Christmas Eve

    Strange enough, there aren't really any 'traditions' or 'customs' in my family, but...there are a couple. Christmas still is not my favorite holiday for some reasons, but there are a couple things associated with it that I do love. Every year my brother and I get a stuffed animal in our stocking. Originally it was to keep us out of our other presents...but somehow it jsut became something consistent that really can't be changed and, if it did, it would be awful. Always we wake up early, go empty our stocking,s put everything back, but take our stuffed animal with us back to bed, no matter how old we get. Strange, maybe, but eh. And then there's something my brother and I haven't done since a while which is sleep in the same room so the one who wakes first can wake the other up, but we're...tweaking it some this year even though we haven't done said 'tradition' in a while. Essentially we're going to stay up for a bit and play video games :P
    I find myself mostly wanting Christmas to get here so that my family can open their gifts more than myself opening mine. I love to give things to people, especially when i know they'll like whatever, more than I like receiving things. Okay, yes, I like to get gifts, too, who doesn't? But my favorite part of this season is the giving. So, on that note, I hope whatever gifts are received are enjoyed as much as the knowledge that what you gave made someone happy.
    (Oh, yes, I'm looking forward to tomorrow also cause I'm curious and someone has given me some hints that haven't formed much of an idea in my head, only tantalized me further. You know who you are and you should know I'm all bouncy excited :P )

I wasn't trying to persuade Rudolph to do anything. I'm on the nice list *nods*

Giving

    As I sit here more or less having my dog force me to pet him by laying all over me with pitiful looking eyes and trying to cover my keyboard with a paw, I'm somehow thinking of something a friend and I talked, albeit briefly, about. Sure there was more to the conversation and this bit was really only his words then my short response before moving on, but it was still there.Giving is the real wonderful part of gifts. I mean, like anyone, I like to get things from people and seeing that they know enough about me to know what I may want, but...giving is..different. Okay, I don't really volunteer or anything like that, but that doesn't lessen the feeling of seeing how happy something you give to someone makes them. Christmas, while not my favorite holiday for a few reasons, is a perfect time to do that. I love seeing how people are glad to see something I either made them or bought because it called to me, assuming I have the money. Yes, I include my dog in this even though he has as much fun with the wrapping paper as the actual toy :P (It's cute to watch *shrugs*)
    Even in SL terms...text reactions are good, too. Sure text makes it a bit easier to be untruthful, but I really doubt that would happen...and I like to think that I, personally, have a good feel of how someone is meaning their words, even though a few times do conflict with that hope. I am broke, so I can't really get something 'real' for those people, but I did do something for someone that works around that. Small idea, maybe, but an idea that I think was pretty creative considering the confines I was working within and I know that the person who I sent it, more or less, to liked it well enough.
    I'm one of those who don't care if I don't 'get' anything, so long as others I care about do. I like those I care about to have a bit of happiness, if only for a second, as they see something nice. And, admittedly, that makes me impatient and want to give someone their gift right away, but I'm good...well, if you don't count today, that is. But today's...sorta an exception? I think...maybe...
    My point remains: more people need to focus on the giving bit of holidays instead of the receiving. Hell, that might help withe decreasing the crime rate that increases around this time of year. Or at least have it reversed so that people are stealing to give a gift? I don't know, I'm just rambling now and thinking and...mer. Well, in anycase, happy early holidays!

Ice and Snow

   

 Ice and snow abound,

       a lonely heart to match.

    Falling,

       falling,

         falling,

           softly snow lands on hair and cheeks.

    No arms to wrap around to melt the cold away,

        no soft smiles directed to me.

    Hidden tears freeze on my cheeks.

    

Cold, alone,

        but I did learn to accept.

    All is well so long as I keep silent,

       as speaking only breaks.

    Frosted skin and hair,

       only glimpse to the protective strength without

           and the bleeding heart within.

 
 
 

Winter

How it should look here, since colors keep going all funky.

     So, it's winter...well, it'll be officially winter sooner or later, but most places now feel winter. Even where I live, we're feeling winter if you don't count today where it was around 70F. But since the temperature has dropped dramatically again (probably pining for attention) and I've managed to get some pics done, I thought to do Strawberry Singh's winter season challenge. Now on wards to questions!

1. What is the December/Winter season like where you live? Hm...moody 'bout sums it up. As mentioned before, it was 70 today, 65 yesterday, and generally a warm week. And now it's back to 30, or will be. There's also never any snow, either too warm or too cold...like there must be some forcefield that keeps snow away, since you can watch on radars as snow goes around my city. But it's nice when there is actually snow that sticks and is worth something.
2. When you think of winter, what's the first thing that pops into your head? Eggnog, warm apple cider, and cold. Usually around Thanksgiving there is eggnog in the house and last through most of winter, new cartons obviously. Cider is only a recent thing, but it's become tied as eggnog to my winters, probably the two things I look forward to the most. Cold on the other hand...well...
3. Have you ever played any extreme winter sports? Unless sledding suddenly counts, no. Never been in a place with enough snow to actually do anything...and, even then, I'd stick to sledding...or cozying up by a fire. Yea, daredevil, totally. :P
4. What do you like most about this season? Snow when I get it. My philosophy is that it shouldn't be cold unless it's snowing, otherwise cold is pointless and hibernating should become a thing. So...definitely snow is my favorite bit since there's much to do with it, and the cold then has some reason.
5. Do you celebrate Christmas, Hannukkah, Kwanzaa or another holiday during this time of year? Christmas, yes. My Christmases have always been small, but always nice. I still remember my brother and I, once we weren't living in the same rooms as each other but were still cute and adorable, alternating years we'd sleep in each other's rooms. Then we'd wake up much too early, go to the tree which looked so...magical with the lights blinking in the dark and the presents underneath. We were good children so we didn't open the presents...we just raided our stockings. Always there was a stuffed animal in them, so, after searching the stockings and refilling them, we'd go back to whichever room with out new stuffed animal and sleep. Or we'd go into our parent's room and wake them up. So, good memories and hopefully there will be more.

   

Why this one isn't color-twisted, no idea.

    Image above? Illustration of forcefield that keeps snow away :P Oh, yea, maybe not the most wintery, but that's how my winters look for the most part, other than the obviously missing laptop, that is. But, hey, reading is good for you, so it balances out somewhat...I hope at least.

    But here's hoping to snow (for those who lack it) and a wonderful winter for all of y'all!

The Little Things

    The little things always have the most impact, if you ask me. The little things that just add some adorableness to a day and help it end on a good note. Now, I go to sleep after the few who I actually consider friends *curses timezones* so my day doesn't always end with a good night that, somehow, has become a sort of...custom almost, unless I go to bed early, that is or someone goes to bed really late. That's actually one of those little things that help with days ending nicely...cause...I don't know. It's just one of those things that, if it suddenly stopped, I'd miss it. Strange, maybe, but, eh...that's how it is.
    Today I didn't go to bed early, obviously, but I went looking at some places I heard of and...I found some things that just made me smile for some reason. I love when people take time with their sims, even if that sim is mainly for a store. The whole sim is just...winter-y and adorable and...I don't know, I just love it.

It's a squirrel! With a nut!

    Maybe I'm easily entertained, but the squirrel is just...aww... And then something else caught my easily attracted eye...

    Looks so sad...but somehow forced me to take a pic of it. Of course there was more, too...

    Ice-skating bears. Yep, exactly. And there's more roaming on the ice, too. :D
    I'll admit it, I went to this sim, not only because some time back I wanted to go look (and didn't even realize it was a store) but because I wanted to check out the Advent hunt on the sim. A free hunt, mind you, which just had me do it all the more. And I'm glad I did, the sim is just so...I just love it. I'm going to have to go back and look around the whole thing, along with another sim I really like sometime. It's nice to find these little unexpected things, a nice start to December I do think....though I'm somehow more interested in the 3rd than 1st for some reasons.

    While I highly doubt anyone really reads this...well, other than one person, that is. Either way, here's the SLurl to Sway's, who's creations look just as cute as her sim :)