"It's Like an Angel Peeing on Your Tongue!"

...That is if the angel had a candy cane fetish like I do. What am I talking about?
My new favorite tradition. Ready for this Holiday recipe?
First you take hot chocolate (I make it from scratch: cocoa, sugar, make it the same color as the commercially made Hot cocoa powder, then sprinkle a little salt, add a little water to make it a paste, boil it, then add milk and heat till it's good and hot.)
Put the hot chocolate in a mug and then... be prepared to be amazed at the next and final ingredient... Take a good scoop of peppermint ice cream and drop it into the hot cup of chocolate. It totally blew my mind that I never thought of this before. I think I have a new crush. *sigh*

Because I Can

So, I got an email from Kristin, one of those look at my answers and then fill in your own and email it to people doohickeys. Since I'm just not that kind of person, and it's not that I mind getting them or filling them out, but I really don't think other people care about my answers, I decided to just post the questions and my answers here. Okay, I'm also sick of looking at my last post.

So if anyone wants to, I would love to hear your answers, but I won't bother tagging people, cause then I feel stupid when no one follows through.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift wrap unless I'm lazy or out of tape.
2. Real tree or Artificial? I like real, I settle for fake.
3. When do you put up the tree? Who knows? Last year it was two days before Christmas
4. When do you take the tree down? Are you kidding, I just put that thing up! It will be at least a couple weeks.
5. Do you like eggnog? As long as I don't think about what it is, I love it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? One of those push sweepers.
7. Hardest person to buy for? It's Peter and everyone on his side of the family.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Me. I like cheap stuff. Not to mention, I know what I like.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? A couple. One puts away like a puzzle into the Manger and I hand painted it myself
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I'm not into cards, sorry. I think its a Hallmark conspiracy.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A dollar store unicorn balloon that you wear on you head for a party hat. Jason said I would think it was funny later, good thing he was right.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I absolutely hate Christmas movies unless they are about Christ. I did however cry during Elf..."I Believe." (I think that's what they said at the end)
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? As late and gradually as possible
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? You tell me.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? uh, candy cane?
16. Lights on the tree - white or colored? I like colors as long as they don't blink too fast and give me motion sickness. (I can't help following the lights around and round...)
17. Favorite Christmas songs: the ones in the hymn book, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, but my favorite is O Holy Night
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. Unless Hawaii is an option ;-)
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, including Olive.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I guess you could call it a star. It's pointy.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open presents made especially for us from extended family Christmas eve drawing. The rest on Christmas morning. (Ha Ha! I just used Kristin's answer)
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Christmas movies. Bah! Humbug!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I like the ugly ones they make you make in school. I've never used so much yarn in my life.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Funeral Potatoes, because we're celebrating a birth here, and ham, because what would Jesus do?

Tuesday's Gratitude

Today, since I didn't mention this crazy little ritual yesterday, I am thankful for Dungeons & Dragons.

I only wrote it and you will never catch me saying it out loud. But, yes, I am thankful for dungeons... because they keep the bad people put away in a nice dark depressing prison. And I'm thankful for dragons because they are so darn cute and hilariously funny. Have you ever seen Pete's Dragon?

So with dungeons, Even if it is a good person stuck in the dungeon...Let's say a cleric, a lawful good human cleric, level 5, who only chose to be that for the good of the team (cause let's face it, they are boring). So, let's say he is put in that dungeon while on a campaign gone awry. Will he punish the guilty that wallow in their own filth in the dungeon for the sake of justice? Will he try to breakout for his own good, or will his criminalization of self interest hold him captive in favor of seeking justice for the other lowlifes in prison? Will the other members of his party save him? How will they save him? How much longer will this campaign go on? What will his crazy dungeon tattoo look like? All these complex answers and pivotal points can be answered with the simple roll of a dice.

So, basically, dungeons are cool because they create a safe barrier between us and the bad guys, or they may create a side adventure that can take days to accomplish.

With Dragons, forget that they're hilariously funny, that they are almost impossible to kill, and that they are pyromaniacs (Well, the red ones are), I am grateful to them because they create a horrifying challenge. I mean, seriously, the last time you even saw a dragon, you messed your pants, right? How could something so big, so terrifying, so fire breathing, be killed with a few rolls of a dice? Yes, there is strategy and all that, but honestly what else can be more empowering than to say, "Why, yes, Gary and Dave, I did slay that dragon. It was easy. It's all in the wrist. Just a flick of the wrist and a chant to the demon gods I call the Wizards of the Coast." "Did you use a sword?" "Nope." "Battle axe?" "Nope." "Quarter staff?" "No, I used a pair of dice." "No way? That rocks!"

So, basically I'm thankful for Dragons because they make you feel like you can accomplish anything...and if you don't, your toast.

So, to put it all together now, I am thankful for Dungeons & Dragons and they way they make you laugh, boost your self esteem, and create a crazy long and often entertaining story that only weirdos remember in detail.

Friday's Gratitude

I am so grateful for my old dirty tennis shoes.

When I got them they were a pretty white with a little bit of light blue trim. They were sturdy and advertised as running shoes. They were perfect!

Today they more brownish gray and some of the pretty blue trim is a dingy blue and threatening to come off. The heel inside is worn, and the fabric around the ankle is not only worn, but torn. The laces are tattered and dirty. The label on the tongue is worn enough so the size is unidentifiable. Permanent wrinkles embedded with dirt line the toe and sides. The tread is worn down so that I slide easily across surfaces and, like the trimming, it also threatens to come off.

If you showed me a before and after picture, I wouldn't believe you.

So, why do I love them so much? Nice and broken in, they mold nicely to my feet. They are comfortable and I know that what ever the task, unless it's fashion, they are up to it. With them I've hiked with the girls at girls camp, played volleyball, sat around the house and watched TV, mowed the lawn, gone on major shopping trips, and just about everything else you can think of.

I know these old tennis shoes were advertised as running shoes, but they are so much more to me. They are my comfort and reliability. I've grown accustomed to their hideousness, their leaks in puddles, and their tendency to make my feet sweat if I keep them on all day.

Yep, I am grateful for my old dirty tennis shoes and dread the day I have to give them up for something unfamiliar, rigidly unbroken, and too white to risk dirtying up doing normal everyday things.

Thursday's Gratitude...and Counting

Today, I am thankful for car accidents.

No, I'm not trying to be insensitive, and I hope I'm never in one, but I am grateful for them and have a lot of respect for how easily and fast they can turn peoples life around for good or unfortunately sometimes bad.

About an hour or so ago, I got a call from my dad. First thing he says is, "David is okay, but..." So right off, I know something isn't okay. David is my youngest brother and he is serving a mission in Texas. He is everybody's favorite just because he is so easy going. He took all the good character traits from his siblings and none of the bad.

So anyway, I don't know all the details, but it seems David and his mission companion were in a car accident, or I guess I should say truck accident. His companion was driving apparently and they rolled over a couple times (or so it sounds).

He was taken to the hospital and I guess his legs hurt, but he is alive and trying to walk around.

Car accidents are a reminder how precious life is. They can be accompanied by miracles and/or disasters. Sometimes it is both.

When my brother and his wife died, it was like that. It was tragic and it hurt me so bad. Then again, it was a miracle they both died together and none of their young children were with them. I mean, how often do couples with young children go places together without their kids. They had an amazing few days together, celebrating their anniversary and driving past the site of their first kiss, and I know they were happy.

Anyway, I don't take car accidents lightly, but I am thankful for them and how thought provoking they are. They make you think about how precious life is which I think a lot of us forget. (Some people drive like they're invincible.) On the obvious side, I am so grateful that David is okay and hope and pray he heals fast.

Second Tribute to Gratitude

I am thankful for the scar on my chin.

When I was little, my parents went on a date and left my second oldest brother, Jason, in charge. (Apparently the oldest wasn't responsible enough.) They left one specific instruction: "No playing tag in the house."

So what did we do? That's right, we played "Hide and Go Seek Tag" in the house...in the dark. Jason was "it" and I thought I had a good hiding spot in the basement, but he saw me so I bolted for the stairs. They are wooden stairs which makes them not just hard, but slick. I could feel him on my heels and was afraid he would swipe at me at any moment. Almost to the top, I slipped and landed hard on my chin. I remember crying and Jason cleaning my wound in the bathroom. He wouldn't let me see it in the mirror, so I knew it was bad.

I cried myself to sleep waiting for my parents to get home. When they did, they took me to the hospital for stitches. I remember being shoeless and telling my dad that I had forgotten my jellies (shoes) and they wouldn't let me in. He laughed and told me they wouldn't even notice.

I got stitches and it actually tickled.

I don't remember my parents saying one thing about us disobeying them, but did they really need to? No, the scar on my chin is a reminder that sometimes someone knows better than I do.

Luckily the scar is on the bottom of my chin and people barely notice it. I actually like it now. It's my war wound. It's my reminder that if I choose to do wrong, there may be consequences that last a lifetime. So, yes, I am grateful for that inch long scar on my chin.

Thanksgiving in Review

My mother-in-law had a great post on what she is grateful for. I am inspired and hope to share one thing or experience each day, until Thanksgiving, that I am truly grateful for.

I am grateful for so many things. All the obvious things, the gospel, family, roof over my head, but I really want to express my gratitude for the not so obvious.

Tribute to Gratitude #1

I am grateful for the time in middle school that I got a really bad case of tonsillitis.

It was awful at the time. I couldn't swallow anything. I really do mean anything. I had a cup next to my bed that I spit in because I couldn't even swallow my own spit without crying. It was the only time in my life that I really thought I just wanted to die. I spent day after day for a week, just lying in bed in pain while I starved myself. I became dehydrated and weak. On the rare occasions that I forced myself to drink some water, the pain was unimaginable.

It was a Friday when I had finally been able to swallow things without it hurting so bad. It still hurt, but I was getting better. I was home alone with my oldest brother while everyone else was at school.

Let me just explain, that my oldest brother used to chase me with black widow spiders. We had a few years age gap, and I didn't like him. I thought he was a bully.

So that Friday, I realized how starved and weak I was. I needed food, but I had no strength to make anything myself. It was that day that my brother did something so simple, but it changed our relationship forever.

He took me to McDonald's. He had never taken me in his car anywhere. He didn't really even talk to me much, let alone buy me anything. But he did that day. He bought me my usual at the time, a strawberry shake, fries, and a cheeseburger.

That was the day that I learned to love my brother. I found out how compassionate and fun he really was.

Not long after, he went on a mission and I missed him terribly. A little over a year ago he and his wife died in a car accident. I hate to think how I would feel if I hadn't had a good relationship with him.

I hated being sick. I hated the pain, the starving, and spiting into a cup every thirty seconds. But I would never give up that experience. It was that experience that showed me my brother's other side. It showed me his compassion.

Though at that time I never would have thought it would ever be possible to say this, I can now say that I am truly grateful for tonsillitis.