20-odd Things about My Christmas!

There's another of those Christmas question/answer thingies going around. I saw it at http://www.newfie-girl.blogspot.com/. So, I figured I'd join in the "fun"...

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I can't say that I've ever tried egg nog. I'm sorry, but the idea of anything relating to eggs in a DRINK, just kinda grosses me out! Hot chocolate, on the other hand, is everything good in a mug. My favourite? Second Cup's with whip cream on top OR, at home, I use Carnation Rich made with milk...yum!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? My goodness, of course they are wrapped! The only time I've ever seen presents left unwrapped under the tree is AFTER Christmas morning.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Our house has red and white lights outside. And our tree has coloured lights. I really love white lights, I think they look very elegant especially on a tree trimmed in metallics, but I don't want to buy a new set when mine are still perfectly fine.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. We used to do that at my old work...got fairly interesting on times. And not always good interesting either!

5. When do you put your decorations up? I love Christmas decorations and think they look absolutely gorgeous but I'm terrible at putting them up around our house. We cut our REAL (for all you fakers out there!) tree just a couple of days ago. It's up with lights on but that's just about it right now. Everything else is still sitting in bins cluttering the hallway. Can someone come and decorate for me?

6. What is your favorite Christmas dish? My husband makes the most delicious potato cakes with our turkey dinner - those are definitely my fav!! And I'm all for the desserts after dinner, of course!

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? At the time, it wasn't a favourite at all! My parents would always make us wait...ugh!... in extreme suspense on Christmas morning to open our presents. We would wake up super excited and they would tell us to stay in our rooms until dad had lit the fire, until mom got her housecoat on and turned the lights on the tree, until my little brother was awakened, until we read the Christmas story from the bible, until we said a prayer of thanks for all our wonderful gifts...and then we could rip into our presents! Which, by that point, we literally did! It seemed like torture at the time but now, I know they did it to make everything that much more exciting and to try and bring some focus on the true meaning of the day.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was just a little girl, about 6 or 7, I'd say, and I had my suspicions about the role my parents played as Santa. My sister and I still shared a bedroom at the time and we were awake and giggling on Christmas Eve after we were supposed to be sleeping. And I decided to sneak out of the room to investigate the noise coming from the living room. And there were my PARENTS...gasp! stacking gifts under the tree. They saw me and drove me back to bed, my suspicions confirmed.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Jamie's family always had that tradition but not mine. And because Jamie is such a huge kid when it comes to getting presents, I absolutely refuse to accept the tradition. I much prefer the joy of making him wait in agony (must have learned something from my parents about that).

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I wouldn't say that I hate it, per se. However, I much prefer the warmth of summer. Or, the warmth of inside on a snowed-in day. If it were up to me, we would have beautiful snow falling on Christmas Eve and by boxing day, it would be all gone again.

12. Can you ice skate? As a kid, we used to skate on the bay when it froze over. No joke! Those were the days! And there I go aging myself again! After the arrival of our arena, skating kinda lost its charm. We went every year for a family skate and our school booked skating for a couple of gym classes too. And I have to say I was pretty darn good. I could never skate on figures, like a lady, but preferred "hockey" skates, skidding to a stop, ice spraying everywhere, like a boy. However, the last time I skated, many years ago, with my friend Vicki, I could barely stand up anymore, and spent most of my time crashing into the boards. They said it was like riding a bike...they lied!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I was a very fortunate child and got lots of fabulous gifts for Christmas. My most memorable was probably the year I got a plane ticket to fly to Ontario. I was 17, my sister (only 22 herself) had just left her husband and couldn't get off work to come home. So I asked my parents for a plane ticket to spend the holidays with her. I didn't get many presents otherwise but I'll never forget waking up Christmas morning, just my sister and I, sitting cross-legged by the tree in the tiny living room of her basement apartment, and opening our gifts together. That was a truly wonderful Christmas for me.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? With a family of my own now, I realize so much more the importance of family at Christmas. The gifts are fantastic, the chocolate is FANTASTIC, the meals are fantastic. But without such a wonderful family to share it with, what would be the point? And without the birth of Jesus in a manger thousands of years ago, born to become our saviour, we would have no Christmas, no joy, to celebrate. And so I try to keep the meaning of Christmas real in my heart despite also enjoying Santa and the lights and the hoop-la this time of year brings.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? I love the abundance of cookies, cookies, and more cookies. Cookies with chocolate chips, cookies dipped in chocoate, cookies layered with chocolate. Oh How I LOVE cookies!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? As stated above in the excruciating tale of my parents making us wait through the Christmas story, that has now become one of my favourite traditions I share with my little girl. But instead of reading "and it came to pass..." from the KJV Bible, we read one of Sarah's books about the nativity, so it's easier for her to understand. Also, every year I bring out the old record-playing stereo (handed down to me from my parents) and listen to Christmas records over and over and over. Love that! Always have!

17. What tops your tree? An angel. My tree is all angels.

18. Which do you prefer - Giving or Receiving? The selfish part of me immediately says "receiving"! Terrible, terrible, selfish me! I'm just being honest, I do love opening my own Christmas presents. But I do so love to buy things for my family too. I've always been the one to get the extra list from my mom and my grandmother and my dad to pick up extra things for everyone else. And I've always really enjoyed searching out the perfect item for everyone. I try to keep in mind little things they may have mentioned throughout the year to buy for a nice surprise. When my sister had her kids, it became even more fun to buy gifts. And now, with our own little girl, it's that much more fun all over again!

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? I'm mediocre on the candy canes. I could take 'em or leave 'em...so I usually just leave 'em.

20 Favorite Christmas Show? I know it's new and not traditional at all but I love love love "Elf"...Buddy is awesome! hehe! Cracks me up! And I also really love the old cartoon version of "The Grinch" and try to make a point of watching it every year. But my FAVOURITE of all time is probably the old black and white version of "A Christmas Carol".

21. Saddest Christmas Song? Sad Christmas songs drive me crazy. I understand there are losses that are most felt this time of year. But hearing Elvis's "Blue Christmas" just makes it so much worse! I swear, listening to a tune like that over and over alone in your living room could make you want to share Elvis's fate!

22. What is your favorite Christmas Song? This year I love Chris Tomlin's "Glory in the Highest" CD because it has so many traditional carols on it, performed in a more up-to-date way. But in my usual tradition, my favourite is bringing out the old stereo and cranking Charlie Pride and The Smurfs Christmas. And who can forget, "There was my mommy in her nightgown, she was jumping all around, twisting with old Santa Claus...his belly kept a shakin', Mommy kept a makin' jokes about the looks in his eyes...I'll make a little bet, I'll never forget, Momma twistin' with Santa that night". You should see Sarah and I dancing around to that! (Jamie thinks we're crazy!) It's Awesome!

Only ONE WEEK to Christmas Day!! Yay!!