A Christmas Meme

You know I love a good meme, and I picked up this fun Christmas one from DebR. I’m getting into the festive spirit in a big way, particularly since I finished the majority of my Christmas shopping yesterday (so virtuous!!!) so I thought I’d share it with you all. BTW the picture is my gorgeous Emma with Cooper (also gorgeous) in front of our Christmas tree.

1. Apple cider, Eggnog, or Hot Chocolate? Hmmm, I suspect that the apple cider referred to is not quite what we have here in Australia (I don’t mind the odd Strongbow Original on a hot evening, though). I’ve never tried eggnog, again not an Aussie thing, so I’ll have to go for the hot chocolate!

2. Turkey or Ham? It’s just not Christmas without the baked ham, glazed and studded with cloves – yum! This year I will also be serving roast turkey breast - just couldn’t be bothered with the whole bird when I only like the breast meat. Besides, I don’t think my oven is large enough to cook one successfully.

3. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wrapped! Absolutely!!!

4. Colored lights or white on the tree? I’ve just replaced my 20yo gold tree lights with multi-coloured. I loved the gold ones, but they were old and worn out so it was time to update.

5. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree? I love the smell of a real Christmas tree, but have to admit that it just seems too wasteful – they last such a short time here in Australia’s hot summer weather. With the drought this year, decent looking trees were too hard to come by (besides being a shameful waste of resources). So the old faithful fake tree has come out for duty once again.

6. Favorite Christmas song? This year I’m loving Kylie Minogue’s “Santa Baby” – it’s fun!!

7. How do you feel about Christmas movies? I love some, hate others. Ones I love include: Christmas Vacation; The Santa Claus; Bad Santa; A Wonderful Life; Life of Brian (OK that’s not strictly a Christmas movie, but still a fave). As for all those gooshy, sickly sweet ones – I’ll pass.

8. What is your favorite holiday dish? I love it all – you can tell from the size of my backside that I have toooo many favourite foods!!!

9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music? Anything prior to mid-December just sends me into terrible anxiety attacks.

10. What is your favorite holiday smell? Cinnamon.

11. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I was brought up without the whole Santa mythology – I always knew. I have, however, made a big effort to give my kids the fun and wonder of the whole fantastic Santa belief – it’s been fun for me as well as them!

12. What kind of decorations are on your Christmas Tree? We have a rather motley, mismatched collection of Christmas ornaments, but I love them all. At present we have a mostly purple and gold colour scheme (tinselwise), and I just bought a new lime green and orange star for the top of the tree (which has knocked “Garfield in a Santa hat” down from his top position).

13. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas Day? Christmas morning, always.

14. Go to someone else’s house or they come to you? When my kids were little, all my family came over here to watch them open their pressies. Now that they are bigger, we go over to my sister’s house to watch my 2yo nephew Cooper enjoy the present frenzy. It’s all about the kids.

15. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Both. Everyone loves to receive gifts, but it’s the shopping and gift-wrapping that really put me in the festive frame of mind. And it is a great feeling when someone really adores the gift I gave them.

If any of you feel like picking up this meme for your own blog, please let me know so I can read your answers. Merry Christmas!!!