This meme has been all over the place, but most recently I saw it at Barb’s and then over at Bev’s and I decided it was festive. I am also feeling the pressure because what could be better than P and his elk? It’s really more than the mind can comprehend. Well, at least more than my mind can comprehend.
1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? I can say that I make a fabulous eggnog from a recipe that was given to me by P’s mama (only I add a little more alcohol to keep us all in a festive frame of mind, and really since she only adds a teaspoon of rum per gallon…there’s nowhere to go but up). In fact, P gets completely addicted to the eggnog and has been known to put on 10 pounds in a single Christmas season. That’s the year that he conducted a self intervention and dumped the rest of the eggnog down the drain because while I make a great eggnog, I personally don’t care for it so he ends up drinking it all by himself. Give me hot chocolate any day of the week. And half coffee with half hot chocolate? They’ll be serving that in heaven, I guarantee.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Santa just sets the presents under the tree. I can still remember running into the living room on Christmas morning and seeing what looked like a toy store gone wild. I can’t wait to see Caroline’s face when she walks into our living room this year. She is going to lose her mind.
3. Colored lights or white? White lights for sure. The colored lights are back and a little retro chic, but I think if you’re going to use colored lights they need to be those big old fashioned ones, not just some flashing little red ones that make your house look like a dance club.
No offense if that’s what some of y’all have on your house…I’m sure they look lovely.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? There’s enough kissing in this house without mistletoe.
5. When do you decorate for Christmas? I like to decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving because then the decorations get to stay up long enough to make me feel like it was worth it to get everything down out of the attic. Plus, I think our house never looks prettier than it does at Christmas.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish, excluding dessert? When I was growing up my favorite dish without a doubt was my Aunt Sandra’s broccoli rice casserole. I have her recipe but no matter what I do, it never tastes as good as hers did. She even started making a whole extra pan for me so that I could eat it leftover for days.
Now one of my favorites is P’s mama’s cornbread dressing. She makes it in a big dutch oven on the stove so it’s not the kind of dressing that you cut in squares, it’s a moist, delicious slice of heaven. I have the recipe but I’ve never even attempted to make it because first of all, I’d eat the whole pot by myself and secondly, I know it wouldn’t be as good.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I have so many great holiday memories. I remember the Christmas when I got my blue bike with a banana seat with daisies all over it. That was also the year that I got some stylish gauchos with a shirt that said “Jeans, jeans, jeans”. I also remember getting my Donny and Marie dolls complete with sound stage. Oh I did love me some Donny Osmond.
But mostly, my best memories are of family and laughter. I loved getting to stay up late, eat candy, and the anticipation of seeing what Santa brought the next morning.
8. When and how, did you learn the truth about Santa? I was at a Brownie meeting in second grade and Sheila Barker broke the bad news. I was so mad I think I might have kicked her.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? If I can find some cute Christmas pajamas for Caroline, I’ll wrap them and let her open them Christmas eve, but so far my search for cute jammies has been fruitless. Well…unless I want to spend $50.00, which I don’t.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Lots of white lights with red ribbon and silver beads for garland. I have lots of different ornaments and try to add a least a few new ones every year. My favorite ornament is a glittery red nest with a little red bird that belonged to my Mema.
11. Snow. Love it or hate it? Love it because I haven’t seen it since I went to Colorado five years ago. In a cruel twist of fate, it actually snowed in South Texas two Christmases ago and we didn’t get any of it where I live. I keep my fingers crossed every year that maybe this will be the year.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes, I am ranked in the world in ice skating. My rank would be somewhere in the bottom billion.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I think I already mentioned the Donny and Marie dolls. Does it get any better than that?
14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Making Christmas a magical time for Caroline. I want her to appreciate why we celebrate Christmas and all the fun things that the holiday season brings.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Gulley’s homemade iced sugar cookies. In fact, I just asked her yesterday when she was going to start baking them. Last year, you’d have thought I was a crack addict and she was my supplier. I am embarrassed to say that I hounded her daily about my cookie supply.
I am not kidding when I say that they have some ingredient that is completely addictive and will make you lose any resolve to not consume 26 cookies in one sitting and beg for more.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I’m still working on establishing some family traditions, but one thing that P and I do every year is walk around our local outdoor shopping center right before Christmas. We wait for a cold night, go out to dinner, get some hot chocolate and walk around and window shop. It’s one of my favorite things we do.
17. What tops your tree? A silver star.
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving. It’s a great feeling to pick out something for someone that you know they’ll like. And seeing Caroline’s excitement is the best present I could get.
Of course, I wouldn’t turn down a diamond ring.
19. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night is my favorite religious song, but I do love Jingle Bell Rock for just plain fun. I remember my mama putting our Christmas albums on the console stereo while we decorated the tree and I always loved when Jingle Bell Rock came on.
Oh, and Blue Christmas because it’s Elvis. What else do you need to know?
20. Candy canes. Yuck or yum? I’m not a fan.
Y’all have a nice weekend!