pic by: Chase N. :http://www.flickr.com/photos/allaboutchase/

The Happy Hour Discussion Question this week is:

What’s your favorite place to eat or drink in Vegas??

I am IN Vegas, so this question is relevant. I am especially interested this trip in restaurants on the Strip where I can walk. No car this time.

My favorite restaurant in Vegas and perhaps the whole world is Rosemary’s, however it is way off the strip, so we won’t be going this time.

What’s yours?

pic by: chop1n http://www.flickr.com/photos/chop1n/

The Happy Hour Discussion Question this week is:

What do you like about winter?

Real winter is upon us. December is about Christmas. February is about Valentine’s Day. January is really just about winter.

I did not ask “Do you like winter,’ because too many people might say no. You have to like something about winter, even if it’s only that it comes before spring.

Winter is my 2nd favorite season because there is less light. I have a light aversion and the world seems a little too bright to me. I welcome short days and cozy nights by lamp or firelight. I am also a big lover of snow. Granted it is not my job to shovel or remove it, so that might change my opinion on it, but since I get to just enjoy its beauty, I look forward to it.

What do you like about winter? Hot cocoa? Flannel sheets?

High heels or slippers? Little black dress or jeans? The Happy Hour discussion question this week is:

Do you prefer to celebrate New Year’s Eve at home or out somewhere and why?

I cannot choose, I cannot choose. I just love to be anywhere where there are people I love, home or out. The only stipulation is that wherever it is, it can’t be too loud because that gets in the way of conversation.

To start the discussion at Happy Hour this season:

What’s your favorite Christmas Movie?

David’s is Die Hard. He needs professional help.

Jessica loves A Charlie Brown Christmas. (me, too) She is anti Grinch. He scares her even now! I love the Who’s down in Whoville holding hands and singing.

Mine is Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby. It’s WAY better than White Christmas and its being in black and white really makes me feel nostalgic!

What’s yours?

To start the conversation this week at Happy Hour:

What is your favorite Christmas Carol?

Mine is Carol of the Bells because nothing sounds better than a choir singing this a cappella. The structure of the different parts is just incredibly moving and appealing.

However a close second is O Holy Night because that’s the exact reaction one would have when viewing the Savior of the world!

What about you??

After an unfortunate accident, (by me) we needed to get a new dog, so here he is!

He is a Shih Tzu and weighs 3lbs 1oz at 8 weeks old. This is my husband’s favorite breed of dog, so it is mine, too! Shih Tzus are very friendly and companionable. They have Napoleonic Complexes and actually think they are big, so they will try to protect you from bears and robbers, but they merely serve as a distraction, alas a cute one!

David likes them because they will sit on his lab all day and they are very cuddly.

I like them because they don’t shed, and because I like David.

His name is Remington, Remi for short.

So the Happy Hour Discussion question is: Which dog breed is your favorite and why?

In keeping with Goat Week, the Happy Hour Discussion Question must be:

If you could have any farm animal, which would you choose?

David would choose a little lamb. He thinks they are cute. Also he can make lamb noises because he spent a couple of summers working on a ranch that had sheep and has experience in the area. This ability makes him feel manly.

It’s Goat Week on Happy Hour Mary! So my choice, of course is a GOAT! I think they are so cute, not too cuddly, like to butt you to show affection (just like me) and make for great cheese! Don’t tell any cute goats, but I did eat BBQed goat once, but it was in Texas and so that doesn’t count. They BBQ everything! My neighbor and I are convinced that we should get a goat and share it between us!! I will let you know if that EVER happens!

What about you? Chickens? Pigs? (bacon) Moo Cows?

go here to donate a goat through World Vision!!! and REALLY make this goat week! http://tinyurl.com/nzg56r

No surprise, the Happy Hour Discussion Question of the week is:

What Is One Thing You Are Thankful For?

I ask it this way because I HATE the question: What are you most thankful for. As if as soon as you speak, you will not think of something else and have to say that too! We all have a plethora of things to be thankful for and I am sure when I hear you answer, it will open up a whole new area that I forgot about that I am thankful for, also. And then I would have change my answer and this could go on all night! So the pressure is off. Just pick one thing!

Jess says she is thankful that she lives in a family that puts up with all the stupid mistakes she makes and yet still accepts and loves her. (she has no idea how delightful she is, mostly)

David said he was thankful for me. This is hard to believe seeing that I killed his faithful companion and best friend, our dog, Beau, this past week with my car. It is an unbelievable act of forgiveness that he could be thankful for me.

I, not being a huge dog lover, will say that I am thankful for the new puppy that we will pick up on December 8th. (tiny Shih Tzu) Thankful that David and Jess already love him and are preparing a place for him. Thankful that my crime can be somewhat remedied. Now if only we could name him.

And what about you?

Everyone has a favorite season, but what about a least favorite time? Sometimes it’s easier to have an opinion on what you don’t like. The Happy Hour discussion question this week is:

Which Is Your Least Favorite Month?

David doesn’t like February. January’s okay, because of our anniversary (how sweet) and March is okay only because of the promise of summer. February just seems boring.

My friend, Andrea, hates December. When she said that I thought I had misheard, but then I remembered that she has 9 children.

My least favorite month is August. It feels unbearably hot but without the fun of Independence Day. And it feels like a fake month. You think it’s summer but school keeps starting earlier and earlier and about halfway through, you keep thinking it must be September. And then I just can’t WAIT until September because it cools off and means the beginning of Autumn, the greatest season of all. I just try to live through August every year.

What about you?

Children’s books have a lasting and life changing effect on us. They shape our view of the world and our place in it. I don’t want anyone to cry during Happy Hour, but you might be surprised how passionate people are about their reading history.

What Was Your Favorite Children’s Book Growing Up?

David’s favorite was Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak because the young boy was mischievous and so was he! Wait, he still is.

I can’t pick! I can’t pick! There are so many that were influential. But I am going to say, When We Were Very Young but A.A. Milne. It is a poetry book for kids that is full of the weirdest English word pictures and topics. I’m not sure why this was so comforting to me because it was strange. In one of the poems, a kid goes missing and they never hear from him again. Maybe I grew up in a world that seemed pretty secure, so I could afford to love unsafe story books?

What about you? Madeline? Old Yeller? Curious George? The Grinch?