Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Tagged

It seems I've been tagged again, Christmas style! Since I'm tired from shoveling the driveway (and have to go out and do it again, since it snowed again) and riding the stationary bike, I won't even try to escape. Plus, these taggy things give my tired brain a break from having to think things up on my own. Here goes:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper! Gift bags are only for emergencies-- like when you're buying the gift on the way to the party because you forgot all about it.

2. Real tree or artificial? REAL, REAL, REAL!!! I will admit to having used a small artificial tree once out of necessity, but touching an artificial tree really gives me the heebies. Plus, I make homemade gingerbread to put on the tree and the fresh cut tree/gingerbread smell combination is heavenly! Not quite the same with a fake tree, obviously!

3. When do you put up the tree? Mid-December.

4. When do you take the tree down? New Year's Day, or the next (depends on how lazy we are).

5. Do you like eggnog? Oh, yeah! I have to "water" it down a bit with milk, though.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A desk when I was 10 (I think) and there were things in all the drawers. I was especially excited about the 22 caliber shells for target shooting!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My husband, Rophone. All the stuff he really wants is way out of our budget, and I can't seem to pick much that he likes even after 14 years of marriage! (Shopping just isn't my gift!)

8. Easiest person/people to buy for? My kids!

9. Do you have a nativity set? Nope.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I believe in the paper version, although since my Palm fried and lost all of my addresses (no, I wasn't smart enough to have them backed up!), I am struggling to find the motivation to send them this year. ALL of those addresses need to be re-gathered.... ugh.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't really recall any bad ones. I was always SO well-behaved! ; )

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The original, claymation, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"! 

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually the beginning of December-- let's give Thanksgiving some attention!

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? The traditional turkey dinner, followed by left-overs of course!

16. Lights on the tree? Is this a rhetorical question? WHAT?! Of course!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Silent Night.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home! Once, Rophone and I traveled (by plane) from Phoenix to Portland for Christmas. With all the delays, it took us 15 hours to get there! And, they lost our luggage both ways! Needless to say, we have made the decision to stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course, but if I list them then the people I tag will be able to cheat!

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? As a kid, we always opened one on Christmas Eve, but Rophone and I don't do that... there are never so many gifts that we feel we want to "waste" one. Plus, the anticipation is most of the fun!

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year?  The Holiday traffic! If people were courteous, it wouldn't be so bad. It just seems like everyone thinks that where they're going and what they're doing is more important than what anyone else is doing. See, annoying!

22. Favorite ornament theme or color? I don't really have a favorite. I buy ornaments on vacation sometimes, and I love the ones the kids make. (Of course there's the white felt circle with my 7th grade school picture on it that the kids always insist on placing front and center). I love the smell of the gingerbread men I make.. it just isn't the same without that smell.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year? For everyone to be healthy and happy and just to enjoy being together.  

My good friend, Lima, who tagged me, had #14 missing from her list-- I seem to be missing #15! (Yeah, I'll wait while you scroll up and look) I was going to tag #15 but he was too fast (and I felt bad that he is the # most often forgotten by children when they count to 20), so I'll tag YOU instead: jwise, Tamsen and janeannechovy!

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

Okay, so I've never been tagged before, so I don't really know how to do it. Do I reply on your blog or mine? I'm just going to pick one and reply on yours. :)

1. Wrapping paper, mainly so there's no "accidental peeking" into any Christmas presents.
2. REAL TREE! There is nothing like the smell. NOTHING. (Your gingerbread + real tree sounds SO good. I've done that before.)
3. We usually put up the tree on the first Saturday (or so) of Dec.
4. We usually take it down some time before the Boy Scout Christmas tree pick-up!
5. Yes, I love eggnog. But I add milk, too.
6. I can't remember many of the gifts I got as a child, but I was so glad to finally have a Sony Walkman about 2 years after everybody else did.
7. My husband is my hardest person to shop for, too. I can't ever think of anything really cool that I could actually afford, and I'm never sure what he would really like. (Yeah, 14 years of marriage doesn't seem to help in that department, either!)
8. My kids are usually easy to buy for.
9. Yes, my favorite thing to decorate with is nativities. I don't know how many I have. I have 2 from Israel, plus one made out of cinnamon dough, one made of paper (!) and one from clay, one from glass.... probably 4 or 5 others??
10. I always mail Christmas cards--the paper variety. I will always be old-fashioned that way.
11. I don't remember a "worst" Christmas gift I received. (Come on, I had a hard enough time coming up with the best one!)
12. I don't really watch many Christmas movies. I guess my favorite would be "A Christmas Carol."
13. I like shopping for Christmas in September, but Kevin has to get past my birthday first (Nov.) before he can shift to Christmas, so any shopping we do together usually happens between Thanksgiving and...well, Christmas.
14. My favorite food-y things at Christmas are the treats--cookies & fudge & etc., but we have a favorite Christmas Eve dinner: a FANTASTIC blue cheese flank steak recipe, baked potatoes, etc.
16. I like white lights for our tree.
17. My favorite Christmas song is probably O Holy Night, but I also like O Come, O Come Emanuel, and most in the hymnbook.
18. We normally stay home for Christmas--do most of our traveling in the summer. I like it fine that way.
19. Yes, I can name all of Santa's reindeer (but I won't let people cheat off me either) ha
20. We open gifts on Christmas morning, too.
21. The thing I hate most about this time of year is the commercialism. I really hate it. I also get very annoyed when people don't use the word "Christmas." It's not called "holiday," it's called Christmas!
22. My favorite ornament?? Hmm... I love them all! We get a new one every year, from either places we've visited or things we've done that year. And I also love the ones my kids make at preschool or school. LOVE those!
23. I have no idea what I want for Christmas this year. Actually, new carpet would be awesome!! :)

The Laundry Queen said...

jwise--

This way works fine, although it eliminates your ability to torture others the same way that I tortured you! : )

It's nice to learn more about you, and I think I'm going to need that blue cheese flank steak recipe. My husband is a blue cheese fan!

Jennifer said...

You DO need that recipe! It is to die for! Should I post it here, or on facebook, or e-mail it???

The Laundry Queen said...

Why don't you send me the recipe as a message on facebook. That would be cool-- thanks!