Monday, December 18, 2017

Winter Wonderland Tag


I've been tagged!!  Cordy tagged me for the Winter Wonderland Tag which was created by Amaris of The Storybook Journal.  Thank you so much, Cordy!!!  I was quite in the mood for a good tag!  :D
 
The Rules:
 
1)  Link back to The Storybook Journal 
2) Answer the questions; think Winter-y thoughts! Include pictures, if you like.
3) Tag at least 3 other bloggers, or more if you're feeling ambitious. :)
 
 
1. Name a few things you love about Winter, and a few things you don't love so much about it.
 
Things I love:
~Beautiful snowfalls.
~Cold nights when you get to pile extra blankets on your bed and be enormously cozy and snug.
~The "necessity" of sitting in front of a heater and soaking up tons of heat.
~CHRISTMAS!!
 
Things I don't love:
~Freezing my hands off while dusting snow off my car.  (Okay, so I wasn't wearing gloves.  My fault.  :P)
~The hassle of having to put shoes and a coat on every time you go outside.
~The sad, sad feeling when the heater decides the room is hot enough and turns off on you before you've entirely finished roasting yourself!  I mean, how is one to survive such a tragedy?  (Waaaaah.  You can't do this to me!  Come back on, you heater!  Do you want me to freeeeeeeeze?)

2. When you were a child, did you "believe" in Santa Claus?

Oh, no indeed.  Perish the thought.  In fact, my siblings and I were those obnoxious kids who made it our business to convince other kids that believing in Santa Claus was utterly ridiculous.  (Because we were just sweet like that, ya know?  Always thinking of others and looking out for their best interests.)
 
3. Is there a book or movie that you really love to read in the Winter as opposed to other times of year?
 
I actually can't think of any particular one at the moment.  Sorry.

4. Is there a particular Christmas movie that you watch EVERY year as tradition?


It's a Wonderful Life.  Love that movie! 
 
5. Do you usually get a real tree or a fake tree for Christmas?  Who's in charge of decorating it at your house?

A real tree.

As to who's the official decorator...I don't really know.  Probably my mom.  She usually does the majority of the decorating, though we're so laid back about the whole thing that there's never much of a system to it really.  Kind of a slap-happy sort of thing.  Different ones of us do different things depending on who's in the mood for it.  Like for instance, this year my mom and one of my brothers strung the lights on the tree, then two other brothers hung lights in the kitchen one random evening when they were at home, and a few days later more lights went up in the dining room when my sister finally managed to convince some of my other siblings to help her.  (I confess I dodged on that one.  Made myself scarce, you know?  I just didn't feel like hanging lights.  I did put a couple of my ornaments on the tree though.  That was impressive.  Ha.)
 
6. Does your family usually stay home or go visiting (relatives, friends, etc.) on Christmas Day?

We stay home and the family comes to us.  Namely my two married siblings and their families.  We used to get together with my dad's side of the family (always went to my grandparents house for supper), but my grandpa passed away a couple years ago and the tradition has pretty much ended now.  It's sad, but that's kind of what happens once the grandkids start growing up and moving out.  It's so much harder to get everyone together.
 
Our stocking display.  We've almost run out of steps.

 7. What does your family usually do on New Years Eve?  Any traditions?  Do you ever stay up till midnight?

Nothing really.  It's pretty much like a normal day.  And no, we don't have any special New Years traditions.  As to staying up till midnight, we don't make a point of it.  We do that often enough on regular days, that doing it on New Years Eve just isn't all that special. 
 
8. Do you get snow where you live?  If so, have you ever built a snowman and named him Olaf?

Yep, we get snow.  Some years not so much, but we usually have at least one or two good snowfalls in the year.  I'm sure I made a snowman at one time or another when I was a kid, but that was many long years ago (and before Olaf's time), so no, I've never named a snowman Olaf.  :)

Isn't this a darling picture?  I love the little boy's face, and how gingerly he's working to place the carrot nose just right on the snowman's face.  Also the little girl's polka-dotted hat.  Isn't it adorable?!  (I rather love polka-dots.)

9. If it's snowing outside, would you prefer to go outside and build a snowman and enjoy it, or would you rather stay inside with a  blanket and something hot to drink and maybe a movie or a book?
 
I opt for staying inside.  The snow is very enjoyable that way, too, you know.  And a blanket, with a warm drink, and a movie or a book sounds delightful!!  :D

10.  When do you start looking forward to or getting excited about Spring?


When I start to catch those early whiffs of the changing season.  That's when I really get excited.  :)

And now, I'm going to be very naughty and not tag anyone.  *ducks head*  Sorry.  But this post has already taken me far too long to write and...and...and...

(Okay so maybe I don't have a good excuse.  What do you think of that?  ;))


Hope you're all having a marvelous December, my friends!!
Christmas is only one week away!! Can you believe it? 

 

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

For what it's worth

So I finally went ahead and updated my blog for Christmas.  Probably a pointless endeavor as I have a strong suspicion I won't be writing many posts this month and thus you won't even be seeing this layout enough to make all the work that went into it  really worth it.  But whatever.  That's the story of my life.  Putting way too much effort into things that don't really matter, and far too little into those that do.  (It's called wasting time.  Ever heard if it?)

Anyway, for the sake of future reference here's the new header:
 

And the new background:

 
What do you all think?
(Tell me it's great, okay?  I spent a lot of time on this.  Haha.)

Well, I must be off.  I was giving myself till 11:30 to work on this post and it is now 11:34.  Eek!  Must skedaddle. 
 
See you around!
 
And just in case I'm not back before the 25th of December...
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!
 
Got any special plans for the forthcoming weeks?
Tell me what you've been up to!