Christmas meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper, definitely.

2. Real tree or Artificial? A real tree every other year. This is our real tree year. On the alternate years I usually do some weird creation that passes for a tree. Last year I had Superman cut out concentric rings from a piece of 4'x8' luan plywood. We spray-painted them a few different colors of green and chained them together to form a basic cone shape. Then we hung it from the ceiling so it would maintain the cone effect. If I had a photo I'd post it. We might get that out again next year and tweak it. It didn't give the effect I had in mind when I designed it. Our second Christmas together I made a paper mache tree using wire coat hangers for the frame. That sucker was HEAVY!

3. When do you put up the tree? No more than two weeks before Christmas. On the years I make a "tree" usually fairly late, because I haven't yet gotten my act together to get it made any earlier.

4. When do you take the tree down? Either New Years Eve, Day, or on the 12^th day of Christmas, which I think is January 8^th.

5. Do you like eggnog? Like? LIKE? Honey, I LOVE me some eggnog. I use eggnog in place of evaporated milk in my pumpkin pies, and have made tapioca pudding and ice cream using eggnog. Let me tell you, eggnog ice cream is da' bomb!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Either the bike I got when I was about 8 years old, or the stereo system I got in my early teens. Hard to decide.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Mom has one she puts up every year, so I remember that from my childhood. I used to play with it as if it were a doll house. I currently don't have one that I'm aware of. I don't keep track of that sort of thing, and am not big into decorating.

8. Hardest person to buy for? C. I have no idea what to get for him. And he and S have been shopping for themselves a lot this past month. I got C a (insert gift name here) [he and/or S read this, so I'm not sayin'] a couple of months ago, so I'll give him that. S is a little easier to shop for, and I've gotten him a thing or two.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Light, I think. Also my Mama, mainly because she told me what to get her. I ordered it from Amazon, had it gift wrapped and shipped directly to her. It took less than 5 minutes and was accomplished with a few clicks of the mouse. Man, I love the internet!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Huh? What are Christmas cards? Years ago, before I had all these children or a full-time job, I sent out Christmas cards. That was a long, long time ago.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Dunno. I tend to block crap like that out of my memory.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Most favoritest is definitely It's a Wonderful Life. I also really really like The Muppet Christmas Carol and Polar Express.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? This year- July. I try to start in June or July. Some years I do, some just sneak up on me and it's November, maybe after Thanksgiving before I even start.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Of course. I highly recommend it. I've received recycled gifts, too, and I really don't mind usually.

5. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Food. Cookies, maybe. Gingerbread cookies or a gingerbread house. I like to make gingerbread houses, and for a while was doing it every year. It takes a lot of energy to do that, and I'm not sure I've got what it takes this year. It is also getting kinda late to do it before Christmas. I might just make one the week after Christmas, twixt Christmas and New Years. It'll be a New Year gingerbread house. I'm not inspired by a specific design for a house this year like I often am. We'll see. If I do make one, I'll post a picture. I got my camera working, but have yet to successfully post one. I've tried a couple of times, but haven't had the gumption to work at it.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Either is nice. Don't really care. Especially if someone else does the decorating. I'm not too interested in decorating. If we didn't have the kids, I'm not sure we'd even have a tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? That's a tough one. A hymn, definitely. I really like Once in Royal David's City and Lo How a Rose 'Ere Blooming. I like Away In a Manger, but not the traditional tune. My favorite way to sing a Christmas song is to harmonize with Superman. I'm soprano, he's tenor. We sound really good together, imho. In a non-professional way, of course.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home. Stay home. Don't go away anywhere. Right here. No traveling! Nope.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yes. Want me to do it here? But I'll give away the answers to anyone else who does this meme! Oh, alright, then … Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen. Rudolph doesn't count.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel. Every time

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? What are you going to do on Christmas morning if you've opened them the night before? Where's the fun of the anticipation? I might concede to opening ONE gift on Christmas Eve, but everything else is saved for Christmas morning. It is important. (to me, anyway)

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The crowds. In the shopping centers, the parking lots, the roadways, the grocery store even! As I've said before, I do not do well with lots of people around. Go away and let me do this without all these people getting in my way.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Huh? I don't care. Again, not into decorating/decoration. I appreciate a lovely decorated tree/home/street/whatever. I just look at the overall big picture and say "my, isn't that pretty," and move on. I probably don't even notice a theme unless it is so obvious even a sports jock "guy" would notice. OK, I've just had an idea for a Christmas tree decoration theme: Condoms! That I'd notice.

Going with this general idea, try to picture a Christmas tree done in this style. That would stand out.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Today I don't care. Something that I like, obviously, but not necessarily turkey or ham. I remember fixing a duck one year. Superman liked that. I'm quite fond of a good roast. I draw the line at pizza, though. Today I'm feeling the answer should be "whatever someone else fixes."

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I've got a bad case of the I Don't Give A Damns. That seems to be my theme throughout. I can't think of anything I really want for Christmas. Superman went out at Gawdawfulearly o'clock on the day after Thanksgiving to buy me a digital camera. That's about all I wanted, and I've started using it. The kids will probably get me chocolate. They know what I like (Russell Stover, dark chocolate assortment) (in case you're looking for an idea) and that'll be nice. But really, aside from the camera, I don't care. A big bag of nothing would be fine. I've got way too much crap already, and need to sort through my entire collection of everything I've ever kept and throw most of it away. That'll be a huge emotional cluster-fuck. I think I may have a mild case of whatever they call that psychological disorder where people keep everything for ever and their homes are so chock full of old newspapers and empty McDonalds Big Mac cartons and dead cats (yea, I saw that on the Discovery channel once. Icky!) that when they die or someone stages an intervention the crew comes in and it takes weeks to clear it all out and they figure it would have been easier to just torch the place instead. Anyway, I'm not quite that bad, but I have those tendencies.

So, there it is. If you like this and think you might want to answer these questions too, then consider yourself tagged.

Merry Christmas