Thursday, November 29, 2007

Friday Five: Grumpy Holiday Edition


Will Smama over at Revgals writes:
Parishioners pushing for carols before you digested your turkey?
Organist refusing to play Advent hymns because he/she already has them planned for Lessons & Carols?
Find yourself reading Luke and thinking of a variety of ways to tell Linus where to stick it? (Lights please.)
Then this quick and easy Friday Five is for you! And for those of you with a more positive attitude, have no fear. I am sure more sacred and reverent Friday Fives will follow.
Please tell us your least favorite/most annoying seasonal....


1) dessert/cookie/family food
lutfisk. Although you can't really call it a family food any more. We only eat it at church suppers.

2) beverage (seasonal beer, eggnog w/ way too much egg and not enough nog, etc...)
Eggnog, if it doesn't have rum in it. I mean, really, what's the point?

3) tradition (church, family, other)
Taking turns opening gifts, one at a time. Takes forever.
Also, the tradition of spending more than you can afford, and the tradition of believing that everything should be "perfect" on Christmas

4) decoration
Any decorative candle in the shape of i.e. a Christmas tree, church, choirboy, etc. once it is half-burned down.
Also, the little church with the electric light inside it.

5) gift (received or given)
I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate me.

BONUS: SONG/CD that makes you want to tell the elves where to stick it.
John Lennon's Merry Christmas (War is Over). Sorry all of you John Lennon fans out there.


Ok, I'm a grump, but I'm going to put up a short list of favorites too:

1. Dessert
lefse. Deserves a post all its own.

2. Beverage
We don't really have a special beverage for Christmas, but I certainly like spiced cider.

3. Tradition
Listening to Bing Crosby's White Christmas Album while decorating the Christmas tree.
Also, I really like the tradition where some churches give their pastor presents (just kidding!)

4. Decoration
the cardboard angel we always put on the top of the tree

5. Gift (received or given)
The year I gave my mom a scarf which exactly matched her coat! It maybe cost $1.50, but I knew she would really like it. (It was the first year I picked out gifts myself.)

BONUS: You haven't lived until you have heard Bing and the Andrews sisters sing Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is coming to town. Really.
Right, Janet?

34 comments:

Elaine (aka...Purple) said...

I so agree on the "perfect" catagory. Makes for some really stressful times. What is lefse?

Diane M. Roth said...

ah, a mystery post for another time... the sublime wonders of lefse. (it's a norwegian thing..)

Diane M. Roth said...

psssst... lefse is a kind of a scandinavian potato pancake, or crepe, rolled up with butter and sugar

zorra said...

Lefse sounds yummy.
We always listen to Messiah and drink eggnog (perhaps with a dash of brandy, not rum)while we decorate the tree.
The Scientist also likes to play a Tennessee Ernie Ford Christmas album that is a relic from his childhood. I am somewhat less enamored of that.

Diane M. Roth said...

zorra -- I like your tradition... maybe not the Tennessee Ernie Ford part...

Iris said...

I hear you on the perfection part, but I like taking turns opening presents. but I'm weird.

Processing Counselor said...

I liked that you posted your favorites, too. I did slip in a few of mine.

Sally said...

with you on the spending gripes- too much and too much expectation of perfection leaves us with unrealistic expectations- all mad!!!

Unknown said...

Lutefisk? You have us all beat!

Diane M. Roth said...

iris -- I agree with taking turns IN THEORY -- in practice usually doesn't work out as well...

will smama said...

Pass the lutfisk and eggnog! You knocked it out of the park on the traditions - well said.

My guess (hope) is that some of our favorite things and the blessings of this time of year will be the subject of future December FF's.

Thanks for playing!

Law+Gospel said...

While you are playing, come over to my place- I tagged you for a Christmas 3 x 3 meme!

Di said...

It's funny, what you said about spending too much and everything having to be perfect reminded me of how people handle weddings these days. I wonder what makes us do this?

Diane M. Roth said...

yeah...weddings...mrs. m, you have a point!

chartreuseova said...

We have a special angel topper too...made of cornhusk and purchased the year we married at a going out of business sale (for about 23 cents). This would be our 14th year of using it...but I haven't found it yet and it is making me grumpy.

RevHRod said...

Ah, lefse! I can hardly wait to go to my mother's and get some! Best eaten warm off the griddle. And I DON'T WANT SUGAR IN MY LEFSE.

I tried to make lefse once. My mother said, "The recipe is simple, but it's really hard to make." Truer words were never spoken. But it's the best thing to do with leftover mashed potatoes. God bless my Norwegian ancestors!

Nice play!

DogBlogger said...

Oooh, I want to try lefse some time!

RevDrKate said...

Oh lefse, one of the best things about Christmas for sure. Thanks for the balance on favorite things! Funny how we have our do likes and don'ts. One of my prize possessions is a plastic church with lights inside, but because it has memories, not the thing itself...this season is so about that...what things are hoooked to...that sounds like a post in the making. Great play!

Diane M. Roth said...

revhrod -- the sugar in lefse things goes back a LONG way in my family.
revdrkate -- you are right about the memories and what they represent.

Jules said...

Amen on the eggnog ,sister!

Ah, lutefisk and lefse! Another person who has spent time in the frozen north?

j said...

Totally with you on the traditions.

LutheranChik said...

Re the one-gift-at-a-time present opening...last Christmas I was at a family affair where we all had to do this, even with our stocking stuffers. By the beginning of the second HOUR of this I was ready to ask someone to shoot me and put me out of my misery.

Sr. Heather said...

Yay! I wasn't the only one who couldn't leave it completely grumpy! :-) The Elvis Blue Christmas tends to get on my last nerve, too. I remember working retail a couple years, and it was in the CD that our home office had sent us to play all day long. Gawd, but I hated that song, by about the fifth of December!

Diane M. Roth said...

lutheranchik -- plus it's really embarrassing when the kids get 18 presents and the grandparents get 3.

hedwyg... it was a great friday five, because I just started free associating, and some of the things were grumpy and some, just funny...

Barbara B. said...

I agree -- Eggnog without rum? Yikes! It's barely tolerable WITH rum!

Jan said...

Diane, fun to see polar opposites! Wonder who does like egg nog, except for my daughter?

Dorcas (aka SingingOwl) said...

Lutefisk! Oh, lordy yes! I forgot that one. I skip it and eat the Swedish meatballs instead!

Queen Mum said...

I have a plastic church with a light that I really like....It's all the other churches that people have given us that I am sick and tired of!

Unknown said...

I agree with lutefisk, I dont see how people eat it, but the lefse is always good. Wacky how that goes, huh?

Terri said...

interesting, the traditions, never had lefse or lutefish...

leah said...

but diane! your #2! the rum is what ruins, wrecks, adulterates, annihilates, etc. the wonderfulness of the eggnog! and thanks for your list of faves; i need to do one of those, too. AWESOME PLAY!

RevAnne said...

Great play. Too true on the perfect thing...lefse sounds wonderful!

Diane M. Roth said...

sorry leah sophia, but the best eggnog I ever had was from the JOy of Cooking cookbook, a home made recipe we made in Japan on christmas eve after church, and it had Lots of rum...

Anonymous said...

Never tried lutefisk, nor do I have any inclination to. It reminds me of an episode of King of the Hill :)