Fri, Dec. 20
... It's finally back!
And, after a long hiatus, it's finally back! So... here's the Christmas edition of the
Friday Five.
1. What holiday or holidays do you celebrate this time of year? Christmas. I don't celebrate Kwanzaa, Hannukah, Ramadan, or anything like that, but I guess I celebrate New Year's, to an extent. The big one though, of course, is Christmas.
2. What was the best gift you have ever received? There hasn't really been one Christmas gift that sticks out in my mind as being the "best" one that I've ever gotten. I can think of many that are memorable, but it's hard to think of one that was so spectacular that it outdid every other gift. I know that's a really vague answer, but it's the truth!
3. What was the worst gift you've ever given? I don't know what the worst gift was, necessarily... I mean, I'm sure I've given some odd ones over the years, and some gifts that people have shaken their heads at, but I can't think of a "worst." The funniest, though, was probably last Christmas. Laura and I were shopping, and I was looking in La Senza for some pyjamas for my mom. I started looking at the negligees, joking that my mom would love one of those (she's quite conservative, and is much more of a flannel-pyjamas than a slinky-negligee type of woman)... then the thought came, "Maybe Mom wouldn't like it... but I'm sure that Dad would!" So, I bought my dad a negligee for Christmas, and I ended up getting my mom a flannel nightshirt anyways. He laughed when he opened it, and my mom turned bright red.
4. Where will you be celebrating the holidays? Are you hosting? Going away? I'll be at my parents' for Christmas, or possibly at my aunt and uncle's. I don't know yet what the week's going to look like--I don't know if we'll have just my immediate family for Christmas Day, and then do a bigger extended family Christmas a little later, or how it'll work, exactly, but it'll be spent out there somehow.
5. If you could spend the holidays with someone who isn't around, who would it be with? Why? There are always people that I wish I could spend Christmas with... always people that I want to have around, and they don't necessarily come to mind until Christmas evening, when the day has come and gone, the excitement is over, and I'm sitting at home reflecting on whatever it happens to be that I'm feeling nostalgic about. Mostly, though, Christmas is when I miss old friends that I've lost touch with, and I wonder if whatever it was that drove us apart was really worth it.
One year ago today: But if I'm really honest, things are going well. It's just that sometimes "well" isn't good enough. Sometimes, I want "spectacular," or "amazing," or "rewarding," or "phenomenal," or "romantic," or "thrilling." That's not what life is about, though. Life is more often than not about "challenging," and "stretching," and "sacrifice," and "doubt," and "wondering," and "frustration," and sometimes even "agonizing." That's okay, though. What was the line? "Without the sour, the sweet doesn't seem nearly as sweet." Something along those lines. So the sweet is incredibly sweet, and the pms-y days make the rest of it all exaggerated.
infinite || abyss
posted at 1:05 p.m.
