…is waking up on the day your parents and auntie are due to arrive, knowing you’re completely not ready for them to do so. You pull your laptop into bed with you for your morning email fix, and what to your wondering eyes does appear? No, not a sleigh, but a letter, your first one, from a soldier you ‘adopted.’

And he’s apologizing for not writing back sooner.

As if responding to email from strangers is the first thing on someone’s mind when they’re stationed an hour outside Baghdad.

I haven’t even had coffee yet, and I’m smiling.

Happy Thursday, everyone.

It’s all Dauna‘s fault. She mentioned this game/thing called Weffriddles in her blog, and I managed to avoid it for several days…browsed the first page than got distracted. But then tonight I lingered. And played.

And the chili sort of became “smoked chili.”

And I’m now on level 32.

And yeah, it’s all Dauna’s fault.
And YOU should join the insanity.

I’ve become overwhelmingly busy over the last two days, and expect this only to increase. Therefore, I offer the remaining six questions, the first of which should have been posted today. Feel free to pick and choose from them, spread them out, or answer them all at once. And thank you to everyone who participated.

Question 13:
You’ve been chosen to host a sensational Christmas/Holiday celebration on TV. What three guests (living or deceased) would you have on the show to make it the best special EVER?

Question 14:
Suppose you have a 50-gallon aquarium in your home. How will you creatively decorate it for the fish this holiday season?

Question 15:
Other than “jolly,” in your opinion, what word(s) would best complete the following phrase, ” ‘Tis the season to be…” ?

Question 16:
What is your favorite Christmas / holiday sound?

Question 17:
When you think of the holiday season in New York City, what particular scene or image do you picture first?

Question 18:
What do you typically do the day after Christmas?

Welcome to the December Question of the Day. Please post your answer in your own journal or blog, and comment here.

Question #12:
What aspect of preparing for Christmas do you like the most?

Welcome to the December Question of the Day. Please post your answer in your own journal or blog, and comment here.

Question #11:
During the holiday season, what specific aspect of being a young child do you miss the most?

Welcome to the December Question of the Day. Please post your answer in your own journal or blog, and comment here.

Late, (and also paraphrased) because yours truly has been in an antihistamine induced haze:

Question #10:
If you had to receive the same gift year after year, what would it be and why?

Welcome to the December Question of the Day. Please post your answer in your own journal or blog, and comment here.

Question #9:
If you were going to write an editorial column for your city’s newspaper covering any Christmas (or other winter holiday) topic of your choice, what would you write about?

I’ve been restless and antsy lately. Changing perspectives, shifting paradigms. Rob has nailed it again:

Your face alternately contorts with strain and breaks into beatific grins. Your body language careens from garbled jargon to melodic poetry. Your clothes make a fool of you one day and show off your inner beauty the next. Are you becoming bi-polar? Probably not. The more likely explanation is that you’re being convulsed by growing pains that are killing off bad old habits as fast as they’re creating interesting new ones. This is one of those times when you should be proud to wear a badge that says “hurts so good.”

Welcome to the December Question of the Day. Please post your answer in your own journal or blog, and comment here.

Question #8:
(Paraphrased because the book is upstairs, and bed is warm.) If there is one person whom you haven’t been in contact with in a while, and chose to get in touch with over the holidays, who would it be, and how would you start the conversation?

Welcome to the December Question of the Day. Please post your answer in your own journal or blog, and comment here.

Question #7:
What is one thing you’ve always wanted to do during the holiday season, but haven’t done thus far?