A Christmas Meme

This was found at Rebecca's, where she said that anybody could take it, so I did. You, also, should post it - and then tell Rebecca.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate almost every time, although I enjoy one or two glasses of Egg Nog (non-alcoholic) at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

At our house, Santa is the one who fills the stockings. I guess that means neither.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

Colored (although I believe the politically correct term these days is African-American.)

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

Never did until this year. When I opened up a box of old Christmas decorations, I found an unopened package of the stuff. Opened the package and found it to still be green and moist. Well, I have no idea how old it is, but it's at least a year, so that's sort of a miracle, isn't it? Who am I to look a gift miracle in the mouth? So, I hung it. MY WIFE and I smooched. So far, nobody else has been under it, but if you're planning a trip to our place, you may now consider yourself forewarned.

5. When do you put your decorations up?

Usually whatever weekend falls around December 5th - 10th. This year, it was the 9th. It is my pleasure to do this while MY WIFE is otherwise engaged - that is, at work or out with friends. She then comes home to a fully-decorated house and is (or at least feigns to be) delighted. She has none of the bother and I get to have everything as I like it. It's all good.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?

MY WIFE.

7. Favorite Holiday memory?

You'll have to come back tomorrow for that - hint, hint.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

Truth? As Pontius Pilate once said, "What is truth?"

I believe the truth in this instance is that Santa exists. My proof is that I get a stocking full of presents every year. Good enough for me.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Yes, a few. We celebrate with some relatives at their house. Insofar as exchange of gifts between MY WIFE and me, we exchange presents on January 6th, The Feast Of The Epiphany, also known as The Feast Of The Magi. This is the traditional gift-giving day in many locales outside of USA/Canada. As a matter of fact, the period of time between Christmas and January 6th is the "12 Days Of Christmas" fabled in song.

There you go - maybe you learned something by coming here. That could be a first.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?

Well, I first have to explain that we have FIVE trees.

You see, MY WIFE worked in a retail shop a few years back and these trees were used in a display. After the holiday season, the store was going to just toss them. However, she asked if she could have them, instead, and they said she could, so we have five green artificial trees ranging in size from two to about seven feet tall.

Anyway, first thing I do is string lights on the trees - one continuous strand arranged first around one tree, then another, then another, and so on. After that, I festoon them with various ornaments, of which we have way too many to fit on the trees all at once, so the choice is slightly different every year. I then put a garland or two on a couple of the trees and finally top the tallest tree with a star that has been in my family since at least my birth.

Finally, I arrange a white dropcloth around the bottom and (since these are five artificial trees) spray a bit of pine scent.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?

Love to look at it, dread shoveling it.

12. Can you ice skate?

Yes, but not very well. That's why I was a goalie. I mean, aside from the fact that I like having rock-hard hunks of black rubber flying at my face at speeds in excess of 100 MPH.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

I can honestly say that I've had no one favorite gift. I love all gifts.

14. What's the most important thing?

That's an open question, isn't it? I'll assume we're talking about the most important thing concerning Christmas. And I'll say Christ. After all, He takes up 2/3 of the letters when you spell it!

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?

Squash Pie with something we call Hard Sauce.

17. What tops your tree?

A Star, as mentioned above.

18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving?

Both are perfectly swell.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?

Silver Bells. As a child who grew up in Boston and did all of his Christmas shopping downtown, it seemed to speak directly to me. The Johnny Mathis version is best.

20. Candy canes, Yuck or Yum?

Yum!

(I notice that there is no #16. Feel free to make one up and then suppose that I gave a typical Suldoggian answer. For instance, "Turnip, unless you have to reverse direction quickly, in which case you'll want to make that a U-Turnip.")

See you tomorrow with the final posting before Christmas. It will be a repeat from a previous time, but I believe it may be the best thing I've ever written, so I'll be trotting it out here again. I hope you'll enjoy it.