My Christmas Memories

This was passed along to me and I thought it would be fun to answer it here. If you have a blog, consider yourself tagged. If you don't, then copy and paste and fill in your answers in an email and send it to your friends, including me!

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? I had egg nog for the first time last year and thought it was completely gross! I'll take hot chocolate any day. What's not to love about chocolate in liquid form?
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Santa fills stockings and sometimes leaves gifts nearby that are too big to fit.
3. Colored lights or white? On my house, white lights. But I like looking at colored lights. Just not on my house.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? It was nowhere to be found in Arizona last year. I don't think I will even look for it this year. We still kiss plenty without it.
5. When do you decorate for Christmas? Traditionally the weekend after Thanksgiving. However, this year everything got dragged in from the garage the day after Thanksgiving. Unfortunatley, ornaments still haven't made it onto the tree. I guess the elves have been too busy to stop at our house and do it.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish, excluding dessert? I dunno, the menu is always different from year to year. Only desserts are consistant!
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? White Christmases in Connecticut.
8. When and how, did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember. So I'm changing this to "What is your favorite Santa memory?" When I was about 6 or 7 my grandparents were with us for the holiday. One of them was sleeping in my room and their snoring woke me up. Then I heard noises on the roof (reindeer). Then I heard a noise from downstairs. I crept down the stairs, but not all the way, and looked into the living room. I saw Santa eating cookies near the fireplace. Then, I turned and ran like crazy back upstairs and jumped into bed. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? With my parents we opened all the gifts on Christmas Eve, then got stockings and other gifts from Santa on Christmas Day. However, Brian really likes saving everything for Christmas morning. So, I go along with it. For now.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? All of our ornaments have been given to us by friends or family, or purchased by us on trips. So, we have quite the eclectic tree including all sorts of weird things.
11. Snow. Love it or hate it? Love it! Love it! Love it! But then I haven't had to live in it since I was 9.
12. Can you ice skate? Now? No. Definitely not. However, when I was a kid and we lived in Connecticut I could, and I got by quite nicely.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Hmmm. That would be anything given to me by Brian because he totally spoils me silly and always goes overboard. As a child, my favorite gift was the giant Barbie head for hair styling and makeup. For months afterwards I wore those same pink curlers in my hair every night and Barbie wore them by day.
14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Spending time with those that I love.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Aha. Now here's the question I was looking for! My mom's cut-out cookies, made with just flour, butter and brown sugar. Yum!
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Just one? Sorry, can't do it. I love looking at lights, shopping, baking, decorating and sitting by the tree.
17. What tops your tree? A snowman angel. I know it doesn't sound so great, but it's cute.
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? I love receiving from people closest to my heart because it's such a tangible expression of love. But I have to say that choosing gifts, wrapping them, keeping secrets, and then seeing their faces when they open them is my favorite. I even like telling Brian things that I thought about getting for him, but then decided against. Like a membership in the bacon-of-the-month club. It included a t-shirt and a pig nose. However, I wasn't going to pay $140 for bacon. Not even for the man I love.
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? I have too many to list! Silent Night is my favorite hymn, and I try to bang it out on the piano, but it isn't quite the same. Sarah McLachlan's Song for a Winter Night is my pretty high up there favorite. It's melancholy and nostalgic. I love it.
20. Candy canes. Definitely not a favorite. Unless they are made of real chocolate. Which means it isn't really a real candy cane.

I hope you have had fun thinking about what your own answers would be. Please share!