What ho, ho, ho!
This week's Friday Five were inspired by the calendar. We are now less than four months from Christmas, so the questions are all about things associated with the big December bash. Oddly, I was *just* saying in a Facebook comment yesterday that I am a bit of a Grinch where the holiday is concerned, despite having many happy childhood Christmases in my memory. I'm afraid decades of teaching and church musician-ing, both of which occupations peak in late December, have trained the adult version of me to approach the season with nothing but dread.
Still, I'll play. Ready?
1. How good are you at wrapping gifts?
I'd say very good. On a scale on 1-10, maybe a 7.5. The gift-giving holidays don't intimidate me that way, and while I lean toward gift bags for b-days, I am wrapping-paper all the way at Christmas.
That said, I was *not* the champion wrapper of the family, back when I had one. My erstwhile spouse approached present-wrapping like the engineer that he was, and I never saw a toy so irregularly shaped that he couldn't cover it in exactly the perfect amount of paper. We're talking no gaps, minimal overlaps, zero waste, and matched seams. I don't love complimenting the Man these days, but his skill at package-covering remains the gold standard in my mind.
2. When are you likely to begin your Christmas shopping this year?
Not before December, unless I see something that's perfect for a particular person (which can happen at any time of the year ... and when it does, I buy the thing right on the spot). But honestly, I don't buy many Christmas gifts these days. My sons can make better use of cash than things, my grandsons still barely understand presents, my siblings and father already have everything they need, and -- most importantly -- I am not gifted (get it?) at selecting the special gratuitous items that will transcend all the foregoing constraints.
Some people are great at presents: despite the fact that I would tell you that I have everything I need or want, my sister almost always finds me some perfect little doo-dad that I didn't know I simply had to have. But, again, since I am *not* great at it, I tend to give cash to my boys, pick up whatever Number Two Son tells me to get for the grandkids, and try to persuade my siblings & dad to agree not to exchange presents (my brother is usually amenable). My usual proposal is to spend the money doing something together, like eating out ... and sometimes, we do.
3. How do you feel about candy canes?
The small, thin ones are better for my old-lady teeth and blood-sugar levels. But sure, a little peppermint at the holidays is always nice.
You know what I don't like, though? That "true (Christian) meaning of the candy cane" meme that circulates every December among people of my religious persuasion, and that's because it's simply not based in fact.
(Did I mention that I was a bit of a Grinch?)
4. Have you been naughty or nice this year?
Nice. In fact, I would say that I am terminally nice. Oh, I'm not as nice as I aspire to be, but it's one of those "shoot for the moon, so that even if you miss you're still flying high" kind of things.
The fact that I'm willing to say that about myself may seem to you to be "not nice" at all. However, what it actually is is "not humble." :-D
5. In what way was today most December-like?
Today as in Sunday, August 28th? Well, I was in church, which is the distinguishing feature of my Christmas every year (my congregation holds four Christmas Eve services, and I play at all of them).
Still, I'll play. Ready?
1. How good are you at wrapping gifts?
I'd say very good. On a scale on 1-10, maybe a 7.5. The gift-giving holidays don't intimidate me that way, and while I lean toward gift bags for b-days, I am wrapping-paper all the way at Christmas.
That said, I was *not* the champion wrapper of the family, back when I had one. My erstwhile spouse approached present-wrapping like the engineer that he was, and I never saw a toy so irregularly shaped that he couldn't cover it in exactly the perfect amount of paper. We're talking no gaps, minimal overlaps, zero waste, and matched seams. I don't love complimenting the Man these days, but his skill at package-covering remains the gold standard in my mind.
2. When are you likely to begin your Christmas shopping this year?
Not before December, unless I see something that's perfect for a particular person (which can happen at any time of the year ... and when it does, I buy the thing right on the spot). But honestly, I don't buy many Christmas gifts these days. My sons can make better use of cash than things, my grandsons still barely understand presents, my siblings and father already have everything they need, and -- most importantly -- I am not gifted (get it?) at selecting the special gratuitous items that will transcend all the foregoing constraints.
Some people are great at presents: despite the fact that I would tell you that I have everything I need or want, my sister almost always finds me some perfect little doo-dad that I didn't know I simply had to have. But, again, since I am *not* great at it, I tend to give cash to my boys, pick up whatever Number Two Son tells me to get for the grandkids, and try to persuade my siblings & dad to agree not to exchange presents (my brother is usually amenable). My usual proposal is to spend the money doing something together, like eating out ... and sometimes, we do.
3. How do you feel about candy canes?
The small, thin ones are better for my old-lady teeth and blood-sugar levels. But sure, a little peppermint at the holidays is always nice.
You know what I don't like, though? That "true (Christian) meaning of the candy cane" meme that circulates every December among people of my religious persuasion, and that's because it's simply not based in fact.
(Did I mention that I was a bit of a Grinch?)
4. Have you been naughty or nice this year?
Nice. In fact, I would say that I am terminally nice. Oh, I'm not as nice as I aspire to be, but it's one of those "shoot for the moon, so that even if you miss you're still flying high" kind of things.
The fact that I'm willing to say that about myself may seem to you to be "not nice" at all. However, what it actually is is "not humble." :-D
5. In what way was today most December-like?
Today as in Sunday, August 28th? Well, I was in church, which is the distinguishing feature of my Christmas every year (my congregation holds four Christmas Eve services, and I play at all of them).