Christmas Tag

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

I love my nog!  You can drink hot chocolate any time, but egg nog is a December Drink.  I like to drink my egg nog as a 'cocktail' with Diet Sprite.  It's best in my mom's snowman glasses - you pour eggnog in up to the scarf, and the fill the rest of the snowman head with Sprite, and voila! perfect amount of fizz in your nog.  In my far inferior holly print glasses at home, I have to do a few test sips before I get it right.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree?

He wraps the presents, but he wishes he didn't.  Nathan convinced him wrapping was the way to go, and now it's too late to change.  Waaaaahhhhhhh.

Colored lights on tree or white?

Colored on the house.  White on the tree.

When do you put your decorations up?

Day after Thanksgiving, and not a moment sooner.  (Actually, it usually takes two days, so I should say the Two Days after Thanksgiving.)

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

Ham and funeral potatoes.  But this is an unfair question because there isn't any non-dessert item that we ONLY eat at Christmas time.

Favorite Holiday memory as a child:

I got a pink flowered two-wheeled bike the year I turned six.  Since it was missing the training wheels in the box, my dad ran around the block with me all day until I learned to balance and ride without help.  First time I told him I would be fine without him, I ran straight into the back of a parked car.  But I'll always remember that because now that I am a parent I know how much I would hate to spend Christmas running around the block all day!  No, this isn't the parked car I hit.  Luckily, that belonged to some random neighbor on the street behind us, or I probably would've gotten in big trouble.  Unluckily, this embarrassing green Ford Maverick belonged to my dad from his college days.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

When I was five my dad used to drive me to kindergarten on the way to work.  One day in November I asked him The Question, and he answered honestly.  He said, "What do you think?"  and I told him I was a skeptic.  He told me I was right, and I said, "That's what I thought."  I found out later my mom was mad at him for admitting it, but in his defense, I don't think it would have made much of a difference.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

No.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

Red and gold balls of various sizes, snowflakes, glass icicles, and gold ribbon.  When I was growing up our tree was full of the make-it-at-school decorations, and when I got married I wanted to have a 'pretty tree.'  I feel like a horrible mom when my kids want to put an ugly decoration made out of paint and puzzle pieces on my pretty tree - I let them do it, but my insides shudder a little.  

Snow! Love it or Dread it?

Love it.  But unless we're headed to the ski slopes, I love it from inside my house the most.

Can you ice skate?

Kind of.  I can remain upright on skates, if that counts.

Do you remember your favorite gift?

One year we got a Kitchen Aid mixer from my parents and a freezer from Nathan's.  That was a pretty cool year, especially since they were both total surprises.  (I like to be surprised, but it is difficult to surprise me, even though I try not to find out and I never sneak around to figure out what I am getting.)

What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?

Spending time with family and keeping our holiday traditions.  Making memories.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?

Homemade chocolate dipped Mounds candy, homemade English toffee, and pumpkin or fresh apple pie.

What is your favorite tradition?

Christmas SEASON:  Taking the kids all bundled up to Temple Square to see the lights.  We bought insulated hot-drink thermoses so we can take hot cocoa and drink it on a bench outside the visitor's center.  If they're being honest, the kids like that part the best.  I think we could probably turn the Christmas lights on our house and take some hot cocoa out to the driveway and they'd like that almost as much!!!
Christmas DAY:  Playing our new games (there is always at least one) with everyone at my mom's house on Christmas afternoon.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving?

Giving, especially if I had a great gift idea for that person this year.

What is your favorite Christmas Song?

Go Tell it on the Mountain as sung by Jim Nabors.  My mom turns it on really loud on the stereo about 2 hours after Thanksgiving dinner and dances around the house to it.  Then she turns it up even louder and calls her sisters to play it into the phone and tell them it is officially Christmas time.

My other favorite Christmas song is O Holy Night.

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?

Meh.  I can eat one.  But I like Santa's new tradition of buying the Sweet Tarts or Starburst brand fruit flavored ones for the stockings.  They are much more universally liked.

Ever recycled a Christmas present?

I don't think so.

Now I tag Karen, Smart Aliss, and Kirsten.