Merry Meme

I do enjoy a good meme -- so courtesy of Terry and Gerrie, here's one for the season:

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, made with real milk. (I can't stand that instant stuff made with water.) Although I do have to have an Eggnog Latte at Starbuck's each Christmastime.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? Santa always wraps in plain red paper.

Colored lights on tree or white? Colored! It's more festive! But this year we have white and colored together, so it's VERY bright and sparkly.

When do you put your decorations up? Within the first two weeks of December. I like to get them up early as it helps to get me in the mood .... but it all depends on what else is going on. By Dec. 15, certainly.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? A raspberry jello dish that is so filled with raspberries that it's not jell0-y at all. It's sort of like raspberries held together and it's refreshing and wonderful and a gorgeous red color.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Truth? What truth? You mean that he doesn't do it all himself and has elves to help? Is there something someone's not telling me?

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was little, we opened one present on Christmas eve ... usually something from an aunt that turned out to be pajamas or some boring clothes thing. Now, we do Christmas eve at R's sister's house, and so presents on that side of the family are exchanged. Don't worry, there are more left for Christmas morning.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We have all different ornaments collected over the years, including wonderful ones made by Caroline in school. It's finished with strings of dark red wooden cranberries and strings of gold sparkly stars. C always puts a big ol' glittery gold star on top at the end.

Snow! Love it or Dread it? LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. I miss living in a place where it snows. When I lived in New England, I was always the one wishing for one more big blizzard before spring. That's what comes from growing up in California.

Can you ice skate? Yes. Love that, too.

Do you remember your favorite gift? It's a tie, between gifts my grandmother gave me. One year, it was a beautiful dress with a flowery print that had ribbons in the print. And if you looked closely at the ribbons, you saw that the ribbons spelled "Barbie." I LOVED that dress. Another year, when I was older, my grandma gave my sister and me our own blankets for our beds. Weirdly adult (and probably in an effort to help my mom) but for some reason getting that seemed so atypical of a gift for a kid that I loved it. Mine was white with blue flowers on it. I still have it and use it on my daughter's bed!

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family and wonderful traditions that bring back great memories.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Shortbread Christmas cookies.

What is your favorite tradition? Oh boy, that's a hard one. Filling the Christmas stockings. Watching White Christmas every year. We started a new one last year, which I loved: filling travel mugs with hot chocolate after dinner, and driving around town to look at the Christmas lights.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? Mostly giving -- but it's wonderful to be given something by someone who knows you so well that they know JUST what you'd like.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? "White Christmas."

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? I don't hate them, but I don't particularly like them. I like mint and chocolate together, though.

Ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope.