Holiday spirit seems to me to be an extra measure of joy and childlike wonder, and a delight in being generous. I think right now I'd put my holiday spirit at about a 7. I'm not in full holiday mode yet, but I'm getting there. Getting decorations up, listening to holiday music, watching favorite Christmas movies, and going out to see holiday light displays all boost my holiday spirit. I enjoy participating in a few holiday performances with the chorus (we're singing at the Statehouse Tree Lighting tomorrow evening!), and yes, I even enjoy some aspects of Christmas shopping!
I have so many! One favorite is Ebenezer Scrooge, and all the Scrooge characters in many of the adaptations. My favorite Scrooge portrayal is Alistair Sim's. His transformation from gruff, miserly and miserable loner to the joyful and generous man who 'kept Christmas well' is so good, and Scrooge waking up on Christmas morning a changed man and realizing it was a dream and he has time to make changes is hilarious. This portrayal of the character has always reminded me a little bit of an uncle of mine, who was kind of distant from the family and hard to get to know, but once you did, he was such a delightful person. He used to come across as cross and indifferent to us, but I think he just didn't know how to relate to kids. Especially after he got to know the Lord in his later years, he tried more to keep in touch and stayed interested in what we were doing, and his humor and generosity were really appreciated. I wish we'd been able to get together him more.
3. Do you like gingerbread? Are gingerbread houses part of your holiday tradition?
I love gingerbread, but I prefer the cake version to the cookie. And gingersnaps too. When my kids were young we made gingerbread houses a couple of times, but no, it wasn't ever part of our holiday tradition.
sprinkles or jimmies? lightning bugs or fireflies? soda or pop? sneakers, trainers, or tennis shoes? sub, hoagie, grinder, or hero? freeway, highway, or motorway? frosting or icing? sauce or gravy?
I've got quite a mix and match going on with these, since I grew up in western Canada, lived in New Jersey for a couple of years, lived in Maryland for twenty-five years, and now live in Ohio.
-I use sprinkles and jimmies interchangeably, but I think I default to jimmies. Fun fact: when my daughter was young she wanted to be a baker, and her make-believe bakery/coffee shop was called Jimmies and Sprinkles. She even made a menu and put it on our fridge.
-usually I say fireflies. Another fun fact: the first time I saw fireflies was when I was about 10 years old and we were visiting family in Kansas. I don't remember seeing them again until we moved to NJ.
-I grew up calling it pop and switched to soda only after moving to NJ
-sneakers or running shoes
-sub or occasionally hoagie - we eat subs but I shop for hoagie rolls
-the Interstates are freeways, all others are highways
-interchangeable - usually frosting
-gravy is what I use when referring to anything made with a meat flavor base. Sauces are not meat flavored, ie. spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce, hollandaise sauce.
They all kind of run together and I'm having trouble pinpointing one specific memory. I'm not sure how old I was, but one year we drove from Calgary to Steinbach, Manitoba to surprise my grandparents for Christmas. My aunts knew we were coming, but Grandma and Grandpa didn't. I'm pretty sure that was the time we drove through the night, in the snow, and arrived sometime on Christmas Eve. I haven't any idea what gifts we got or anything like that, but I remember how much fun it was to surprise them and be together.
I thought of a couple other terms that are different based on where you're from. I always had a purse in Canada, but in NJ it was called a pocketbook. No matter how big it was, when to me a pocketbook would be a woman's wallet. I was also puzzled by people cleaning out their gutters, because to me a gutter was alongside the sidewalk and led to the storm drains. The thing on the edge of your roof, and you need to clean the leaves out of it? That's clearly an eavestrough. It's a trough attached to the eaves.
The current Wednesday Quotes link-up is all about Celebrating Holidays, and you can find it here: WQ - Celebrating the Holiday Season. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes! The new Everyday Images photo link-up will be here tomorrow!
What's helping to get you into the holiday spirit? Leave a comment and let me know!
My mom grew up in more southern Jersey than me, and I think she said jimmies. But we grew up saying sprinkles!
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember someone telling me that jimmies were just the chocolate ones, the colored ones were sprinkles. Everyone has different rules on this! LOL Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
DeleteThose regional 'words' are sometimes quite a mystery. Hey, I've been to Steinbach...once. Fun memory. Happy December to you!
ReplyDeleteYes, especially with how mobile we are and how easily we can communicate with people from all over. I think a lot of those regionalisms are getting a bit blurred. Steinbach is where my mom grew up. :-) Thanks for stopping by and commenting - Happy Holidays!
DeleteLoved your answers! My mom and her sisters ALWAYS said Pocketbook but I and MY sisters always say Purse. Isn't that odd??
ReplyDeleteI used to call fireflie twinkle bugs :)
Have a cozy week.
Isn't it interesting how even within families we prefer different terms? Twinkle bugs is so cute - I love that! Thanks for stopping by and commenting - Happy Holidays!
DeleteOh Kym, I loved your random and your #4. It is so fun to hear what we all say and why.
ReplyDeleteI met some folks from California, saying water cooler ... I had no idea what they were saying, water cooler to them meant an A/C window unit. ;-)
Oh my, I've never heard an A/C called a water cooler! That would have thrown me off as well. I do enjoy comparing notes with the regionalisms people use. Thanks for stopping by and commenting - Happy Holidays!
DeleteHi Kym...I am from the South and most of our answers are different. I sure have enjoyed the answers from this particular question. all of our answers are so different depending on where we grew up
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing the other answers and comparing what everyone says. Thanks for stopping by and commenting - Happy Holidays!
DeleteIn answering these questions the whole family realized we've never really had gingerbread so I've been asked to make one of the cakier versions this year with some frosting so we can all try it. We do tend to use gutter interchangeably to refer to both of those, don't we? I never really thought of it before having grown up that way.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the cake gingerbread isn't very common. I like it best with a dollop of whipped cream on top. My mom also made a lemon sauce (not gravy - haha!!) to top gingerbread cake with, and that was also really good. I think I might have to make gingerbread this weekend. Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Happy Holidays!!
DeleteI've never heard the term eavestrough but it does make sense. How fun to surprise the grandparents! I like surprises (good ones of course) sprinkled throughout the season. Enjoy all the holiday-ing and singing at the tree lighting. That sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteIt surprised me how many people had never heard the term eavestrough - I hadn't thought it was a particularly Canadian term, but apparently I was wrong! Thanks for stopping by and commenting, and for sharing the holiday spirit through the hodgepodge!
DeleteScrooge - good choice and one I didn't think about!! We saw a production at a local theater a few years ago and Scrooge was one of my favorite characters so your answer makes sense!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the Scrooge retellings as well - probably my favorite retelling is An American Christmas Carol starring Henry Winkler as the Scrooge character. I've never found the DVD of that at a price I'm willing to pay, unfortunately. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!~
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