Thanks to @rare for including me in the holiday questionnaire going around! I've been sick the last week or so (seems to happen every year at about this time!), but better late than never! Let's do this!
1. How was your Thanksgiving and what are you thankful for?
My Thanksgiving was quite nice, thank you! I got to spend it with some new friends and their children, which is always fun!
I am thankful for my health. Even though I've been getting sick a lot the last month or so, I'm thankful for no chronic conditions and that I'm still fully mobile, despite a few aches and pains that come with age.
2. Who's putting up a Christmas tree 🎄?
I might put up a small desktop tree on my coffee table. Nothing too fancy this year. I had a nice tree and some decorations, but somehow they got thrown away either during or after my cross-country move, so I once again have to start from scratch.
3. Do you have any family tradition for Thanksgiving and Christmas?
I used to back in my childhood years. My parents and I used to have a Thanksgiving meal together in the early afternoon. My dad would make some homemade fudge, which we'd have after Thanksgiving while putting up Christmas decorations. For Christmas eve, we'd go to my grandparents' house (dad's side) for a big feast. It was the one day of the year I got along with my cousin (my first cousin; he and I were the same age, just one month apart). For Christmas day, we'd go to my great-grandparents' house (mom's side) and celebrate with a huge host of cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandmother, who lived in a nearby nursing home with brain damage (paralysis, speech problems, etc.). They were always such special times.
4. Your best advice?
Make the time and effort for who and what matter the most to you.
5. Do you have any holiday charities you donate to?
This is part of a holiday tradition. My family and I would always purchase a pack of Christmas cards from the American Diabetes Association, which benefited that organization. My mom had Type 1 diabetes, and a good friend of mine was recently diagnosed with it as well, so it's a cause very close to my heart.
6. Your favorite Christmas song?
I like all the classic carols and hymns. O Holy Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, O Come O Come Immanuel, etc.
7. Your best Christmas present, your choices given or received?
On my 5th birthday, Santa gave me an Apple 2C computer. That gift revolutionized my life and started me down a path that led to where I am today career-wise.
8. Do you have your Christmas shopping done?
I haven't even started it yet.
9. Fun question something you enjoy during the Holidays?
I love seeing the lights and decorations that the small towns in the area put up.
10. Do you have plans for New Years eve?
Nope. I'll probably be in bed by 10.
11. Your goals for the new year 2024?
Be more responsible with how I spend my time and money; establish a proper emergency fund; start paying down some of my debts
12. Your New Years resolution?
Same as my goals, I suppose. I don't really make any distinction between the two.
13. Your favorite hobbies?
Tinkering with computers and electronics, taking road trips, frolicking in nature
14. Do you do Christmas cards?
There are always a few that I like to send out.
15. Share anything you want from your past holiday's?
Not much more to share. I used to love getting together with family/relatives that I never otherwise would see. I loved the Christmas music, the Christmas candlelight service at church. I loved dad's homemade grasshopper pie, grandma's meat stuffing, and doing crafts with mom. I loved when my mom would get annoyed with my dad for putting "too much" tinsel on the Christmas tree. And I think that's about everything!
I'm not going to tag anyone, since I'm just getting back into this community, but if you happen to see this questionnaire, feel free to copy it and share your own answers!
