading headlines once a day, I am being kept well enough informed. But the last thing I need right now is to be continually exposed to the smiling face of Mr. Bush saying “We’ve got him! Told you so!”
I’ve been quiet again this week. It is not so much that I don’t have anything to share, it is more like I can’t concentrate enough to put my thoughts into words. I need more strength of will.
Anyway, here is this week’s Friday Five.
1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
I do, but only when I am inside in a warm house watching the snow fall through a window. I hate to be outside in the wind and cold.
2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
I miss the Christmas holidays that my family had when I was younger. My mom’s side of the family would all gather at one house on Christmas Eve. Sleeping arrangements were always awful, but it was okay. In the morning the Christmas tree would be buried under a mound of gifts, enough for eleven or more people. Dinner was wonderful, and the turkey was always huge. Sadly, we’ve grown up and moved away. I wish we could have one more Christmas like that, so quanta could experience it with me.
3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
Other then the regular getting up to open gifts followed but a huge dinner, not really. Boxing Day shopping is a tradition though. Most years my dad and I would get up very, very early to hit the sales. We’d always buy some ugly wrapping paper, and a computer game we didn’t get for Christmas. We still go shopping together on Boxing Day, and I really look forward to it.
4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
I don’t, even though I know I should. Every year I mean to donate some canned goods or toys or money, but I never get around to it. This year I will.
5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
I suppose I could say something sweet like just being with my family, but I have that anyway. I would love a large gift certificate to Chapters or Amazon so I can buy some books I’d love to have. I’ll read them when I’m with my family. 🙂
Tonight, a Canadian TV news magazine called 21C reported on the story of the Correllian Tradition of Wicca’s attempt to open a “witch school” in Hoopeston, IL. (It was actually part of a larger story about changing adherence to religions, etc, which you can read about here.) I was happy that the Wiccans were presented in a good light, and didn’t look all that freaky. Even the obligatory ritual scenes weren’t so bad, relatively speaking. What bothered me was the way they were continually referred to as witches. Not all Wiccans are witches, nor do all Wiccans want to “reclaim” this label. Some of the reasons for this were obvious in this story, as the townspeople couldn’t get beyond that fact that witches cast spells. Wicca isn’t about spells. It is about spirituality; honouring nature and the divine. We do ourselves a disservice, I think, when we take on a label with so many negative connotations.
One part of this piece touched me a great deal. The words of a 22-year old novice nun named Sister Antoniana reflect a lot of what I feel:
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