Mad rush to do all the Friday Memes before my day starts....

RevGal Friday Five

1. Favorite cookie/candy/baked good without which, it's just not Christmas.

Hmmmm, I no longer make goodies; I rely solely on others to provide sugar. Because they do. And God knows I don't need MORE of my own! So nowadays I'd say it's either the memory of homemade fudge (mmmm) or 7-Layer Bars, which I will eventually get around to making so that I can eat them out of the pan.
Beast Santa always gives me Sour-Patch Kids, too, in my stocking; they're Holiday candy for me now.

2. Do you do a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, both, or neither? (Optional: with whom will you gather around the table this year?)

I don't 'do' cooking on Christmas. If we get no invites, we never put on pajamas, and scrounge for our own food all day. However, normally we've gone to a friend's house on Christmas to stand-in for her family (long story). This year we're going to my niece and nephew's where we will stay barely long enough to shove some food in and unwrap presents. They have 4 cats; this gives me about 60 minutes before I go from merely uncomfortable for the next few days to hospitalized for the next few days.

3. Evaluate one or more of the holiday beverage trifecta: hot chocolate, wassail, egg nog.

See, I read ahead this time. Had I not done so, I would have picked egg nog for my answer to #1. However, my system is slowly reaching to point where the nog, it is too rich for me. Wassail: eh. Hot chocolate: I always burn my mouth, and it's foul when it's cooling off. Bring on the nog!!

4. Candy canes: do you like all the new-fangled flavors or are you a peppermint purist?

They should be peppermint. I can't eat hard candy anymore, so I haven't had any this year. Probably won't either.

5. Have you ever actually had figgy pudding? And is it really so good that people will refuse to leave until they are served it?

No. It sounds positively icky. Then again, the only fig-related product I've ever enjoyed (a little) are fig newtons, which hardly count as 'real food.'

Edited to add: Well, I am APPALLED with myself that I forgot to include a question about the crown prince of holiday foods--the fruitcake.

Feel free to add your thoughts on this most polarizing holiday confection.

Ick. 'nuf said.

My sister used to make a 'proper' British Christmas pudding every year, starting about two weeks before Christmas. It involved adding brandy daily...that's all I remember is her talking about that. I think this is probably where our fruitcake concept came from. But then, in true American fashion, we took out the alcohol and added more sugar and processed components.

Not that I'd particularly like the British version, but in the old days, I can see the attraction.

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Four For Friday (Link at left, under BeliBlog

Q1 - Wealth: In 1982, the year Forbes started publishing its annual list of the 400 wealthiest America[n]s, the magazine could find only a dozen or so billionaires. This year, The Forbes 400 list includes billionaires only. What is your definition of wealthy?

Wealthy means that, even if you never worked another day in your life, you would never have to sleep on the streets.

Q2 - Advertising and Religion:Bahrainian athlete Ruqaya Al Ghasara runs her track & field races wearing a hijab (a full Muslim headscarf). Nike, which sponsors Al Ghasara and is notorious for splashing its logo on everything in sight, somehow managed to get the Nike swoosh emblazoned onto the sides of Al Ghasara hijab. In your opinion, should Nike have stopped short of swooshifying a religious garment, or is Al Ghasara hijab fair game for branding?

I'm not qualified to judge this. If the muckety-muks in Bahrain said it's ok, then it's ok. My understanding is that the hijab is just a scarf, it's the wearing or not wearing of it that is the religious part. You can wear Hermes or a bandana (ok, well, the latter would be weird), as long as your wearing SOMEthing. Which reminds of a story about a paper napkin and the Catholic church a friend went to in the 50s...but that's another story.

Q3 - Asking for Advice:According to a recent survey, most employees are unwilling to turn to their boss for advice on problems at work. In fact, a supervisor was cited by only 11 percent of employees surveyed as a source for workplace advice. More employees rely on a peer, another senior person, or a friend outside the company when searching for advice on work-related issues. How about you? When you are experiencing problems at work, who do you turn to for help or advice?

I talk to my boss for serious "how to do it" stuff and my husband and my boss for interpersonal problems. I think the problem with asking a boss is that sometimes the boss just doesn't get all the details of day-to-day work and can't speak to what will work better in that respect. I'm fortunate that my boss respects and trusts me. If that weren't true, I wouldn't ask her opinion about anything. Could that be the problem for others??

Q4 - Sleep:While everyone pretty much knows that sleep is vital to our health and well being, millions of us are not getting enough of it, or are suffering from sleep-related problems. For example, surveys conducted by the National Sleep Foundation reveal that 60 percent of adults report having sleep problems a few nights a week or more. In addition, more than 40 percent of adults experience daytime sleepiness severe enough to interfere with their daily activities at least a few days each month. What time did you go to bed last night, and do you think you got enough sleep?

Good day to ask this question...and an unusual one, too. I went to sleep at about 12:30 this morning and got up at 8:45. Normally, I get about 5-6 hours a night. I think that's my tipping point; if I get more, I tend to feel tireder, and have more trouble sleeping through.

However (I've said this over and over), I sleep loads better now that I wear earplugs to sleep. I can sleep with bright lights and temperature changes--once I get warm in bed--but noise ruins sleep completely for me.

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Friday 5 (Link at left)
Friends, Pt. 2

1. Which of your friends has the nicest hair? MEM
2. Which of your friends has the nicest smile? Jenny
3. Which of your friends is the best gift-giver? Amy
4. Which of your friends is the most different from you? Chris
5. Which of your friends is the oddest? I plead the Fifth on this....

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Friday Five (Link at left)
Name 5...

1. Favorite gifts that you bought/made for someone else that you wanted for yourself!

I can't think of five specific examples, but many years I have given people books I'd like to read. If it's a family member, I usually sneak-read it after they open it.

2. Favorite holiday treats to eat or drink.

Eggnog, fudge, fondue, iced sugar cookies, Chinese food on Christmas Eve.

3. Gifts you would have like to to buy/make for someone else if money was no object.

A scrapbook for my mom of her life.
A personal trainer/nutritionist for Beast.
A new job that she loves for Amy.
Life lessons for Sparky.
Cash for Mr. Jimmy to pay FEMA back what they say he owes.

4. Gifts you would like for yourself if money was no object!

A masseuse.
A housekeeper/cook.
A new computer every year, and someone to geekify it when it gets goofy.
TIME!!
I'd really like a dog, but this isn't a money issue, it's a health issue....

5. Things you still have to do for the holidays!

Wrap a few presents.
Drop off gifties for local people.
Make Communion bread for Christmas Eve.
THIS F^CKING SHOWER tomorrow!
Buy a couple more stocking stuffers.

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Friday's Feast (Link at left)

Appetizer
What is one of your Christmas traditions?

Late service on Christmas Eve. Sparky always used to fall asleep at it, and I'd sit in the back with him on my lap.

Soup
Who is the easiest person on your list to buy presents for?

Sparky. He gave me a list.

Salad
What is your favorite Christmas scent?

Real pine, not candles or air freshener.

Main Course
If you could give a fellow blogger a Christmas gift, who would it be and what would you give them?

I'd actually give Bubba either his health or a diagnosis so he could get treatment.

Dessert
What's something on your Christmas wish list this year that you need (not just want)?

There is nothing I need. I'd really like a new camera one of these days, though...