Merry Christmas!

I hope you are having a great Christmas! So far I have worked; put a load of wash in at my mom's; retrieved Starbuck's for me, my mom and Bruce; thrown said laundry in the dryer; put sweet potatoes in the oven; prepped broccoli and carrots; all gifts are ready in the car. Whew. Now that I have typed that, I see I have been busy. The elves have nothing on me.

Now time for the blog entry while the sweet potatoes bake and the laundry dries.

Today we are just going to have a little fun here, because I have already spent the season giving you tips, recipes and condoling on attempting make it through the holidays without losing your healthy side. So, I swiped this from Annette's blog. These are my answers, feel free to share yours.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Depends on my mood, neither is particularly healthy. ;) But... if it's egg nog, it's AE and cocoa, it's Ghirardelli at Disney World. Ah, yes, I have to complicate everything.

2. Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree?
Wrapped. And when my brothers were little, sometimes double wrapped to foil guessing.

3. Colored or white lights?
LOTS, don't really care what color.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
I haven't met a reason to yet. Yet.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Thanksgiving at my mom's. At home, well, we are waiting until we have more room for a real tree. So, the front door is the only 'festive' area and frankly, it looks sad.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Grandma's oyster stuffing, anything my mom makes.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
That's hard. Any time when my brothers were really little. I remember their faces so well when they were opening gifts. They both tended to get warm in their footie p.j.s and their cheeks would get crimson. They looked like china dolls then, they were so sweet.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Annette asked, "What truth about Santa?" on her blog. I am down with that. Santa is the magic of Christmas, he is eternal and everyone should keep the idea of him all year long. As far as the physical manifestation perhaps not existing on this plane, I was 10 and I gave it up quite begrudgingly.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Depends on whether I am at a parent's house. If not, then no, I LOVE to wait.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
My mom's is in red & gold, I mention that one, because I am in charge of getting it up every year. (Though mom rocked and put up the tree this year, I just had to lead on decorations.) The tree that Lori and I fantasize about will be Star Wars - I have been collecting for years in anticipation.

11. Can you ice skate? Well, I've only been once. But I also only fell once, so that is something.

12. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Hmmm. Apparently no. I am finding during these answers that my childhood memories are a bit blurrier than I might like.

13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Telling family and friends the things I put off all year. While I try to make it clear throughout the year that I love them and appreciate them, I make a point of also saying the things you don't say during the year. For example that I respect them and know the sacrifices they have made.

14. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Well, the options are naturally endless. The Archway Nutty Nougats only come once a year, so that is nice, Aunt Linda's sugar cookies, almost anything mom or Lori create and of course - Stam's chocolates.

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Time with Caelen.

16. What is on top of your tree?
Well, when we do the tree we want to do... Millennium Falcon? Death Star? We'll work on that answer for next year.

17. Which do you like best giving or receiving?
Giving. Honestly, I need nothing, I love to give.

18. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Silent Night. I know that is a trite and pat answer, but done well, it gives me goose bumps every time.

19. Do you like candy canes?
Yes.

20. Do you like wrapping gifts?
If I have time, I love to make them very neat and they always have an extra flourish. This year as I am still trying to figure out how to schedule my new life, if it couldn't be put in an envelope or bag, it probably didn't get given.

21. Special wants for Christmas?
Peace. But then again, that's what I always want. Every time I see the first star it's what I ask for as well. This year I will add - more time with Caelen. (Then again, I should probably address that in my resolutions in a week's time.)

There it is, more about me than you probably wanted to know.

Merry Christmas, Kate