Happy Holidays!

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we’ve committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do “random questions,” so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don’t have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today’s meme!

Saturday 9: Happy Holidays! (from the archives) 

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 because you wrote him a letter or because your family didn’t celebrate Christmas?
I remember every year our neighbor dressed up as santa and went up and down the street passing out a gift. 
2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there?
Nice, because I have no life!!! hahahah
3. Did you ship any gifts to friends and family this year? If so, which one traveled the farthest?
I didn’t. I didnt even send cards! 
4. Did you buy yourself a gift this year?
Nope. 
5. What’s your favorite holiday-themed movie? Have you seen it yet this year?
The Grinch and I haven’t 
6. Thinking of movies, Christmas is lucrative for Hollywood. Have you ever gone to a movie theater on Christmas Day?
My second husband is Jewish. I believe we went to  see a movie on Christmas when we lived in Whittier (CA)
7. Have you ever suffered an embarrassing moment at the company Christmas party?
Heck no! I was young and NOTHING was embarrassing!!
8. What’s your favorite beverage in cold weather?
DD Hot Cocoa 
9. Share a memory from last Christmas

Last Christmas, nothing. My husband had just come home from rehab after back surgery. I’m sure we had a ham!! But it was quiet, and he slept most of the time. 

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Sunday Stealing

It’s beginning to look a lot like….

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types ofquestions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from, if possible. We also provide a link to the victim’s questions in our “Previous Victims” widget. (It’s our wayof saying “Thanks!”) Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from recently asked questions from a previously post. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Last week we talked about things that bug us.  This week (and maybe next), how about things that we like about the holidays.

Apologies if you do not celebrate Christmas, but perhaps you can change some questions to match the winter holiday you do celebrate.  I would love to hear from people who celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanza, or Winter Solstice!

1. What’s your favorite thing about the holidays?
family
2. Do you send out Christmas cards and if so how many do you send?
I used to send out tons, but now that it costs so much, I just send them to ppl that could use a couple bucks, and I enclose it then.
3. Be honest: holiday newsletters. Love ‘em or hate ‘em?
eh, now that there is facebook and instagram, who needs them
4. Be honest: photo cards. Love ‘em or hate ‘em?
Love
5. How soon do you start shopping?
When I see something that really catches my eye, I start then and just go til the money runs out!!
6. Real or fake tree?
Fake
7. When do you put up your tree?
Whenever I can drag it upstairs!!
8. When do you take down your tree?
Idk. If my husband starts complaining, I wait a few weeks more.
9. Describe your typical tree (size, decorations, type)
4ft, pre lit , gold garland and assorted bulbs.
10. What do you top your tree with?
A gold star
11. Do you put Christmas lights outside your house?
well, i really love solar string lights. so I have those up all the time.
12. Is there a wreath hanging on your door?
no
13. Do you hang up stockings?
no, well i did when I lived alone. I put them up for the dogs. Now, no. 
14. Your favorite Christmas Movie(s)
All of them. Truly. All the old classics I watch every year.
15. Be honest: A Christmas movie you don’t like
well those ones on lifetime…
16. Favorite Christmas Song(s)
Oh Holy Night.
17. Be honest: If I hear this/these Christmas songs again I will throw up
That grandma reindeer song.
18. Give or Receive?
Give
19. Eggnog or Mulled Cider?
neither
20. Ham or Turkey?

Ham… spiral. Yum!!

Silent Night

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we’ve committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do “random questions,” so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don’t have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today’s questions!

Saturday 9: Silent Night (1957)
Unfamiliar with this week’s tune? Hear it here.

1) How well do you know “Silent Night?” Without looking up the lyrics, could you sing along with Elvis?
I could! 

2) The Christmas with Elvis album hit the stores in October 1957. Were you already preparing for Christmas back in October?
No, in fact… I just started, and doing much of it through Facebook Marketplace
3) Clearly Elvis liked a flocked white Christmas tree. Is your tree flocked, aluminum or pine green? Real or artificial? Or do you skip the whole tree thing altogether?
We have a 4ft faker. I can’t remember the last time we had a real tree. The older I get, the less importance it has. 
4) Back in the late 1950s, Elvis left his hair its natural brown color. In the 1960s he began having it dyed black. Do you have a salon appointmentscheduled between now and year end?
My hair is SHORT, so I go in every 3 or so weeks. So I probably will. 

5) Have you ever peeked, looking for a Christmas gift you know is hidden for you somewhere in the house?
As a child, my mom said if we peek, santa won’t come. So I didn’t. As an adult, no one in my house buys me a gift, so….

6)  Which do you prefer, candy canes or gingerbread?

to eat, candy canes. to smell and look at, gingerbread

7) Is anyone receiving a home made or do-it-yourself gift from you this year?

No. No one cares about Christmas here.

8) Do you wrap holiday gifts in paper, or do you take the gift bag route?
Depends on my mood. Right now, I’m feeling ‘giftbaggy’. 
9) This time of year is big for charitable fundraising. Here’s your chance to plug a cause or organization that’s near and dear to you.

The rescue mission. Being a driver, I pass there many times. It breaks my heart. 

ADVENT

Advent is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas (or sometimes from the 1st December to Christmas Day!). Advent means ‘Coming’ in Latin. This is the coming of Jesus into the world. Christians use the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare and remember the real meaning of Christmas.

There are three meanings of ‘coming’ that Christians describe in Advent. The first, and most thought of, happened about 2000 years ago when Jesus came into the world as a baby to live as a man and die for us. The second can happen now as Jesus wants to come into our lives now. And the third will happen in the future when Jesus comes back to the world as King and Judge, not a baby.

Some people fast (don’t eat anything) during advent to help them concentrate on preparing to celebrate Jesus’s coming. In many Orthodox and Eastern Catholics Churches, Advent lasts for 40 days and starts on November 15th and is also called the Nativity Fast.

Orthodox Christians often don’t eat meat and dairy during Advent, and depending on the day, also olive oil, wine and fish. There are several ways that Advent is counted down but the most common is by a calendar or candles.

There are many types of calendars used in different countries. The most common ones  are made of paper or card with 25 little windows on. A window is opened on every day in December and a Christmas picture is displayed underneath. When they were first made, scenes from the Christmas Story and other Christmas images were used, such as snowmen and robins, but now many calendars are made in the theme of television programs and sports clubs.

 

There are two types of candle(s) that are used to count down to Christmas Day in Advent. The first looks like a normal candle, but has the days up to Christmas Day marked down the candle. On the first of December the candle is lit and burnt down to the first line on the candle. The same is done every day and then the rest of the candle is burnt on Christmas day.

An Advent Crown is another form of candles that are used to count down Advent. These are often used in Churches rather than in people’s homes. The crown is often made up of a wreath of greenery and has four candles round the outside and one in the middle or in a separate place. Sometimes a more traditional candelabra is used to display the five candles.

One candle is lit on the first Sunday of Advent, two are lit on the second Sunday and so on. Each candle has a different meaning in Christianity. Different churches have given them different meanings, but I was taught the following:

• The first represents Isaiah and other prophets in the Bible that predicted the coming of Jesus.
• The second represents the Bible.
• The third represents Mary, the mother of Jesus.
• The fourth represents John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, who told the people in Israel to get ready for Jesus’ teaching.

The middle or separate candle is lit on Christmas Day and represents Jesus, the light of the world. In Germany this fifth candle is known as the ‘Heiligabend’ and is lit on Christmas Eve.

In many churches, the colour purple is used to signify the season of Advent. On the third Sunday, representing Mary, the colour is sometimes changes to pink or rose.

Advent was first recorded about 380 in Spain. By the 6th century, there are records of monks in Tours (in France) holding a pre-Christmas fast. By end of the 6th century, the four Sundays before Christmas had commonly become known as Advent Sundays.

There are some Christmas Carols that are really Advent Carols! These include ‘People Look East‘, ‘Come, thou long expected Jesus‘, ‘Lo! He comes, with clouds descending‘ and perhaps the most popular advent song ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel!’.