Christmas Meme

I did this meme last year, but the one circulating this year has more questions to it, so I decided to go ahead and do it again. Courtesy of Robin.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?--Wrapping paper. I just don't like gift bags, though I do use them on occasion. But I don't save the wrapping paper for re-use like my mammaw used to do. What can I say? She raised a family during the Depression.

2. Real or artificial tree?--Artificial. It's what I grew up with. The meaning of Christmas is so much more that what type of tree one has.

3. When do you put up your tree?--The day after Thanksgiving. When I was little, we put up our tree about a week before Christmas. I always begged my Daddy to put it up earlier, but he refused, telling me I'd be tired of it by Christmas. When I got my own home, I started putting it up earlier, and I've never gotten tired of one yet.

4. When do you take the tree down?--That has ranged anywhere from January 1st to almost February. Some years I just can't bear to take it down.

5. Do you like eggnog?--Love it, love it, love it. Made all the more poignant by the fact that I'm allergic to eggs. Fake nog is ok, but it just isn't the same. I still buy egg nog for Cody, and beg him to just let me sniff it. Please? Just a little sniff...

6. Favorite gift received as a child?--Two of them stand out in my mind; my Easy Bake oven and my red, white, and blue football. (That was so I wouldn't get it mixed up with my brother's.)

7. Hardest person to buy for?--This year, everyone. Hard to buy presents without any money. Cody is getting awfully hard to buy for as he gets older. It was so much easier when he just wanted the latest toy.

8. Easiest person to buy for?--Me. Yes, I buy my own Christmas presents, then label them "To Mom From Cody". Snicker.... (If I didn't, I wouldn't get anything!)

9. Do you have a nativity scene?--Several.

10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?--Neither. I get tired of sending out cards and not getting them back. So this year I've decided to dispense with them altogether--except for family.

11. Worst Christmas gift you've ever received?--Hard to say, because I've gotten so many bad ones. The one I'm currently thinking of is silicone cake pans shaped like flowers. I never used them and they sat around collecting dust until I finally donated them to the dojo rummage sale. I'm also calling to mind the cow shaped scrubbie holder...

12. Favorite Christmas movie?--"It's a Wonderful Life", "A Christmas Carol"--the Patrick Stewart version, "The House Without A Christmas Tree", "The Nativity Story". There are just too many good ones out there.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?--It varies. Some years, I hit the after Christmas sales and stock up for the next year. Usually, I start around September. Plus, I knit things all year long, and give them at Christmas.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?--No, I've donated them to rummage sales and what not, but not given them as another Christmas gift.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?--All of it. There are some things I only make at Christmas--snickerdoodles, fudge, sausage balls, etc. My favorite favorite still has to be the turkey.

16. Clear or colored lights on the tree?--Colored, definitely. I think white lights are boring.

14. Favorite Christmas song?--Christmastime, by Michael W. Smith, followed closely by Phillips, Craig and Dean's version of O Come, O Come Emmanuel. And O Come All Ye Faithful. And Hark The Herald Angels Sing...too many good ones to pick just one.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?--Stay at home. I was lucky as a child that both sets of grandparents lived in the same town I did, so we didn't have to go anywhere.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?--Why yes, I can.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?--As a child, we opened them on Christmas Eve. First we went to my father's parents and opened them with that side of the family. After that, my mother's parents would come to our house and we'd open ours there. When we all outgrew Santa (except me, I still haven't) we opened them on Christmas morning. Now, Cody and I go to my cousin's when their schedule permits, and open our own on Christmas morning.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?--People who have let the commercialness of Christmas let them turn bitter toward the holiday. I want to tell them, YOUR Christmas doesn't have to be commercial if you don't want it to. That, people who give their kids underwear or school supplies for a present. As a child, I always got those, and it was such a disappointment. I considered them to be wasted gifts, and would have rather had one less package under the tree.

22. Favorite ornament theme or color?--We don't have a theme to our tree. We have a rather eclectic ornament collection, but they all mean something special to us.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year?--A DeMarcus Ware jersey. Not the cheap Wal-mart version, either. A real one. And Terence Newman, and Jason Witten, and ..oh heck the whole team!

24. Angel on the tree top or a star?--Angel. We had a star when I was growing up, but when I looked for one for my own tree, they all looked too gaudy and flashy. So I went with an angel.

25. Favorite Christmas dinner?--Turkey, sweet potatoes, broccoli salad, squash casserole, strawberry jello salad, pumpkin pie--need I go on?