Almost…almost missed noticing that I’d been tagged yesterday by Kristina who’s doing her level best to spread holiday cheer spread to her by friend Col who had it spread to her by…you get the picture.
Melissa’s Christmas factoids:
1. Wrapping or gift bags? Both. I’m no Martha Stewart wrapping expert, so after my first few attempts at creating crisp edges and neat folds FAIL MISERABLY, I beeline for the plan B gift bags.
2. Real or artificial tree? Real. Love the ones with softer needles. As a kid my parents always spent the extra money for a live tree with a root ball so that it could be planted in the yard after it’s Christmas performance. This year I made a tree from twigs because I just wasn’t in the mood for feeling guilty about sending a cut tree to the wood chipper on January 2nd.
3. When do you put up the tree? The first Tuesday that’s in the first full week in December…kidding. There’s no pattern. It happens whenever “the spirit” lights a big enough fire under my ass.
4. When do you take the tree down? January 2nd. Christmas malingering…irritating as a splinter under my nail. I want to throttle the people who leave their decorations up for the twelve days of Epiphany. Take them down, already! Please. Thank you.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but it’s not the first thing I reach for. I’d reach for a stiff Mudslide before eggnog.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Funny what first comes to mind is the gift I didn’t receive that would have been the favorite. A pony. I know! You can’t help but groan! But, yeah, a pony. Still waiting….
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Nope. As a kid we had one though, and I really liked it. It was old and the paint on the figures had a nice, Old World Masters kind of patina. Better than the Nativity scene, though, was the Advent calendar that my father had made out of wood and that my mother had fun filling with little surprises.
8. Worse Christmas gift ever received? A set of luggage. I was 17. I had no place to travel to and no way to get there…which is exactly what they would say to me when I would declare that “anywhere but here would be a VAST improvement since current conditions weren’t fit for swine.” Oh, Memory Lane, how I wish you would stick to the program of presenting me — at all times — in more favorable light and not reminding me so vividly of what a little shit I could be as a teen.
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Both. This year I’m shifting my tradition to be New Year cards. A) It gives me a little more time to get something out via snail mail. B) I like the idea of sending best regards and best wishes for 12 months rather than just for one day.
10. Favorite Christmas movie? Don’t have one.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Don’t have to. Happily, my family has moved beyond the present exchanges. We have enough of what we need and a good bit of what we want. We’re very, very fortunate in this regard and the best way to express that is to just hang out together for the day and have a good dinner. Tim and I give each other something for our birthday’s, but we pointedly remove ourselves from the minefield of finding a gift that says “I love you”. It’s better, in our opinion, to say it as you look the other person in the eye.
12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Spritz cookies.
13. Clear lights or colored lights on the tree? If I was doing the tree thing in the usual way, it would be big, bright colored ceramic lights. This year I strung a couple strands of those on the front door wreath…love it.
14. Favorite Christmas memory? The year I was 10, we had just moved. Our dog, Biscuits, wigged out about her new surroundings, jumped the fence, ran off, and ended up being hit by a truck. We were devastated. Our parents surprised us by getting a Springer Spaniel puppy, Patches, who we adored as a puppy and cherished as a grown up dog. I still have a photo of her napping on the pile of wrapping paper and bows. That dog was legend.
I know that I’m supposed to tag others now, but all of my other blogging peeps have already been tagged with holiday meme’s and would kill me if I tagged them with another. Maybe next year.
Doesn’t it all come down to wanting and waiting for a pony…on some level?? Too funny. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.