Wednesday Hodgepodge & A Pouring of My Holiday Heart

Thanks to Joyce for hosting. Here are the questions,

1. Which do you prefer-pretty gift wrap with a bow or a pretty gift bag with/without a bow? What percentage of your holiday gifts are currently (as in right this very minute) wrapped in some form or fashion?

I wrote about my Grinch-ish attitude about Christmas yesterday - check it out.  Personally, I will go with bags because they are reusable.  Gifts bought = 0 there gifts wrapped = 0.

2. What is one item on your Christmas list this year?

Absolutely nothing that I do not already have - (see my rant below).

3. What makes a home?

One part comfort, two parts love.  Mix in a sprinkle of shelter and security.  Stir together to create home.

or

As Pumba elegantly says, "Home is where you rump rests."

4. Motown founder Berry Gordy celebrates his birthday on Hodgepodge Day-November 28th. Are you a fan of the Motown sound? If so, who's your favorite Motown artist and/or song? Here's a list in case you're stuck. 

I do like me some Motown...

5. Red or green-which one is more prevalent in your closet?

Red because it is the one of the colors of...

6. True or false-bacon makes it better? If you answered true, what's your favorite dish made with bacon? 

False.  Bacon can be over done.  There are places it doesn't need to be.  Like when it is clogging my arteries.

7. Share a favorite holiday memory. 

 This is my dad every Christmas now.  Driving in a car with him is pretty funny - lots of double takes.

As for a more specific memory, I always enjoy a Charleston Christmas on the beach...

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

 I do not often mix up meme's but today, I break that rule today with a

Pour Your Heart Out Entry...

entry mixed in.

This has been a good year for me.  I have a happy and healthy family.  I earned tenure and promotion at work.  Heck, I even lost almost 30 pounds.  This run of good fortune though has got me thinking.  What is the key to happiness?  Lately I have been listening to the ads and looking around my house which has lead to to think to myself, does any of this stuff really make me happy?  The answer is no.

Real happiness is found in the people that surround me.  I could be living in a one room hut and be happy with these people.  It is the love and respect of those around me which bear the juiciest fruit of happiness. So why are we so concentrating on stuff during this holiday season?  I have to decorate the house, I have to buy presents, I have to...  No, you and I do not have to.  What we should want to do is spend time with the people we cherish.  That is where the real happiness comes from. I will fully admit I am a Grinch when it comes to the crass commercialism that goes with this season - I believe it is the antithesis of what it should really mean.  So this holiday season, I am concentrating on what I feel is truly important and forgetting what others tell me what should make me happy and worrying about spending my time on things that actually do make me happy.