[katiesue]

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate with a shot of peppermint schnapps. My preference though is hot buttered rum.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Wraps them of course.


3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
As a kid we always had colored. This year it's white on the tree but blue everywhere else.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope

5. When do you put your decorations up?
First part of December.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert.)
Au Graten Potatoes

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
This will sound odd to pick as a favorite but it is. My mother goes totally and completely bonkers around christmas. Frist there's all the stuff for school (she's a teacher), then all the baking, then the tree and finally the annual knock down drag out over going to christmas eve services. My sister and I will never go home for the holidays.

Anyway one year my mother was in overload baking mode. She makes dozens and dozens of cookie plates and includes all kinds of cookies, breads and candies. She says up all night for days baking, making her crankier than usual. So anyway she decides she wants the tree up NOW.

So she starts in on my Dad to get the tree put up she's been waitng for days blah blah blah blah. Now my Dad was watching a football game or some such and totally ignoring her which didn't help. At some point she completely flipped out so my Dad stomped outside to "get the damn tree".

We'd cut it a few weeks before and my dad had layed it in a kiddie swimming pool with water to keep it fresh. Well it was cold so the water had frozen and half the branches were submerged. So he took and axe and hacked it out.

Brought it in the house and set it up, with one side missing half the branches where he'd hacked it out of the ice. My mother was not pleased and of course went on having a hissy for days. My sister and I somehow found it totally amusing.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Somewhere in grade school. I don't have an exact memory of it but we did keep pretending we didn't know otherwise no Santa for us.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Just one and like LSPE it's usually pajamas. Feetie ones of course.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
My tree is white. When I finally decided to get a fake one I figured if you're going to be tacky go all the way. So we do different color schemes every year. Last year was blue. I used blue rope light and blue bulbs as well as some of our nicer ornaments. This year Madz wants pink. I looked everywhere but I can't find inexpensive pink rope light so we're going with white ropelight and pink ornaments.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Love it. I miss living where there are seasons.

12. Can you ice skate?
I've tried once. I didnt' fall down but I'm not sure it qualifies as knowing how to skate.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
A natavity scene I got when I was about 5. My sister and I would play with it for hours and hours. Re-arranging everything. Making the charaters "talk".

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Celebrating with family and friends.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Gingerbread cookies and my mothers fudge.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Christmas carols

17. What tops your tree?
This year a pink star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving?
Giving. It's so much fun to search for just the perfect gift.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
There are so many. White Christmas by Bing Crosby, Please Come Home for Christmas - Bon Jovi version (sad I know). God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, Silent Night and of course my Dad's favorite, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Love em!