I forgot on Friday! Friday Five!

I'll also have a Portuguese post coming...

1. What is a favorite Christmas/Hanukah tradition of yours?
Our family basically only has 1 thing that we do every year - when Grandma was alive, it was Christmas Gathering with EVERYONE at her place. Now that Grandma is not here anymore, it's Christmas Gathering at my home.

2. Do you listen to Christmas music while wrapping/bagging gifts?
Yeah, usually we do. The thing we used to do when CDs were still in use, we had an age old Richard Clayderman Christmas album and it's what we would put on... If we had a working CD player we would do that still. I've got a playlist of Christmas stuff on my iPod and I play it when I set up the speakers outside where we wrap the presents (big table).

3. How soon do you start playing holiday music?
Once we start feeling like Christmas. This year, I'm still not feeling like Christmas. So I'm playing something that feels Christmassy but is not Christmas music.

4. If you could change one thing about the holidays, what would it be?

I'm actually sick of hosting the gathering. There are kids now. Their ages range from 4 to 9. They are boisterous. We have dogs. 4 of them. It's really tiring to host, and make sure the kids are taught how to respect dogs, and make sure the dogs are not overwhelming the guests... then after the party, the cleaning up, the leftover-food-that-tastes-yuck-so-that's-why-there-are-leftovers, washing the dishes, finishing the rest of the food in the followeing 3 or 4 days, receiving crap not so useful presents but you can't give it to other people because there are no birthdays, or other Christmas Parties, etc....

5. Have you been naughty or nice? Remember, Santa is listening.

I haven't done anything outrightly evil, I have a clear conscience of the things I've done, so I believe I could be considered to having been nice. But then again, Santa is judgemental, so I'm not really expecting anything from him either :-P It's funny though, I don't think i've every been given the "Santa Talk" (that I could remember), I've always known he's just a figure. So I dunno. Not so magical to me.

Almoços

No meu trabalho, como estou numa classificação elevada (bem, ainda sou small potato comparado com o meu chefe), eu tenho subsídio de almoço se não vou ao cantina. Normalmente vou ao restaurante que fica mesmo na porta do escritório. É um tal Delicatessen e serve salsichas, sanduíches, pães, e saladas.
Since I reached a certain grade level at work (still a small potato though), I get subsidized for lunch if I don't go to the canteen. Normally I go to the restaurant right outside my office, it's a type of a Deli counter and serves mainly sandwiches, bread, salads, cold cuts, etc...

Adoro o Club Sandwich mas sempre demora muito tempo para preparar, por isso não posso pedir sempre.
I love the Club Sandwich there, but it takes too long to prepare so I can't always have it.

A porção é mesmo justo, porque não tem muito pão, e tem salada. Normalmente eu não ligo o bacon, mas também é muito bom! A salada que vem com este sanduíche é o melhor, acho eu. Será porque vem servido com um molho de salada de sésamo. Também gosto deste prato porque não é servido com patatas fritas.
The portion is just right, there isn't a lot of bread. I normally forget about the bacon, but it's delicious as well!. The salad that comes with it is what I love. It could be because of the sesame dressing. This is also good because it doesn't come with french fries.

Ontém à noite decidi a fazer as unhas sozinha, pois e tratei me das mãos. Para o Natal fui com um cor prateado num dedo. Antes de ir de férias em Janeiro vou ter de ir ao salão de beleza para fazer um manicure própio. Realmente acho que tenho dedos curtos...
And last night I decided to do my nails. For Christmas, I went with one finger with some silver. Before I leave for my holidays in January I need to go get a proper manicure. I really think my fingers are short... :-/