It's that day of the week you've all been waiting for...Friday! Which means it's time for the Friday Five:
1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?
You know, this is one thing that really irks me is people who believe that their experience is everyone's experience. There's no snow in San Jose, nor is there in Torrance where I grew up, nor is there in Palm Desert where we used to spend Christmas day. It does get "cold" but that depends on your definition of cold. Cold for California, pretty darned nice for other parts of the country. That said, I do enjoy snow unless I have to drive to work in it. Cold I don't particularly like that much.
2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?
I really enjoy my family, and my mom makes a mean Christmas breakfast. But the Christmas after I got married, we stayed in Morgan Hill and spent the day with our good friends Marc and Wendy, and that was really nice as well. I don't really have expectations for a "perfect" Christmas, therefore I'm not disappointed by anything. I just love Christmas overall and there are very few things that can spoil that day for me.
3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?
My family has a few. One is a large Christmas breakfast instead of dinner. We used to get fresh Polish sausage made by my Grandpa. Then for dinner we'd go to Carl's Jr. (fast food). Another tradition is that my mom would buy a Christmas-themed puzzle and we'd set it out on the coffee table. All throughout the month we'd work on the puzzle as a family and we couldn't open presents on Christmas morning until we finished the puzzle. Nowadays we open the puzzle a few days before Christmas and it's a push to finish it, but it's always fun. We also get a new Christmas book every year.
4. Do you do anything to help the needy?
Sometimes. We give throughout the year but usually don't make a special effort over the holidays. I'll also occasionally drop some money in the Salvation Army kettle even though I disagree with some of their discriminatory policies.
5. What one gift would you like for yourself?
A fancy blue diamond--woo hoo! Also a house. Also to get accepted to the grad program of my dreams. You know, just a few small things.