Borrowed from Kazoofus, who originally borrowed from Smoochdog. Thought it would be fun. Won't you play?

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?  Egg Nog, all the way...I figure I only get eggnog a couple times a year; and, though I love hot chocolate as well, I can have it most anytime.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa wraps gifts and god is she tired when its done!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Red & white lights on the 9ft. tree. White lights on the tabletop tree in the livingroom. Red, white, and green lights on the tabletop tree that sits in my kitchen windows.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? We have hung mistletoe through the years; don't think we did last year. Maybe I will hang some this year, since this is only our second Christmas in this house...

5. When do you put your decorations up? I usually start after Thanksgiving, because I do 2 tabletop trees and one 9ft. tree; one tabletop sits in my kitchen windows, the other in the livingroom, and my 9ft. in the den where the highest part of our ceiling is. I place other decorations on the doors outside my house, and throughout each room, even if just a candle or greenery.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I really like to bake a ham on Christmas Eve; which is when we celebrate the opening of the gifts and such. I still like to serve some dressing to go with. Maybe this year, I will try a long grain wild rice dressing. I will also serve a dish of broccoli or brussel sprouts. I have to have something green-always! Perhaps a homemade cranberry chutney recipe I've recently discovered, could top the meal off. I really like to do a kind of buffet on Christmas eve, with several different food options--trays of appetizers, etc. with the ham being in the center of things.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: I can remember back to the days when I was actually still small enough to hope I'd catch a glimpse of Santa placing the gifts under our tree. I remember peeking outside the bedroom door of my grandmother's cozy house where I grew up, long after I should have been asleep, thinking I might catch Santa if I waited long enough, looking out to the livingroom where stood the grand ole' pine tree cut fresh from the mountains. I was too small to realize then, that Santa never comes while you're watching for him.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth about Santa? Is there something you want to tell me?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes; we open all our gifts on Christmas Eve. When my foster children (teens) were home, the stockings were hung after they went to bed so they would have those for Christmas day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Often stressfully. "See my Christmas Tree Blues" entry.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?  We love it! Love it! Love it!

12. Can you ice skate? Hell no, wish I could be so graceful.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Oh my; I am certain each year of my life held a favorite gift relative to my age and range of enjoyment. I'm trying to think here...well, I know one thing that I look forward to every Christmas for the past few years is my mother presenting me with a tin or basket, or box of what she calls small magical things. Mom wraps things individually and I enjoy the sentimental value each thing holds for me. A picture long forgotten placed in a small frame, some piece of jewelry mom has kept through the years that has meaning, and so on...

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Gathering with my friends and family to enjoy the food and decorative magic of it all...all to honor the birth of the blessed Christ child.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Oh god, tough one. I always love pumpkin pie, for Thanksgiving as well as Christmas; homemade applesauce cake; egg custard; peanutbutter fudge candy; homemade peanut brittle; various chocolate cakes; mincemeat pie, the list goes on and on...I cannot possibly pick one favorite. I just can't.




16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? My actual favorite holiday tradition is one I haven't participated in for years. The folks in the town where I grew up used to make fruit baskets for the elderly and shut-ins; and we would walk in groups to deliver the baskets, singing carols to all. I really miss this experience. I suppose this could also be listed up there under favorite holiday memory.

17. What tops your tree? I used to have an angel there; however, my tree now touches the ceiling, so we don't use a topper. I like it better that way actually. Things don't need to be so uniform on a lovely tree...it's more elegant I think, to place everything without a topper.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? For some, I most enjoy the giving. I think if we are honest, we all like to receive as well. All in all, the giving is most rewarding for me when it comes to those whom I love so much.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I have several favorites, but I would have to say I love Little Drummer Boy as a most favorite.