Getting into the Spirit of Things...

This is a fun Meme I picked up from several friends. After I perused their delightful comments AND looked up the word Meme in my dictionary (pronounced Meem..."to imitate"...my paraphrase...)
I decided to participate...

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate...definitely.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Sets them under the tree. Until I married my husband. Who knew a different Santa. Who was a glutton for punishment. And wrapped every gift. So we compromise. Santa sets some gifts out unwrapped. And some wrapped. There you go.

3. Colored lights or white?
Oh man~I love them all. If they are on. Because that means there is power. We typically put colored lights on the tree and decorate windows, greenery and doors with white lights. White lights are classy and romantic. Colored lights are festive and fun.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope. Because we don't have any. And public displays of affection are...ahem...frowned upon in this culture. So we would have to participate in the mistletoe tradition on the sly. Which we have become pretty adept at anyway...I must say.


5. When do you decorate for Christmas? The day after Thanksgiving. I LOVE it. And the kids do too. For us it is a day of memories, good feelings and...
Oh who am I kidding?... It is a day of MOSTLY good feelings accompanied by a few stressful cries of "Silas Ryan! If you touch that I'm gonna spank your bottom!" and "Quit asking me when you can hang your ornament...I have to string these stinkin' lights!" Good times...good times. Despite all the fuss...I still love the decorating day.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish, excluding dessert? This is a very tough one. I'll go with corn bread dressing and cranberry sauce. MUST have them together. (A VERY strong second would be turkey,bacon and cranberry sauce sandwiches on Christmas night at the Cashes. Scrumdillyumpcious!)

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? The games. I loved it when the formal meals were done, dishes were done, presents were done, and everyone was relaxed. And out came the games. Skip bo. Nertz. Chicken foot. Dominos. Boggle. It didn't matter...It was fun. Everyone laughed...Mam-ma complained that she never won...she very often did...

8. When and how, did you learn the truth about Santa? Shelli Braddock told me. In the second grade. It made me cry. Which wasn't he first time Shelli and I made each other cry. Girls! We do the silliest things. I didn't ask Mom about it until the third grade. At which time Mom verified Shelli's information, MUCH to my dismay.
(FYI...Shelli grew up to be an AMAZING woman who I love and adore... I've always loved her...And I'm not just saying that because I know her Mom and sister-in-law read my blog!) :-)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? This is in fact a very touchy issue. My husband and I are from different camps. My family always opened gifts on Christmas Eve. His family always opened gifts on Christmas Day.
We battled it out for years...me whining until we actually opened some gifts on the Eve...ignoring his strong protests that we were dangling dangerously over a very dark chasm of evil because we did so. :-)

Everything changed in 1999. I "opened" a present on Christmas Eve for the last time. I delivered a son on December 24th. Making it for always and forever...Alex's day. He opens presents alone as we celebrate his life. Christmas gifts wait for Christmas morning. My husband was victorious afterall. I don't mind though. The gift of our precious boy would be impossible to top.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With many different types of ornaments...all with memories or occasions to remember. Some of my Best Friends gave me a Christmas ornament shower in Germany. We were there to lead a camp for youth and to tour around to different churches. While in Germany we visited an adorable village with the most amazing Christmas market. (The town's name has left me...) My friends each bought me an ornament for a wedding gift. It was such a great idea and to this day, I can remember who gave me what...which is a Christmas miracle considering my muddled, tired Mommy brain! We have ornaments from parents, grandparents, friends, from vacations. our states and Africa. There is no rhyme or reason...just wonderful memories of wonderful moments. All deposited on our tree.

11. Snow. Love it or hate it? Love it. Miss it.

12. Can you ice skate? I'm no Kristi Yamaguchi but I pretend to be as I stumble and slip over the icy surfaces. I can do it. But it isn't always pretty. Unless you can see the images in my head. Where I look like a pro! Wearing a gorgeous sequined outfit. And I'm skinny.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Alex. Hands down. Best Christmas gift.

Other favorites would include: my Baby Alive Doll (age 3), my kickin' stereo with huge speakers (8th grade!) Love knot earrings from Jeff...(on Christmas Eve!)...the day Alex was born.

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Jesus. Family. Singing. Laughter.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Pumpkin anything---pie, muffins, bread, cookies. Mam-ma's German Chocolate Cake. Iced Christmas sugar cookies.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Caroling. I just love that! Christmas Eve festivities. Decorating the Christmas tree with Alvin and the Chipmunks singing in the background. Watching the Sound of Music. Quoting funny lines from Christmas Vacation. Decorating cookies.

17. What tops your tree? A Santa Clause that moves...or used to. Now he just sits there and looks cute. Jeff and I bought him together for our very first Christmas.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I LOVE giving the perfect gift. LOVE IT! (I won't mention in much detail how very stressful it is to shop in this land we live in. Jeff's gifts are...sad...which makes me sad...Thankfully, I bought him a video ipod on furlough this summer so I'm hoping the joy of that will carry over for a few occasions!)

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? "The Hat I Got for Christmas is Too Big". :-) At least, that is one that always makes me laugh!
Seriously, I don't think I could pick a favorite song. Oh Holy Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Winter Wonderland...
I LOVE them all. ALL!

20. Candy canes. Yuck or yum? Definitely YUM!!! I love candy canes. Something I really miss over here.

Happy Holidays, dear friends! Feel free to grab this meme for your blog...(or put your answers in my comments). Let me know if you do...so I can visit and read your memories!