Friday Mashup of Memes

Friday Fun -- Frostings [how sad is it that my first thought here was "mmmm, frosting...cake...no! frosting....!"]

1. Do you decorate your house for the fall? Give us a breakdown, maybe even a picture?!

Nope. I have about one plastic shopping bag of stuff for the fall, which we found last Sunday while looking for the pumpking-carving implements. Obviously, I don't 'do' decor.

2. Do you decorate for the fall holidays, like Halloween and Thanksgiving? If so, when do you start? We have a spider hanging on our porch and...uh, that's it. I'm telling you: no decor. For Thanksgiving, I have exactly nothing.

I either buy a centerpiece for the table, or skip one completely if weren't having a million guests. Our table isn't really big enough for 12 people and 14 serving dishes, plus a centerpiece.

3. Do you decorate for Christmas or other December celebration? If so, how early do you start?

OK, yes, I do decorate for Christmas. I'll cop to that.

4. Do you have any holiday decorating traditions?

We start putting things up for Christmas on Thanksgiving weekend most years, though that's much earlier than we used to; it's just the easiest since we have the most time at that point. We used to go cut the tree on the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm allergic to pine trees, so we now have an artificial tree (which is the sort I had as a child, so putting it together is a long-standing personal tradition). We have a daily advent reading every year from Presbyterians Today magazine; there's a link there for this year's calendar (which we haven't received yet).
We also put up a menorah for Chanukah.

5. Do you have a favorite decoration? Show us!

I can't show you; everything is packed away, and our camera isn't working. Maybe by January, I can do something about that, but anyway, I don't have one favorite. I have gotten in the habit, with Sparky, of naming where each tree ornament came from: this one was a gift on for you on your first birthday, this one I painted myself, this one is Gram's from her childhood tree, etc. He's quite bored by it, and I didn't start doing it intentionally; I just realized last year that he knew quite a lot of the stories himself!

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Friday Five--Music Soothes the Savage Beast

1) What was the first CD/Record/Album/Artist you ever bought and what format was it in? (Vinyl/Cassette/CD/MP3 Download)?

First ever was a 45 of "Seasons in the Sun." Heh.

2) How do you usually listen to music? (iPod/Walkman/Stereo/Radio)

XM on DirecTV, Launchcast, CDs in the car and the kitchen, and radio in Beast's car.

3) What is your favorite genre of music and why?

Probably right now it's dancehall, or reggaeton. I'm really eclectic though. I just like a good, catchy/hooky tune. Some decent lyrics help a lot too.

4) What is your opinion on music video shows and music televion?

My opinion is "where did they go?" MTV isn't so much about music at all anymore. I always liked videos.

5) Do you usually agree with who the winners of the Grammy Awards are?

Nope. But I am, unfortunately, reaching the age of not having heard most of the performers before the night of the show.

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Friday 5--More Qs about Food

What’s your favorite kind of salad?

I like Waldorf Salad, but I also like just your basic garden salad (minus tomatoes please).

What’s your favorite kind of sandwich?

I was reminded yesterday of how much I like bologna and mayo on white bread.

What’s your favorite kind of soup?

Cheddar cheese. Or New England style clam chowder...or really, any kind of fish chowder.

What’s your favorite kind of pie?

Fruit: apple, cherry, blueberry, even peach in a pinch.

What’s your favorite kind of cake?

Wedding cake: white cake with white frosting. No jam in between the layers; what a waste of good cake!

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Divine Reality/Friday Fill-In

On the highway are you a passer or the one being passed?

Around here, the passed. Most everywhere else, the passer.

Overall are you an aggressive driver or a passive one?

Generally NOT the aggressive one!

What's your biggest driving pet peeve?

People not using their turn signals...which really is more about people assuming I know what they're thinking!

Do you enjoy long road trips?

Yep. I do. Give me a map and I'm gone.

When was your last one?

Last June, although that didn't really count since it involved stopping only for gas. I like road trips where you can say, "Hey that looks like a cool town/funny site/cool historical marker; let's stop."

Where are you driving to this weekend?

No place, except possibly stores. And of course, church.

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RevGalBlogPals Friday Five: Nothing but the Tooth

Please share your thoughts on the following:

1) The Tooth Fairy

This is the weirdest invention, if you really think about it: you loose your tooth and hide it and some strange person breaks in your house and comes in your bedroom to steal your tooth...and give you money in exchange. What are we telling our kids here?? {hee} I loved being the Tooth Fairy, though, including leaving notes for Sparky. I still have all of Sparky's teeth somewhere. He used to think that the tooth fairy was building a castle with the teeth, so the notes were always about his latest tooth and how it would help with adding a wing or finishing a room.

2) Flossing

I go through periods of doing this faithfully and then I stop for months at a time. It's icky. But I know I need to do it.

3) Toothpaste Brands

I grew up with Crest and only Crest, original flavor. That's still mostly what we use, but sometimes Sam's only has Colgate. And I always have a tube of senstivity toothpaste in the drawer now.
My mom always told us she grew up using straight baking soda. Blechhhhh....!

4) Orthodontia for Adults

I have no problem with it. I think sometimes it's kind of necessary to correct pain that develops when chewing with badly aligned teeth. It's not always about how the person feels about the way they look.

5) Whitening products

I drink a lot of diet pop which stains my teeth, so I try to use these a few times in between visits to the dentist. Having said that, my teeth are naturally stained (drugs in utero, and drugs later in life--did you know that taking antibiotics as a kid can stain teeth!?), much to my dentist's dismay

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