Pilfered from Shylah

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Yes, please.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Wrapped! Even in the stockings. You go, Santa!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
White on the tree. Colored on the house.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
I did this year, since I got a pretty bag to keep it in so the leaves don’t fall off and poison the cats!

5. When do you put your decorations up?
The first weekend of December.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
My grandma’s cranberry salad. She passed away several years ago but this year I finally made it all by myself from scratch! Ground up the fruit and everything. Yum yum.

7. Favorite memory as a child?
Getting my annual Hallmark Dated Ornament from my grandmother. We exchanged them every year and it was fun some years to find that we had gotten each other the same ornament.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I think I was around 7. I seem to recall a tornado warning while we lived in MIchigan. My parents were out to dinner with some friends and I was holed up in the basement with my babysitter, eating a fudgesicle and she told me there was no such thing as Santa. I had to verify with my ‘rents when they got home. But to this day I get panic attacks when there’s a tornado warning. Are the two connected I wonder?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes. But just one. And usually a stocking gift.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Usually I go all out with lights, garland, ribbon, ornaments and balls. But this year we got a new fake pre-lit tree with white lights. It’s so gorgeous and full that I just hung my favorite ornaments on it…nothing else.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Learning to love it.

12. Can you ice skate?
Once upon a time…yes.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
A framed photograph of an iris that my Honey got me a few years ago. He had seen it in the window of a restaurant he frequented and coaxed the owner to sell it to him. It’s hanging in my front room.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Spending time with my family and extended family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
My mom’s peanut butter fudge.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
In my family, we always took turns opening presents. Since there were just three of us (mom, dad and me) we did this to drag the whole thing out over a couple of hours - to extend the thrill. Since I’ve started opening gifts with Honey’s family, I’ve had to teach them to SLOW DOWN and take turns. That’s always fun.

17. What tops your tree?
A carved wooden star with a heart in the middle. My mother in law was going to throw it out a few years ago but I fell in love with it. I’ve never seen anything better.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?
Giving, for sure. I’ve been shopping for gifts since well before Thanksgiving. Last week someone asked me for my Christmas list and I could only think of one thing.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
“Silent Night”

20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?
Yum. But in moderation. Those little tiny ones you get from the Salvation Army people are great. And one in your hot chocolate with a shot of Peppermint Schnapps is always good too.

21. Favorite Holiday Movie?
Elf “Hello! This is Buddy! What’s your favorite color!?”