All the RomCom of Qi Xi

My holiday wishlist. (Yes, I'm late)

Every year, I try to put up a wishlist that's fairly reasonable. I try to never ask for the moon (or a Kindle :P).

Here are my 10 requests:

1.) Leave comments on everything you enjoy. Do it immediately, don't just think "I'll go back to it" because, for the most part, you won't. So leave a spot of happiness in someone's LJ.
2.) Make a donation in my name to: your local animal shelter, Heifer International, Habitat for Humanity or Tucson Community Foodbank. Five dollars can feed 50 dogs (not exaggerating. A 40 lb bag of dog food is $5 and feeds approximately 50 dogs), provide a sustainable living, help build a house or feed a community.
3.) Write a random comment fic for someone on your flist and link me to it.
4.) Make a cool icon. Or music mix. Or art.
5.) Upload your favorite holiday song and share it with me.
6.) Upload a favorite song and share it with me.
7.) Volunteer for a local charity. with donations down, volunteers are even more necessary.
8.) Go through your things and purge what you don't need. With the economy the way it is, charities are feeling the pinch. There are less dollars and more demands for services. It's getting harder and harder to clothe people and feed people. Go through your pantry and get rid of those raviolis that you bought a year ago and you still haven't eaten. That blouse still looks horrendous on you. You lost the weight, don't go back to the fat jeans, get rid of them. That bedding shrank and doesn't fit your queen mattress anymore. That blanket is still tatty but someone else won't care like you do.
9.) Hold the door for someone. Say 'thank you' when someone holds the door for you. Let that lady with just one thing in front of you and your stack of a hundred items. Take a moment to pass on a random act of kindness. We're all harried at this time of the year and that holding the door will go a long way. (And if they don't say 'thank you', nothing says you can't say a polite 'you're welcome' at their backs...)
10.) Take an angel off one of those angel/giving trees at the mall. Buy that kid the pair of jeans that they're asking for and then toss in a toy, too. I'd hate to think of some kid opening up only necessary items on Christmas morning. Christmas is about spreading joy and happiness. Give a kid that joy and happiness.


And if you have a holiday wishlist, please link me to it. My flist time has been nil lately so I've probably missed yours. I'd really like to see if I can fulfill any of your wishes.

Someone on the flist asked for favorite holiday memories and I started to type this up as a comment there when I realized it was getting long. Thus, I'm making it into a post, instead. My favorite holiday memories all blur into one giant lump of memories as my birthday is in October, quickly followed by Thanksgiving in November, Christmas in December and Orthodox Christmas in January. They all revolve around my grandfather.

When I was a little girl, I worshiped my grandfather. We called him Bubby or Bubbup, a German form of endearment that his parents had used when they lived in Germany/Austro-Hungary. My grandfather was first-generation American and a very sedate man. He had a thousand and one odd mannerisms, at least to my way of little girl mind.

What're you doing, Bubby? We'd ask as he napped on the recliner. He'd respond I'm checking my eyelids for pinholes. and we'd all giggle. He had a witty comeback for all of us.

By the time I was old enough to start remembering, he was already slipping into Alzheimer's and dementia. His mind started regressing when we lost my Nana (I was about 3). One of the things he would never forget were birthdays. Every year, on my birthday, he would send me a card and twenty bucks. Considering that he'd been a mechanic for Greyhound, that was a huge amount of money. He always drove a Ford and is probably spinning circles in his grave that I drive a Japanese sports car. He'd sometimes come up and tinker on my mum's 67 Mercury Cougar. I remember sitting on the dirt next to the car as he'd poke his head under the hood. Sometimes, he'd ask me to hand him something and boy howdy was that hammer heavy when you're a teeny girl of four.

The four of us siblings always got him a Hickory Farms assortment, a bag of salted peanuts, a set of pjs and a pair of slippers for Christmas.

When I was four, we developed a tradition that continued until I was 12. You see, I'd discovered my love of pumpkin pie by then. In the middle of the night, I snuck out of my bedroom and carefully pulled the pie down onto the kitchen floor with me. I used my fingers and scooped all the pie filling that my little tumbly could hold. In the middle of my midnight foray, Bubby caught me. Thinking I'd be in an enormous amount of trouble, I waited for him to go get my mum and I'd get sent to my room. Heck, I might even miss out on sitting next to Bubby at Thanksgiving dinner the next day (this was the ultimate reward and treat. You had to be good for MONTHS to get to sit next to Bubby).

Instead, my Bubby walked to the silverware drawer, pulled out two spoons and handed me one without saying a word. We made our way through that entire pie that night and then he carried me to my bed and tucked me in. I know that he had to have talked to my mum about where the pie went because I was never punished and my mum never reacted. The pie crust was filled with whipped cream.

When Christmas rolled around, I snuck out once more to get the pumpkin pie. There were two pies, after all. When I got to the kitchen, Bubby sat at the table with one of them, two spoons at the ready. We sat there and ate all that pie filling (and left the crust) once more. We never really talked during these moments throughout the years that the tradition continued. I remember mock spoon wars, fighting over one certain piece. Sometimes, Bubby would make the spoons dance. Sometimes, he'd fall asleep. Without fail, we'd always leave the pie crust. Eventually, I got too big for him to carry. Eventually, he slipped into dementia and the midnight pie forays stopped.

Eventually, he called me by my mother's name and called my mum "Snacky", his nickname for my Nana.

My Bubby died January 2nd, 1993. He was 86 years old.

I still don't eat the pie crust.

So here's that annual holiday wishlist. I try to vary my gift requests every year but I sort of fail miserably.

1.) I ask this every year and I make a pledge that I will do the same. During the month of December, I ask that each and every one of you comment on everything you read/view and enjoy. Comments are little gifts that inspire the recipients which, in turn, keeps fandom an awesome, productive place. I'm not saying leave a detailed comment but leave a comment telling the author/artist that you enjoyed their work. Give a gift to others and take the minute or two to let an author/artist know you enjoyed their work.

2.) Make a donation of any sort to your local animal shelter. Five dollars is a BFD. For five bucks, my shelter can buy a forty pound bag of dog food from Hill's Science Diet. Forty pounds of food feeds about 50-80 of our dogs. That's right, for five bucks, you can feed at least FIFTY dogs. See why I say five bucks is important?!

3.) Go through your things and purge the stuff you don't use any longer. Donate what you can to local charities. Needs are going up exponentially for all sorts of random shit from half-used bottles of shampoo (In the US, World Care will take them and so will quite a few of the homeless shelters) to coats and blankets. This one won't cost you any more money than the gas to take them to a drop off point. And it'll be a gift to you because you won't need to store that stuff in your house any more. Besides, you hated that shampoo and those sheets never fit your bed right anyway.

4.) I'd love fic and art and icons and music mixes.

5.) A cow. Or geese. Or baby ducklings. Some trees. A water buffalo. Get them here.

6.) Hold the door for someone. Say 'thank you' to the person holding the door for you. I know we rush during the holidays to get gifts and/or to avoid all assholes out there but, srsly, take a second and say 'thank you'. It helps reduce stress for you and the recipient. It's a small moment of happiness.

7.) To be greedy - gift certificates to thinkgeek.com or bestbuy.com

8.) Paid time for my LJ.

9.) Pick a card off any of those "Angel Trees" and buy a pair of pjs or jeans for a little kid for Christmas. Then toss in a stuffed animal or something equally as "frivolous". Because every kid should get something fun during the holidays. Remember how you felt when you opened up a present and saw something fun? Now magnify that by about a billion and you'll see what some of these kids will feel when they get their gift. Nothing beats inspiring a kid to see that the world isn't always about surviving. Sometimes, it's about living.

10.) This Wedge Antilles Figure. Or, well, any Wedge Antilles toy.

If you haven't already, you can give me your address on THIS POST. Everything is screened so it shan't be seen by the world at large. I do not mind shipping overseas so don't let that stop you! I'm already sending to Australia, Britain, Japan and Mexico so the more the merrier! The first batch will be sent tomorrow. However, I have plenty of cards left.

Music to share with you all. These are some of my favorite carols during the Holiday Season.

Emmanuel by Janis Ian. This is a beautiful song. My favorite carol to sing along with, the voices blend perfectly, IMHO.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Loreena McKennit. This is probably the most unique interpretation of this carol I've heard. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen has been a favorite of mine ever since I started singing in elementary school. (Sidenote, I did a Holiday show that I bellydanced to this song, so I adore it!)

I Saw Three Ships by Sting. It's a beautiful and simple song.

Ave Maria by Chris Cornell. Really unique interpretation of this classic.

Darcy the Dragon by Roger Whittaker. I didn't know Roger Whittaker sang other songs than just Christmas until two years ago (clueless, me? naw). For me, it's not Christmas until I hear this song.
Put One Foot in Front of Another - from Santa Claus is Coming to Town. This is just a fun song to sing along with.


On the Holiday Cheer front, it's 64 degrees here. We've decorated the Cacti. Next up is to string some lights on the house and gleefully announce that we're NOT expecting a White Christmas, thank the maker. I don't miss snow or ice or any of that crap.

I shall be heading to Winterhaven, a neighborhood here in Tucson that has the best decorations, on Saturday. On Sunday, it's off to San Xavier del Bac Mission. This Mission, founded in 1700 a.d., decorates for Christmas in a native style due to its placement on the Tohono O'odham Nation's Reservation.

Hello all!

I am jumping on the "Holiday Card Bandwagon" as this sounds fun and cool. Besides, I just don't have all that many people I actually send cards too and I'd love to share my fun and funky cards.

If you would like a card sent to you, I have screened and Flocked this entry. Please reply with your snail mail address.

If you feel more comfortable emailing, feel free to email me at wook77 [at] livejournal.com.

I'm psyched to send and receive! This sounds like mucho fun!

(in honor of the request, I've used my Christmas Icon early)