Holidays

Oh the holidays… How can you not love the holidays. Joy is in the air, the weathers getting cold, Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate is approaching rapidly. Today my family had family baking day which is a tradition we do annually. It occurs on a Sunday in December and we spend at least 6 hours baking cookies, fudge, toffee, basically  any Christmassy dessert you can think of. Although making fudge is one of the most stressful things ever (stirring and keeping a constant watch on the candy thermometer) it is a day where the stress of the holidays goes a way for a little and as a family we can bond and have a good time together. What we end up baking usually ends up as gifts for others which  takes away the relief of finding the perfect gift for someone. I truly do love the holidays and the element of family makes it even more spectacular.

Interviews

This week we had an assignment for English. The task seemed easy, but when I actually thought about it choosing the right person to interview was going to be a task. After a careful thought process I decided who better to interrogate and talk to her about my deepest feelings with then my very own mother. At first I had no idea what type of questions to ask her, do I ask her about her housing situation and relate it back to Mango Street? Do I ask her things I should already know about her like her favorite food, color, holiday? With the help of the StoryCorps Question List I devised a complete list filled with the perfect combination of different types of questions. Conducting the interview was fairly casual, we sat in her bedroom in our pajamas after  Black Friday shopping. As the interview went on the questions felt more and more heartfelt. Towards the end of the interview I asked my mom questions such as advice she had for the future and what she wanted her children to know. Some of the things I learned I would never have known if I had not have interviewed my mom. Some of the things my mom said made me tear up a little bit. So thank you Mr. Ziebarth, thank you Story Corps, and most importantly thank you mom.