The 5QF On The Rocks

Okay, I titled this appropriately.
This is The Five Question Friday One The Rocks because it is FREEZING here! I mean it! And, from what the weatherman says - the snowstorm is on its way.
So...
I am going to get to my 5QF so I can get my work done and get scootin', 'cuz I have a fun, fun, fun weekend planned (see previous post) and I need to get to it!
Before YOU get to reading my 5QF I need to ask if you've signed up for my giveaway. Next Friday I'll be giving away two DVD's - the movie Flipped - which looks like a great family flick by the same director as the Princess Bride and Stand By Me. If you haven't signed up for the giveaway, you just need to leave a comment on this post. Go ahead - it would make a great Christmas gift!
Okay, now it's time for:



(You can always go to Mama M's blog at http://www.fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com/ to play along!)

Our questions this week (and my answers) are:

1. What's on the top of your holiday wish list and why?!
Livingroom carpeting. I think the "why" is self explanatory, right? Actually, we just finished our basement, and it looks fantastic. Our upstairs now? Not so much. This winter we plan to paint the walls (they're all still white from when we moved in...four years ago....make that DIRTY white). Is livingroom carpeting even a gift, though? I mean, really?

Mike and I were talking about how spoiled we were. We really don't want ANYTHING. Our annual tradition is to have our family Christmas Eve prior to Christmas, and then we travel 5 hours SOUTH to Mike's parents' house. My dad died last Sept., so now our tradition includes picking my mom up on the way. (My family - other than my mom - lives near his family.) Then, our teenage kids stay with my in-laws for the week after Christmas. We come home (dropping my mom off at her house on the way back) and during that week by ourselves, we spend two nights 4 hours NORTH to a nice hotel on Lake Superior with a hot tub and fireplace and eat junk food and go snowshoeing (and we may go dog sledding this year).

This year we decided that this was Christmas gift enough. We always go to the gift shops up there, so I'd rather find stuff there than get each other gifts just to put something under the tree. We also just bought an automatic camera recently. That's sort of like a Christmas gift...a little early.

2. What is your favorite Christmas gift from the past?
I must say, I love those little getaways after Christmas that I wrote about in the previous question. Christmas comes after hunting season - and my hubby is an avid hunter. There are a LOT of different hunting seasons - all in a row. Duck hunting, pheasant hunting, bow hunting, rifle hunting, bow hunting again...I don't see him much from September through December. To top that all off, he's an executive - so I rarely see him anyhow! And, the end of the year is annual business planning time, so our time is scarce. The time between Christmas and New Years is precious to me. He gets time to relax and becomes himself again. Every year, at New Years he says, "See you next year!" It's kind of funny - but too accurate to be really funny.

3. If you had life to do over, what would you be when you grow up?
I never finished college. I was intelligent, but directionless. Ugh. Just thinking about it fills me with regret. I know I'm only 43 and it's never too late to go back to college - except for the fact that I have a freshman in highschool and an eighth grader...so we're saving for THEIR college, so it kind of IS too late...and I honestly have no desire to go back, to tell you the truth. I know I'm not supposed to say that, but whatever.
But, IF I HAD IT TO DO OVER and I wasn't such a screw-off back then...
I should have gone for teaching. I really should have. I love kids, and I'm good at it. Summers off. I can inspire kids - always could. Love working with teachers and parents. I don't know why I didn't see it until recently. Guess I'm a little slow...

4. When do you put up your tree?
The weekend after Thanksgiving. So, this Saturday! We have always cut down a real tree - ever since we've been married - 18 years now. Last year, we purchased an artificial tree, because we finished our basement and have a nice home theater/family room down there now that is begging to be filled with a tree...and two cut trees would be pretty expensive. So, we were going to have the artificial one downstairs and cut one for our usual place in the living room (with the drab carpet) upstairs. But...I had to go get Multiple Sclerosis last Spring. I'm not so sure I can handle decorating two trees. I was waffling as to whether I could handle both. My family persisted in wanting both, but I think now they're leaning toward just the artificial. I have to say, I'm a little relieved. (I'm the one who does the bulk of the decorating, watering of the tree, clean up, etc.)

5. What is your favorite Holiday?
Hands down, it's got to be Christmas. I was reading on another website about my bloggy friend Maura who decided to "take back Christmas" and handed out sandwiches to the homeless in their downtown area and stuff like that - just her and her family. I thought that was so commendable - and frankly, very telling of what kind of person she is. I really like that idea and I've been haunted by it ever since. I love the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of Jesus Christ - and what it truly means "to save us all from Satan's power when we have gone astray...oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy." I want to spread more of that this year. I'm not sure how I plan to do that this year, but I'll let you know when I figure it out...

Oh, what a fun 5QF! Thanks, Mama M, for putting these together - I'm never sorry when I participate! And I hope that you all have a great weekend. I'm off to join some friends and to have a wonderful night at my moms - after my work is done - and to hopefully beat the snowstorm. And, maybe get some shopping in! Oh, doesn't that sound like fun? Now, please check out my giveaway...if you haven't already! I've got more giveaways lined up for this month after that one...a children's Christmas book, and Christian chocolates...hallelujah! Both great gifts - so keep checking back! And, I do hope you have a great weekend!