Let's see how long I can keep this going

So it turns out that when Steve isn't home wearing every pair of socks he owns, dropping ACU's and dirty boots and equipment all over the place, or grilling me about what's for dinner, I have a lot of free time on my hands. I did all the laundry the day after he left, Sam and I don't make more than a sinkload of dishes a day, and neither of us are too hard to please when it comes to dinner! EASY. (Although OBVIOUSLY it would be way better if Steve were here. Conversation with Sammy starts running thin after a while..)

In an effort to combat some free time during Sam's long nap, I'm doing a Christmas survey I found on my dear friend's blog.

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
I prefer hot chocolate. I like cold chocolate too. Room temperature chocolate is fine with me as well. I'm really not that picky when it comes to how I take my chocolate. I just TAKE IT.
I think the only kind of egg nog I've ever tasted was spiked (which, I realize is the main appeal of egg nog because really? eggs? nogs? Doesn't sound too appetizing to me). But I didn't like it very much. It isn't my holiday drink of choice.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just stick them under the tree?
Growing up, Santa stuck our (unwrapped) presents next to our stockings, but we haven't done Santa yet with Sam.

3. Colored lights or white?
I like white lights on the tree since we don't have some fancily choreographed tree decorated exclusively with matching balls and garland and such. We have a mish-mash of ornaments collected from everywhere and somehow, colored lights seem a little much. I love the soft, white glow of the tree in the evenings.
But I DO prefer the chunky, old-fashioned color lights on the house. I pulled them out today in an attempt to put them on the house myself, but then realized that standing on a chair was not going to help me reach the roof like I thought it would. So I guess the outside lights will have to wait for Steve.. and a ladder..

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope. Isn't mistletoe kind of pointy? Doesn't it seem dangerous for people to be looking up at the ceiling and then the mistletoe that you hung with the clear duct tape (because who wants to screw a hole into the middle of their ceiling?) falls down (because you obviously bought the knock-off duct tape, you cheapo) and then stabs someone's eye out? So instead of having a Hallmark-type romantic moment you end up in the ER with a case of Hole In The Eye? Sounds about as appealing as the egg nog. PASS.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Depends on when we get back from Thanksgiving, if the decorations are in storage or in our house, how deep the decoration bins ARE in storage, and if we have the motivation to get them out (this is also dependent upon how much turkey we consumed during the previous holiday). Generally speaking though, they come out after Thanksgiving, and get put away after the Epiphany in January.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Hmm. Toughie. Probably anything containing the words: chocolate, butter, or spicy turkey. But obviously not all in the same recipe. Butter clearly goes with everything (see: Thanksgiving), but chocolate and turkey should keep their distance from one another.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
My parents were great about keeping the Santa thing alive and going for a really long time. They would leave chomped-on carrots in the backyard near the chimney, soot on the fireplace where Santa had jumped out and made a mess (this made Santa HIGHLY believable as there was no way my mom was going to make a mess like that just to turn around and clean it up), and there were quite a few years where Santa would leave a special note inside the tree that alerted us to some *awesome* family gift that he had left elsewhere (trampoline,  ping-pong table, etc).

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I honestly can't remember. I clearly wasn't scarred by the realization that he was made up. I'm more grateful to my parents NOW, knowing what a pain in the a$$ it had to have been to put all that stuff together the night before and make Santa look believable AND set up the 85lb camcorder in order to catch the pantsless fun that ensued Christmas morning. (Yep, for some odd reason, we never seemed to wear pants when we were younger. Perhaps it was because it never got COLD. I'm looking at you, south Alabama.)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Growing up, we never did. However, I'm doing a pajama gift thing (I already bought and washed the new pajamas y'all!) and Sam can open that on Christmas Eve. I am going to advocate for pants. Heh.

10. How do you decorate your tree?
I guess like everyone else does.. Lights, ornaments, tree skirt.. Sometimes there is cursing involved when it comes to the lights (tip: make sure they work BEFORE stringing them on the tree!), but it is a fairly simple process.

11. Snow: love it or dread it?
LOVE IT. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT.
Steve is also quick to remind me that I don't have to do PT in it, sleep in it, or drive in it. All valid points. But I still LOVE IT.

12. Can you ice skate?
Not very well! I prefer to have Steve there to catch me as he is some sort of closet ice-skating pro who can somehow hold me six inches off the ground while still balancing on those tiny little blades. Also? He can skate backwards. You're clearly a professional when you can do something that difficult BACKWARDS.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
The first Christmas Steve and I were dating, he gave me this giant Phillies World Series shirt and a funky little suncatcher. I don't know how that outranks the diamond earrings he gave me last year (!!!), but somehow, it does.

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Seeing family. Unfortunately, everyone is a little spread out this year, so that won't happen like it usually does, but I love visiting with family during the holidays.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Again, anything chocolate.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Going to Mass on Christmas Eve and looking at lights.

17. What tops your tree?
Currently? Nothing. I haven't found an acceptable tree topper yet. My mom found me a scary-looking pug topper from The Pug Lady a year or two ago, but it's.... scary. And all the stars I see in the stores look too gaudy to me, the angels look too cheesy, and I'm not on board yet with tying a bow up there. So we'll see. I kind of like it how it is: naked and pointing at heaven.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?
Definitely giving. I love it when I can find someone a great gift that I know they will love or laugh at, and then watching their reaction as they open it. It's the BEST.

19. Candy canes: yuck or yum?
I wouldn't go so far as to say "yuck" about a candy cane (I mean, it IS candy), but it's not my candy of choice. (See: all the times I refer to CHOCOLATE)

20. Favorite Christmas movie?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It NEVER gets old (unlike a certain other Christmas movie that gets WAY overplayed...cough, cough).

21. Saddest Christmas song?
Who listens to sad Christmas songs? That's a dumb question. Christmas songs SHOULD be happy. I mean, Jesus is being born and all. Not really a reason to get sad. I do have strong feelings about the stupid "secular" Christmas songs though. I can only handle "Rudolph" and "Frosty" and "Jingle Bells" for so long before I wanna gouge my ears out and bury my head in the snow. (Assuming we have snow, which would make all the crappy music slightly more bearable.)

22. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Judging by my previous answer, I would say any type of religious Christmas music: What Child Is This, Silent Night, Joy To The World, etc.


And there you have it. My thoughts on Christmas. I'm sure you're all feeling much better now that you have these important questions answered. My work here is done. I'm off to pack the diaper bag because today is lunch with a friend at.... (you guessed it!)... CHICK-FIL-A!!! YeeHAW!