Christmas Tag

And I'm not talking about the kind you put on a gift...Kyla tagged me for a festive meme.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer to wrap gifts but there are some things that just doesn't work well for.

2. Real tree or artificial? Yeah, I don't think a tree like this could be found in nature:

I'm too cheap to buy a real tree every year anyway.

3. When do you put up the tree? Jason likes to do it the first weekend in December. I'd prefer to do it the day after Thanksgiving so that we have our Christmas decor out longer than our Halloween decorations but oh well.

4. When do you take the tree down? I think before New Years. It's not too long after Christmas but we don't have a set day or anything. When I was little we'd sometimes have it up till, like, February...and it wasn't always a fake tree!

5. Do you like eggnog? I'll be honest and say I can't remember ever really trying eggnog. But the name alone tells me I don't like it. Sounds gross and looks icky too.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I think it is very very sad that I don't have an answer for this. I can remember a lot of things that I liked, but to pick a favorite? I just don't know...as a child, that is. As a grown up I really loved my Palm Pilot.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes we have one but we don't currently put it out.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Jason's not the easiest...this year he had to pick out exactly what he wanted and send me the link. Even clothes I don't pick out that well for him, "The pockets are too small..." "I think the buttons are kinda girly..." Nah, he's not that ungrateful, but I get nervous nonetheless.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Easton. I've got all kinds of good ideas for him, and he lets me know what he likes too.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Ummm...preeclampsia?!?! It began creeping up on Christmas Eve. Here is my puffed up face on Christmas Day 2004:


11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Uh, people don't really email Christmas cards do they? Well, anyway, I totally send mine in the regular mail...and let's look back on them, shall we?

2005:


2006:


2007:


12. Favorite Christmas movie? I guess I like Elf alright. I don't have, like, a "must see" seasonal movie. Should I? The other night I kept saying to Jason (from Elf), "What's a Christmas-gram? I want one!"

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Early enough, but I never get done ahead of time. I like to think of things all year long and keep running lists of gift ideas in my Palm Pilot. If I find something perfect, I like to get it right then and hide it away.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I can't think of anything in particular...but probably. If "recycled" means donating to chartiy, then yes, for sure.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Probably my mom's brunch. Her fruit dip and hash brown casserole in particular.

16. Clear or colored lights on the tree? Clear...but I say white. Is that not P.C. anymore?

17. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night. But I also love the music from The Nutcracker.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Well, it's important to me to have Christmas memories for my children in our own home and all that...but I like to see family too...my side of the family is pretty close and we travel the 45 minutes down there on holiday afternoons. I wish we could see Jason's half after a short drive too!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Well, I can name 9 but Jessica sent out a Christmas quiz with her cards and apparently there are a whole herd of reindeer and we only know the names of Santa's brown-nosers...oh yeah...and the red noser: Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen. Look it up. It really is Donder...not Donner like a lot of people (you???) think. :)

20. Angel on top of the tree or a star? A star for us.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Well, I always had the tradition of opening one on Christmas Eve but saving all the rest for Christmas morning. So, that's still what we do.

22. What I love most about Christmas? I love the whole family part of it...I love doing festive things together...I love picking out presents I think family will love, or at least like a little...I love eating with them...yeah, family. And I like traditions a whole lot too...yearly ornaments, yearly nutcrackers, trips to Santa, advent calendars... Okay, the question should really be what don't I love about Christmas. :)

So, who to tag? Who to tag? Let's see...we'll go with the private bloggers Amy and Britten (even though I gave you a similar one last year). And how about Kelly who should blog about something fun and festive???

And make sure you look below as this is now the fourth new post today. The one right under this is pretty special!