Fully Alive…Ready to Smile

I was in the mood to put something Christmassy on my blog and in turn hopefully get myself into a Christmassy mood…since it is only 4 days away, so below is a Christmas questionnaire that talks a little bit about how I/we celebrate Christmas in my family : )  I managed to get most of my shopping done yesterday.  Now if I could just find the ticket names that we pulled for my one gathering I could actually buy them some gifts.  At the moment I have no idea who I’m buying for.  Four days to figure that one out.  And Merry Christmas to us, I went out and bought a new tv today.  Flat screen.  42″ of awesomeness.  I’m pumped.  It was all in the master plan when I told Jer “our new living room just doesn’t have room for a big entertainment unit so we NEED a flat screen tv to put on the wall, thus maximizing our space!!”  He believed me.  Hee, hee.

Wrapping paper or gift bags?
It depends what it’s for.  I think for Christmas it HAS to be wrapping paper because there is something about the ritual of ripping open a gift.  Kind of loses it’s climactic element when you just have it in a bag.

Real tree or artificial?
Real…always.  Yes, it’s messy.  Yes, you can only have it up for a short period of time (not November-March).  But the smell is the BEST!!  I loved watching my Dad set it up the day before we would decorate it.  The tree was always frozen and it was always so exciting to watch the branches thaw out and fall into place.  It was a complete mystery as to what kind of tree Dad had managed to get each year.  Sometimes they were virtually perfect…other years there were oddities that made them special in their own unique way.  I think one day I’d like to start the tradition of going to find our own tree and cut it down with the girls.  We never did that and that is something I would have loved to do.

When do you put up the tree?
Usually about the middle of December.  Because we always had a real tree it couldn’t be up too long or it would be dead by the 26th and that’s no fun…

When do you take the tree down?
…because we wanted it to stay up until after New Year’s.  Then it was down before you could say “happy new year” because my mom would be so sick of it.  I always wished it could stay up longer.  Once the tree is gone the living room felt so empty and I was always kind of sad that all the festivities that we’d been preparing for and looking forward to were over.  I HATE when the party’s over.
Do you like eggnog?
Yes.  I didn’t used to, but now I love it.  I’m the only one in my family who does, so my mom always buys a one liter carton of it for me and I savor it.

Favourite gift received as a child?
The Barbie house my Dad had custom built for me by a friend of his who hand crafted them.  I still love it.  It’s a little outdated, but nothing a little
tender loving care by the household interior decorator can’t fix.  I’m going to work on it this spring and give it to Ella for her birthday.  I can’t wait.

Do you have a Nativity Scene?
I don’t, but I’m hoping to buy one in the near future.

Hardest person to buy for?
Jer!  He doesn’t ever go shopping, so he never has any real ideas as to what he would like.  So I never know.  And the things he does want are like $5000+ and that’s just a smidge out of my price range.

Easiest person to buy for?
Ella.  She’s such a girl that I could buy her just about anything pink and we’d be good to go.

Mail or email Christmas cards?
I love email, don’t get me wrong, but Christmas cards MUST be mailed (or handed to you).  Kind of like the Christmas gift in a gift bag…anti-climactic.

Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
My love language is gifts, so any gift is a good gift.  You’d think that someone who loves gifts would be hard to buy for because they are well versed in the gift giving ritual.  But I’m just happy to get gifts that there’s hardly anything I would turn my nose up at.

Favorite Christmas movie?
I don’t watch Christmas movies.  But if I had to pick one…the Nutcracker (either the ballet or figure skating version).

When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Yesterday.  Usually I start in the beginning of December, but this year it just wasn’t the priority.

Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
No.

Favourite thing to eat at Christmas?
Some of my favorites are the things my Grandma always made…sausage rolls, butter horns with almond icing, white “Grandma” cookies, sweet and sour meatballs…these are the things that have made up my Christmases since I was old enough to remember.  And even though the last few years she was unable to actually make any of the food, I still associate these things with her and this year will be bittersweet.

Clear lights or coloured on the tree?
White.  Then you can add color with your decorations.  I’m a little anal when it comes to decorating the tree…need I say more?

Favourite Christmas song?
It’s a tie between What Child is This, Emmanuel and anything sung by Josh  (yes, we’re on a first name basis…I’ll tell him you said hi.  And I’m such a nice person, I let him be on Rachel Ray today.  How generous of me to share him, hey?)

Travel at Christmas or stay home?
I’ve always been home.  All my family lives here so we stick close to home.

Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Nope.  Don’t really care either.

Angel on the tree top or star?
Angel.

Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

We always did on Christmas Eve because we had a family gathering on Christmas Day.  I love that tradition because there is something so magical about sitting around the tree when it’s dark and the lights are twinkling and all the candles around the room give off a glow.  It’s so intimate and peaceful.  We have now stolen this evening for our kids.  I can’t wait to start making all the memories with my own family.

Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The fact that recently Christ is being taken out of Christmas.  The fact that some anonymous minority is trying to take our holiday and change it.  Us as Christians don’t infringe on other religions rights to celebrate their traditions, sing their songs and give their greetings, so why is ours being sabotaged?  The fact that it’s being said that it’s offending people.  What about the 80% of North American’s that DO celebrate Christmas?  Any worries about offending us?  Think about that.

Favourite ornament, theme or colour?
Don’t have any one.  Right now my tree is just a bunch of matchy-poo stuff that I bought for cheap so that it wouldn’t look empty and pathetic.  But I intend on starting to collect unique ornaments to put together something that actually suits my taste.

Favourite for Christmas dinner?
The lunch we always had/have at my Grandma and Grandpa’s…turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, meatballs, did I mention gravy? salad, jello, homemade “Grandma buns” (which is now being passed to my mom as her job), and pie of course.

What do you want for Christmas this year?
Design books, a new mp3 player, and then I’m always up for surprises. I LOVE surprises.  It means someone put thought into what they got me and that shows love.

So there it is.  I feel much more Christmassy, thank you for indulging me…if you made it to the end.  I know, it was long.  Now I must take myself to bed so that I’m all refreshed for getting up to make 2 trifles for Jer’s work party tomorrow.  I don’t get invited to his work party, but I get asked to make the desserts.  What’s up with that?  Not that I’m bitter…not at all.  I’m just a SAHM who would love the chance to get dressed up and go to a party and socialize, but nnnnooooo.  Aw, well.  I’m a party all by myself.  Maybe I’ll just walk around in my bridesmaid dress tomorrow and dance to my current favorite song…

“Don’t got a motor boat, but I can float your boat”

Now THAT is something to look forward to : )