Christmas Meme

Mostly Cajun had this Christmas Meme up on his blog. So I decided to follow his lead and instead of sending it to 7 other people, just posting it here and if you want to add it to your own blog or copy it and paste your answers into a comment, then go right ahead and do so.

Here goes:

1. Wrapping or gift bags? Wrapping, with the color sunday funnies. I learned this from my Dad. Except that we don't get Sunday funnies anymore we get Saturday Funnies but so far no one has complained.

2. Real or artificial tree? I grew up choosing, cutting and bringing home real trees, but living here in the desert real trees are too far away to hunt yourself and when 9-10 ft tall Noble Fir trees started costing over $100 we went artificial.

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Martin Luther King weekend.

5. Do you like eggnog? YES!!! Especially with Kahlua. The kids get theirs straight.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hard to say, there were so many that they all kind of blur together. My mother made sure that each kid got so many gifts that none of them ever had a chance to stand out. Yes, I do have issues about that. However I'm getting a new car for this Christmas and that is got to be pretty high on the list.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Several

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Again there were so many that they don't stand out. But I do seem to remember at least once each year wondering "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail Mail. I like writing the Canned Family Christmas Letter each year.

10. Favorite Christmas movie? Holiday Inn or Christmas Vacation. I could so easily turn into Chevy Chase's character in that movie.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? When I see something that I think someone might like. I bought one of my dear wife's gifts in July this year.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Rosettes, krumkaka, Cherry Bonbon cookies, fruitcake, lefsa and fried turkey.

13. Clear lights or colored? Colored.

14. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night - I love Jim Nabors and Kate Smith's versions. But Mannheim Steamroller's version of Silent Night is a close second. All of Chicago's Christmas Album is great.

15. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? We used to travel a lot since most of my family refuses to come here. But the last few years we have decided to stay home. I love being with family at Christmas but I also like being home.

16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Duncer, Panzer, Puncher, Victim, Coma, Stupid, Dumber and Blitzkrieg. And don't forget Rude Elf.

17. Angel or star on the top of your tree? Angel.

18. Open your presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas Eve. I grew up wondering why we opened gifts on Christmas Eve. None of the older family could tell me. They all just said "that is the way we have always done it." Several years ago while doing some genealogy research I discovered that opening Christmas presents on Christmas Eve is an old Norwegian custom. Traditionally most celebrating was done on Christmas eve as Christmas Day was a quiet day with the family. Which is pretty much how we do things here. But at least I can tell my children why.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Idiots on the road who left their brains at home but are driving anyway.

20. What do you leave for Santa? Cookies and Eggnog.

21. Least favorite holiday song? Anything recorded in the last 5 years by anyone under that age of 30.

22. Do you decorate your tree with any specific theme or color? Bubble lights and home made decorations. We also have several strings of specialty lights. The tree has so much stuff on it that it is hard to see the tree.

23. Favorite ornament? Bubble Lights.

24. Family tradition? I'm an old fart so traditions are pretty important to me. I have written about our Christmas Traditions here and here and here.

25. Ever been to Midnight Mass or late-night Christmas Eve services? Not lately. Midnight Christmas Eve services have been a part of our Christmas Tradition as long as I can remember. I love walking out of church a few minutes after midnight and knowing it was Christmas morning. However our local churches all wimped out a few years ago and they hold midnight church at 10 PM now. So we get out of church around 11 PM. I HATE THAT!!!

So if you want to share your Christmas stories feel free to copy this and post it.

Merry Christmas.