About The River

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Happy December and it is the Hodgepodge

 



Our Christmas cactus is starting to deck the halls, we have a lot of buds on our cactus this season, that always makes me smile.

It is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 

 1. What does it mean to have the 'holiday spirit'? On a scale of 1-10 how is yours this year? (10=off the charts, 1=still looking for it)

I think having the 'holiday spirit' is different for everyone. For me, I get excited for the first day of Advent. This will be year six that my husband and I do a daily Advent reading together. It brings the season all together for me, I am already at a 10!  

 

2. What's your favorite character from a (December) holiday-themed movie, book, or TV special? Tell us why.  

 I do enjoy the movie Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. I laugh every year at Cousin Eddie and many family jokes have come from that movie. 

 

 3. Do you like gingerbread? Are gingerbread houses part of your holiday tradition? 

 I do like gingerbread. 

We have created gingerbread houses in the past, but it is not on our calendar for this season. 

 

4. Much of our vocabulary is determined by where we live or where we grew up. What say you-

sprinkles or jimmies? lightning bugs or fireflies? soda or pop? sneakers, trainers, or tennis shoes? sub, hoagie, grinder, or hero? freeway, highway, or motorway? frosting or icing? sauce or gravy?

 What say me... from Northern Wisconsin...

sprinkles

lightning bugs

soda

tennis shoes

sub

highway

frosting

gravy

 

 5. Share a favorite holiday memory from your childhood. 

 

My sister and I went over to my grandparents to help my grandma decorate for Christmas. Our grandparents lived just over a mile from our family farm. During the winter we could cross country ski our farm fields to get to their house. 

A note to my dear readers, my grandpa had a glass eye. 

My sister and I were busy helping my grandma decorate for Christmas. We took a break for lunch. We were enjoying chicken soup and crackers. My grandpa had a "splash" in his soup. His glass eye had popped out and landed in his soup!

We laughed and laughed and laughed. 

And of course the saying "there is an eye in my soup became our joke."

 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.   

 

Family traditions are the glue of the generations. 

Making Chex Mix is just one of the Christmas traditions we have here at this house.  

My boys have already asked, Mom will you have this and this at Christmas.

 ♥


 

3 comments:

  1. I love the glass eye in the soup story! Your Christmas cactus looks so pretty. Mine has some buds on it so I'm excited. One of the fronds fell off a few weeks ago so I stuck it in some water and those buds are getting bigger so I hope it blooms too. We make Chex MIx too and only at Christmas. I can't wait!

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  2. After you wrote that your grandfather had a glass eye, I was busy trying to figure our if it ended up on the tree, under the tree or where. LOL. I wasn't expecting it to end up in the soup. Great memory and one that I know has been a topic of conversation for years. A lot of your answers on what we say in our neck of the woods are the same as mine.. Wishing you a very enjoyable Wednesday Carla...

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  3. What a cute memory about your grandpa and his glass eye. Chex mix is a great tradition and so yummy. It's not Christmas without the Chex mix. My kids like the Ranch oyster crackers too. They have to be part of Christmas too. Have a great week. Hugs. Kris

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High Fives from Wisconsin!