Christmas quiz

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I sometimes resort to bags, but I think it is so much more fun to be able to tear into the wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I have an artificial one - but I had a blast helping some friends go and cut down their own tree this year. It ended up being a very Martha Stewart kinda day: decorating their self-cut tree, preparing cider on the stove, a fire crackling in the fireplace, and shopping online for presents while we watched a Christmas movie. Ok, so maybe that last part isn't so much Martha Stewart...which probably isn't helped by the fact that the movie was Christmas Vacation.

3. When do you put up the tree? Weekend after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime in Mid-January. I'm reluctant to let it go.

5. Do you like egg nog? Never had any.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably my Barbie doll house. It was the huge one, almost as tall as I am.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? One under the tree and one in my bedroom.

8. Hardest person to buy for? my friend Tim

9. Easiest person to buy for? my friend Kayce

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Haven't gotten around to that yet...how about a Christmas blog?

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I guess I'd have to go with the Year of the Skunk. My grandparents lived in out in the country and somehow a skunk got under their house a week or so before Christmas and died. The smell got all over the place, including in our Christmas presents, which were already wrapped. I got a porcelain doll that year. Mom and I had to wash her little outfit about a million times and then we tried to Soft Scrub the doll itself. Too bad Febreeze wasn't around yet.

It's kinda funny, though because now I can't tell you how many of my friends now know the story about that Christmas. Anytime I am driving somewhere and smell that skunk smell, I say, 'Awww...Christmas!' Usually everybody in the car laughs at me and then asks for an explanation. They find the story thoroughly amusing, too.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? White Christmas, Muppet Family Christmas and the Charlie Brown Christmas Special


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas ? Usually I start the hardcore shopping in late October/early November - I like to be done by Thanksgiving. Only ONCE have I been shopping on Christmas Eve Day. We usually help Dad with his part of the shopping and one year he came to David and I the night before Christmas Eve and tells us about a few things he needs, including a silver or wooden ornament hangar. I was immediately confused because he said it was for mom. Mom only really has gold decorations in house. Well, Dad said, the ornament I got was more of a silver-toned one. Alright...so Dave & I head out to do our shopping on Christmas Eve (yuck). We spent almost ALL afternoon searching for this darned hangar. At one point Dave even suggested that we give up, but I was determined that Mom have something nice to open the next morning. I don't even know how many stores we went to, but we finally found one at Johnny Brocks. Blah blah blah, Christmas Eve comes and goes, and we next pick up our story at Christmas morning. I open up one of my presents and guess what's inside? That darned silver ornament hangar!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I know of

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? It used to be those Snowflake cream cheese cookies (we usually colored them green or reddish pink). But I was making them one year, got distracted, and forgot to put in the sugar. I tasted them at the end and instead of delicious cookie dough, I basically tasted play-doh. Kinda lost my taste for them now.

Ummm...gingerbread cookies are probably my favorite now.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear

17. Favorite Christmas song? Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen & Rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Right now I have a ghetto little star I made out of a toilet paper roll and aluminum foil. And no, I did not make it when I was little...it was only about 2 years ago. The top of my tree looked bare and I still haven't been able to find a nice topper I like - star OR angel!

21. Do you open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Major present opening is both Christmas Even and Christmas Day. Although, we've started to transition to opening immediate family presents Christmas Eve because we've all gotten to the age where we would rather sleep in more on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? When people start complaining about Christmas stuff being up so early. It's the Christmas season - JUST LEARN TO ENJOY IT!!! (I understand about people who work in the stores being a little more grumpy about it...but it's only for a month or so out of the entire year - embrace the holiday fun!)

23. What are you looking forward to during this month? Being back in Missouri with family and friends and snow...although the downsides to that are: I have to deal with the cold and I'm not going to see my friends from grad school for a few weeks.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Peace of mind for me about a few things, a red rider BB gun, and whirled peas.