Christmas meme
Lifted from Creative Gene.
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Once upon a time, I made reusable drawstring fabric gift bags, and it’s always been in my mind to create more, so that I needn’t use disposable wrapping of any kind. I don’t think it’s going to happen this year…
2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial. It’s always seemed wrong to me to kill a tree every year for a few weeks’ decoration. Besides, yeah, it smells nice, but the needles and the mess. We had a real tree one year, and I kept getting stabbed in the feet. (If there’s a way around it, I smell ‘maintenance’, as in ‘more work’.) Mine looks real enough, requires zero maintenance, and we’ve used the same one for ten years now.
3. When do you put up the tree?
December 8, the day after my eldest’s birthday. FIRST she gets a birthday, THEN we look to Christmas. I promised her that when I was pregnant with her. Even though she’s grown up and living on her own, I still wait.
4. When do you take the tree down?
January 1.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Nope. Too sweet.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I recall going mental at the age of eight when I received a suitcase from my grandparents. Squeals and whoops and dancing around. I’m still not quite sure why that was so very exciting…
7. Hardest person to buy for?
Normally my son, but this year he supplied a KICK-ASS list.
8. Easiest person to buy for?
No one. My eldest, she has a real gift for choosing great gifts for people. Me, I need lists. Lots and lots of lists.
9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, though I call it a creche.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I was going to cite the six broken cookies in a crumpled piece of wax paper (from an adult, not a child), but then I remembered the year I got Nothing.
I mean that. Quite literally nothing. The last Christmas with my ex. (We hadn’t even decided to separate then, though things weren’t good obviously! We didn’t make the break until the following November, almost a full year later.) Not only did he not get me anything, but he didn’t organize the kids, who were at that point young enough to need adult help. So, at Christmas, there were presents for the kids from both of us; there were presents for him, from me and the kids, and, when all the unwrapping was done, there was
abso-
f*%&ing-
lutely
nothing
for me.
It was bizarre. I’m not even sure I was upset. It was just so weird.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Charlie Brown’s Christmas Special
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
January. Really. I like Christmas shopping. I hate feeling rushed. (REALLY hate it… :-))
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Often. Regifting is practical, economical, and thoughtful. Just because a gift isn’t to my taste doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be the perfect gift for someone else. Why let it sit in the back of a closet, or, worse, be thrown out, when someone else can enjoy it?
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Mashed potatoes and gravy. Or stuffing and gravy.
16. Lights on the tree?
Yes. Multi-coloured.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
“Oh, Holy Night”. Or perhaps “Go tell it on the Mountain”.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Home. Unless I could travel somewhere tropical…
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Yup! I can also recite the entire of “The Night Before Christmas”, and large chunks of the Christmas story from the Bible.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel. She looks a bit faerie, though.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Morning. When I was a child, we opened one gift on Christmas Eve. Officially this was out of deference to my German grandparents, but really, it was a scam so we kids could get a present early. At least, that’s what I always figured…
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Crowded malls. Which is why I get my shopping done before December. (See #13, above.) When I’m not desperately seeking a gift, though, I can enjoy the bustle and the lights and the music.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I collect angels for the tree.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
The traditional one: turkey with stuffing and gravy; mashed potatoes, three or four vegetables; cranberry sauce.
25. What is your favorite thing about the holidays?
Time off! Time with family.
6 Comments »
Leave a comment
Recent Comments
bbw sex doll on What I Got for Christmas YourDoll JP on What I Got for Christmas Jeli on Succulent Identification Assis… Q. on These things are relative… kathleencornelldayca… on Teeny tiny talker RSS feed
It's Not All Mary Poppins 
My jaw dropped at no.11. Especially that you endured him until the next November.
I can really relate to being forgotten at Christmas. The first Christmas I was married to my ex-husband (which was also our 6 mo. wedding anniversary) he forgot to buy me something for Christmas. I did get gifts from my family but it really hurt that he’d forgotten me. That marriage lasted 3 years but I should have taken that first Christmas as an omen and gotten out sooner.
Here’s hoping this is your best Christmas ever!
Number 11 outdoes everything I could ever say about, well, anything annoying about Christmas. I am curious about the broken cookies, though. A great-grandmother?
I played.
Hi Mary-
Since I left The Rising Blogger I have a new blog where every Sunday we rip off a meme from somebody and post it for our players. Usually about 30 people participate. The blog is called Sunday Stealing. This week we are ripping you off. We credit you and link back to your post. It will post around 9 PM EST tonight (Saturday 12-13). We hope you play along with us in the future. Thanks!
Judd
The year you got nothing tugs at my heart.
The first year my father was on his own for Christmas (divorced from my mom, divorced from my stepmom, all three of us kids with our mother) he was visiting his own mother’s house with three of his siblings and their families in attendance for Christmas. On Christmas Eve, everyone hung his or her stocking. The next morning, every stocking was full — EVERY stocking, adult or child — except for my father’s, which didn’t even contain an orange. NO ONE noticed, as they filled one another’s stockings? NOT ONE PERSON thought to throw a handful of chocolate and a candy cane into his poor flat stocking?
That oversight hurt me so much that even today, at 42, I send my father his Christmas gift, and a separate bag of things for his Christmas stocking! It’s not about spending a lot of money (heck, I can fill his stocking for $3, and did so when I was a poor college student!), it’s about letting him know that someone has thought of him, and someone loves him.
I started to respond to your cloth drawstring bags used for gifts, but realized I’d already used up more than my fair share of “comment space!” So…I’ve posted on one of my blogs: http://joynotmisery.blogspot.com
[…] This week, an abbreviated version of “The Christmas Meme” comes from It’s Not All Mary Poppins. […]