Christmasy stuff
Dec. 5th, 2011 08:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fenchurchSnagged this one from julietvalcouer.
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate... although I do like egg nog from time to time. I've been working on finding good non-cow's milk alternatives for it this year.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Some are wrapped, some aren't... but they're never under the tree. Santa always puts our stockings on a chair with our presents.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the tree, green on the house (at least this year).
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Sometime after Thanksgiving... usually around December 1st.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Fruktsoppa! Or maybe bullar! Or really, anything served on a traditional Smörgåsbord. We're so very lucky to have been adopted bytomte's family... it just doesn't feel like Christmas until we've eaten yummy Swedish food!
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? So many of them! Probably the year we were at my grandparents' place in Idaho before moving to Guam... I was sleeping in the basement and heard some noises upstairs, when I peeked up the stairs, I saw someone wearing heavy black boots go walking by. I was convinced I'd seen Santa and hurried back to my bed until I didn't hear anyone on the main floor anymore, then went up to look at all the cool stuff Santa had brought and to wake up my grandparents. Of course, I figured out later that I'd seen my grandpa when he'd come back in from feeding the livestock (he'd played it up and had carried some bells with him), but he'd acted like he was deep asleep when I went in to wake him up. That incident is the reason my belief in Santa lasted as long as it did.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I figured it out when I was ten... using logic, mostly, and asked my parents... who admitted it was them. My mom explained that Santa goes through three stages: When we're very young, he's a magical being who brings us presents. When we're a bit older, he's our parents. And when we're even older, we become Santa. That year, my mom gave me a small budget and I played Santa for my parents... and it was possibly one of my best Christmases ever.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was a kid, we all opened one gift on Christmas Eve (that we chose randomly from the ones under the tree). I suspect this was started as a compromise between my parents. My mom always wanted to open everything on Christmas Eve (not that it mattered, since she'd generally peeked at everything already) and my dad wanted to wait until Christmas morning. As an adult, we open presents on Christmas morning.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Not sure what this question is about. Do they mean the process I use or what's on it? We've got some cranberry colored decorations, some white ones and some clear glass ones (mostly in the shapes of musical instruments).
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? A little of both. I love it on the ground when I don't have anywhere to go.
12. Can you ice skate? Nope. When I was a kid, I wore a legbrace that made it impossible to get skates on and as an adult I'm just not willing to risk falling a lot in order to learn how.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? As a child: A rock pick. Santa brought it for me when I was four and it was *exactly* what I wanted. I still have it.
As an adult: I can think of two things... The copy of Feynman's Lectures on Physics I got fromnmissi one year and the Canon EOS 30D that Rackham gave me a few years ago... in both cases it was exactly what I wanted and something I was complete not expecting.
14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Trifle.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Singing Christmas carols.
17. What tops your tree? A little candelabra with cranberry colored candles (that we never light). We bought it at Pic-n-Save (the precursor to Big Lots) the first year we were married for half off because the box was missing... and we've never replaced it because it just works so well.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving! I love finding the perfect gift for someone and surprising them with it!
19. Candy Canes: I like them, but I'm not crazy about them.
20. Favorite Christmas show? Die Hard (no, I'm not kidding... I watch it every Christmas.)
21. Saddest Christmas Song? Not sure. Blue Christmas, I guess.
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? "Carol of the Bells." Any version.
Crossposted from my Livejournal.
julietvalcouer.1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate... although I do like egg nog from time to time. I've been working on finding good non-cow's milk alternatives for it this year.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Some are wrapped, some aren't... but they're never under the tree. Santa always puts our stockings on a chair with our presents.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the tree, green on the house (at least this year).
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Sometime after Thanksgiving... usually around December 1st.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Fruktsoppa! Or maybe bullar! Or really, anything served on a traditional Smörgåsbord. We're so very lucky to have been adopted by
tomte's family... it just doesn't feel like Christmas until we've eaten yummy Swedish food!7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? So many of them! Probably the year we were at my grandparents' place in Idaho before moving to Guam... I was sleeping in the basement and heard some noises upstairs, when I peeked up the stairs, I saw someone wearing heavy black boots go walking by. I was convinced I'd seen Santa and hurried back to my bed until I didn't hear anyone on the main floor anymore, then went up to look at all the cool stuff Santa had brought and to wake up my grandparents. Of course, I figured out later that I'd seen my grandpa when he'd come back in from feeding the livestock (he'd played it up and had carried some bells with him), but he'd acted like he was deep asleep when I went in to wake him up. That incident is the reason my belief in Santa lasted as long as it did.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I figured it out when I was ten... using logic, mostly, and asked my parents... who admitted it was them. My mom explained that Santa goes through three stages: When we're very young, he's a magical being who brings us presents. When we're a bit older, he's our parents. And when we're even older, we become Santa. That year, my mom gave me a small budget and I played Santa for my parents... and it was possibly one of my best Christmases ever.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was a kid, we all opened one gift on Christmas Eve (that we chose randomly from the ones under the tree). I suspect this was started as a compromise between my parents. My mom always wanted to open everything on Christmas Eve (not that it mattered, since she'd generally peeked at everything already) and my dad wanted to wait until Christmas morning. As an adult, we open presents on Christmas morning.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Not sure what this question is about. Do they mean the process I use or what's on it? We've got some cranberry colored decorations, some white ones and some clear glass ones (mostly in the shapes of musical instruments).
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? A little of both. I love it on the ground when I don't have anywhere to go.
12. Can you ice skate? Nope. When I was a kid, I wore a legbrace that made it impossible to get skates on and as an adult I'm just not willing to risk falling a lot in order to learn how.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? As a child: A rock pick. Santa brought it for me when I was four and it was *exactly* what I wanted. I still have it.
As an adult: I can think of two things... The copy of Feynman's Lectures on Physics I got from
nmissi one year and the Canon EOS 30D that Rackham gave me a few years ago... in both cases it was exactly what I wanted and something I was complete not expecting.14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Trifle.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Singing Christmas carols.
17. What tops your tree? A little candelabra with cranberry colored candles (that we never light). We bought it at Pic-n-Save (the precursor to Big Lots) the first year we were married for half off because the box was missing... and we've never replaced it because it just works so well.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving! I love finding the perfect gift for someone and surprising them with it!
19. Candy Canes: I like them, but I'm not crazy about them.
20. Favorite Christmas show? Die Hard (no, I'm not kidding... I watch it every Christmas.)
21. Saddest Christmas Song? Not sure. Blue Christmas, I guess.
22. What is your favorite Christmas song? "Carol of the Bells." Any version.
Crossposted from my Livejournal.
