{25 Christmas Questions}

Hi, all. I hope you're all having a lovely week before
Christmas. I'm having a great time with family and so
enjoying the snow and cold weather! Cheers,
Sam

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A little get-to-know-ya Christmas holiday Q & A...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
- I'm a wrapper all the way. I love that part of presents!
I like all my paper to match under the tree. So, I usually
buy three patterns in the same color scheme and two or
three coordinating solids.
2. Real tree or Artificial?
- Wish I could say real but I can't. We bought a fake
tree when we moved to Dallas in 2001.
3. When do you put up the tree?
- The week before or the week after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down?
- Sometime between NYE and the 4th.
5. Do you like eggnog?
- Try it yearly thinking I might but I never do.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
- Didn't celebrate Christmas until I was 18. Stupid
Jehovah's Witnesses. My first Christmas was awesome
though.
7. Hardest person to buy for?
- David's dad.
8. Easiest person to buy for?
- The kids (nieces and nephews, Jack, etc.)
9. Do you have a nativity scene?
- No, sir. Christmas is a very secular holiday for me.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
- I've done both. Considering the switch to email to save
paper. Still haven't decided on a plan for this year,
which may very well mean no cards of any kind are going
to happen, and I'm okay with that.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
- No such thing! I do appreciate extra thoughtful ones more
though, for sure.
12. Favorite Christmas movie(s)?
- Honestly haven't seen many. I've always wanted to have a
marathon and watch all the ones I haven't seen. I love It's
a Wonderful Life.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
- Usually in the summer sometime. If I see the perfect thing
at a good price, I get it and stash it away in my office.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
- Nope.
15. What holiday activity do you look forward to?
- Seriously, wrapping gifts is one of my favorite things to do.
Last year, I had a lot of fun decorating the outside of the
boxes I shipped. I stamped them with Christmas stamps,
wrote lyrics to Christmas carols. Everyone was so excited
when they received them in the mail. My energy failed me
on that this year. So, my boxes were pretty darn simple.
Probably my favorite activity is mapping out a path to go
see highly decorated houses, filled with lights. There's a
website (azcentral.com) where you can go to find homes
that fit the bill in our area. We didn't do it last year, but we
did it the year before, and it was awesome.
16. Lights on the tree?
- We use white ones. I also like big, old fashioned lights.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
- I love The Three Tenors Christmas music. And Pavarotti.
Their sound is so magical.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
- Stay home! No question about that. I've done it every year
except one in the past seven years, and it really works for me.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
- Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner,
Blitzen ... & Rudolph, which I know was not part of the original
eight, but I think he should be included because he's the most
famous one of them all.
20. Do you have a holiday collection?
- Just one and it means a lot to me. David's mom gets us a
Swarovski Crystal Ornament every year for our anniversary.
So, we have five of them so far. They're so beautiful, and
they even have a little silver tag engraved with the year.
They catch light in the most amazing way. (I've actually been
meaning to do a blog post on them.) I also really like snow
babies, but I only have two.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Morning?
- David and I each open one on Christmas Eve night. For the
past several years, I have bought and wrapped pajamas for
each of us. We put them on that night and wear them all day
on Christmas.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
- The general sense of obligation. I feel like everyone feels like
they have to buy, wrap, do cards, cook, travel, attend parties,
etc. If you don't have the money or energy, it can really take
a lot of joy out of it. That's exactly why I keep it super, super
simple the day of.
23. Favorite ornament, theme or color?
- That's tough to narrow down. I have so many ornaments I
love. I've really tried to pick one up to represent different
places we've lived, traveled, hobbies, etc. Our tree is mostly
deep red and gold. We have a lot of other colors though. I
guess it's kind of classic. Lindsay got me a really fun one last
year -- a Starbucks cup to represent all the good times we
have chatting over coffee. I got several that I just love from
Waterford in Ireland. And this year, I bought myself a camera
ornament from World Market that's perfect!
24. Favorite FOOD for Christmas dinner?
- I don't have a tradition for this. I never have the same
menu or even always have a big Christmas meal. David
and I usually watch movies and eat easy comfort food in
our pjs that day.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
- A point and shoot camera for when I can't/don't want to
take my big one. Or David to buy us ballroom dance classes
or tickets to go horseback riding, but I'm not holding my
breath on that. :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, TO ALL!