Random Dozen of Christmas

Thank you once again to Lidna at 2nd Cup of Coffee because she hosts this fun meme. If you want to participate in this very elite and special group, go to Linda's blog by clicking above. Copy and paste the questions into your own blog. Answer them. Post. Link to Linda. Go visit the other people who have linked. Comment (nicely) on their answers. No stress!

1. Which physical trait do you now accept--maybe not love, but accept--and no longer feel extremely self-conscious about? My glasses. For years I wore contacts, but now, I'm perfectly content with the glasses. I can see, and that's the important part.

2. This week Meredith Baxter Birney, best known as the mom on the favorite 80s

sitcom "Family Ties" came out of the closet, which led me to formulate this question:

Who do you think is/was the best TV mom? Mrs. Cunningham on Happy Days.

3. Do you speak any foreign languages? Are there any you'd like to learn? A smattering of Spanish and German, but only in the present tense. Yes, I'd like to be more proficient in both.

4. Who is your personal hero? I don't really have personal heroes. If I had to choose one, it might be the great airman, Billy Mitchell. Look him up Or maybe the British Flying Officer Douglas Bader. The Germans had to threaten to take away his artificial legs to stop him from escaping from the POW camps. No, really! See it here. I just admire people who persevere doing the right thing, sometimes at great personal cost.

5. What is one holiday food that you find extremely difficult to resist over-indulging in? Cookies. Especially with icing on them. I just tried a new recipe of Cardamom cookies. Yum! Let me know in the comments if you want the recipe!

6. Tell me about a Christmas decoration that has special meaning or sentimental value. In first grade, my son made a creche with little clothespin people, fancy beads for the gifts, and baby Jesus was a little peg doll wrapped in a cloth and lying in a manger made from a cardboard jewelry box. I get a lumpy throat each year when I take it out. Can you see the shepherds with their pipe cleaner hooks? There's an angel on top who was made with doily wings. The whole thing is just adorable. He's in 7th grade now so we've gotten a lot of mileage out of this thing!

7. How do you feel about snow? Love it if we don't have to go anywhere!

8. On average, how many hours of sleep do you get each night? Not that I'm jealous of any number over three or anything. Seven. I can't function otherwise.

9. Tell me about your first crush. I was very aware very early that boys were to be sighed over, so I think the year I was the kindergarten princess, I probably had a crush on the prince...whoever he was. The first I can remember is a boy named Nestor. He was in my class in 3rd or 4th grade. He was from Brazil and was so very cool.

10. You're stuck in a room for 2 hours with only a chalkboard and chalk. What will you write/draw? I think I'd fill the chalkboard with a mass of stick figures playing on a playground. I used to do that in the margins of my schoolwork.

11. Do you dress for the current temp or for the day's forecast? I wear what's clean and goes together and I'm often surprised by the weather!

12. Favorite Christmas movie is? Claymation Christmas. It's not really a movie, but it's great anyway. Who can resist the camels wearing tennis shoes and singing We Three Kings?