The Holidays According To Me

A Holiday Questionnaire

1.Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Choc- always. My mom used to make the best hot chocolate. When I’m visiting her in the winter I still ask her to make it for me. Mothers touch and all that. I make the real stuff at home too. Swiss Miss can't compare. There’s something so comforting about wrapping your hands around a steaming mug of cocoa and taking that first smooth, chocolaty taste.
Oh, and I know this isn’t an option but I’m making it one. Candy Cane Lane tea is good too. So yummy!
2.Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?Wrapped…it’s much more fun that way. Where’s the fun in unwrapped gifts? Besides, I love the look of presents under the tree, wrapped in different colored paper with ribbons and bows.
3. Colored lights on house/tree or white? This is a quandary for me. I like both. I love the elegance of all white but then, I love the fun and festivity of colored lights with a variety of brightly colored ornaments.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes... and it gets used. ;)
5.When do you put your decorations up? Normally in the days following Thanksgiving, but this year it was a little later than usual. Mostly because I had to dig them out of the closet of doom.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Hmmm, I guess I’d have to say duck. Most of the other dishes that are traditional in our family are just Thanksgiving repeats, but V and I have made it a tradition to have duck for our Christmas meal. That’s the only time of year we get it so I live it up!
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Any Christmas spent with my grandparents.
8.When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I never believed he was real. I always got presents from “Santa” but I was well aware of the fact that they were just other presents from my family.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was a kid we did but we don’t now. I much prefer opening them all on Christmas morning because if I open one gift on Christmas Eve, I don’t wanna stop there. I’m greedy.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Since we only have a small tree it’s decorated with white lights, gold garland and red bows. We have once ornament on it that is almost as big as the tree but it has to be there. It’s the ornament we got our first Christmas. I’d love to put more ornaments on but if I did, the thing would topple over.When we get a house I will have a real tree, not a fake one, and it will probably be decorated with colorful lights and random ornaments that I’ve collected through the years, some of which are very special to me for different reasons. There will be pretty ribbon and probably candy canes that won’t stay on very long because V will pick them off one by one until they are gone.
11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Love it if I can stay inside and cuddle up with a hot beverage and my man. If I have to go out, it’s not my favorite thing. But it is very pretty and there’s something very peaceful about a fresh blanket of snow on the ground.
12. Can you ice skate? No, unless the object is to spend most of the time scooting along on your backside.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My favorite gift was V. We met the first of December and that Christmas was wonderful. This year, my favorite gift was being able to see LeAnn and her family in Washington and spending time with not only them, but V’s family. Don’t ask me what my favorite non-human gift is, I have been so blessed and anything I have received I have loved because it means someone took the time to get me something, wrap it up and give it in love.
14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? The whole holiday experience is meaningful to me.
I love being with friends and family, sharing in the celebrations with parties, music and lots of food. I enjoy the special church events, nights curled up watching the Christmas lights sparkle while carols waft through the air, putting up decorations that bring back special memories.
I love the baking, the excitement in the air, traditions and the shopping!
I love the special type of worship that comes along with this season as we are reminded of what the birth of Jesus really means and what we have because of it.
I love the thought that Christmas is the fulfillment of prophecies and promises from so many years past to a hurting and lost people that were completed and wrapped up in a tiny babe. And the wonder and glorious praise that was triumphantly shouted by the host of angels as they announced this birth, not only to the shepherds in the field, but to the world.
I just love the whole miracle of Christmas and the fact that the birth of one tiny Baby gives me the eternal hope I have.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? You name it, it’s my favorite.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Listening to the Messiah. I sometimes complain because it gets played so much at our house but I do love it. That and the Amoeba Christmas.
17. What tops your Christmas tree? A gold star
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Both! I love finding the perfect gift for someone, wrapping it up and waiting to see the smile on their face when they unwrap it but I like getting things too. It’s always interesting to see how gifts reflect the personality of the giver or to get something that really makes me smile.
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Well, I have several so here are a few in no particular order.
*O Holy Night
*O Come, O Come Emmanuel
*What Child Is This?
* Silent Night
*Welcome To Our World
20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck? Yum!
Here’s A little candy cane trick I learned from LeAnn that has become a special treat for me- thanks deary.
One cup of coffee, with hot cocoa to taste and a crushed up candy cane stirred in, topped off with a bit of whipped cream. Double Yum!
21. What do you want for Christmas? I’ve already got what I want. Yeah, I know it’s not Christmas yet, but V and I went to Frankenmuth and got what we wanted early. I got a complete set of corelle wear dishes. Now I match! He didn’t want to get it without me because I needed to pick out the pattern. We got a good deal and that’s all I want for Christmas. I’m not sure we’ll have anything to unwrap this year since we already got the gifts we wanted but since we are both happy with what we got, it’s not important to us. Can you say Christmas spoil sports!
22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? Not really. But there’s always a party to go to. Just not one that you can count on happening every year.
23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's? Pj’s- We’re all about comfort in this house. I do manage to dress up if we go out or if we happen to be celebrating with other people.
24. Do you own a Santa hat? I think I do, somewhere, but I don’t know where it is. Probably in Oklahoma at my parents house with my plastic totes full of decorations and festive items that have never quite made it up here.
25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?

There’s not a “normally” with us.


Okay, so there you go. My holiday in a nutshell.

Merry Christmas!