A List of A Different Kind

HERE'S A LIST you don't have to check twice, and you don't have to admit if you've been naughty or nice either.  Just a little fun as we count down four more sleeps!


1. Are your lists done or are you still working on them? Some years I'm all done by this time, but have to admit I've still got a wee gift list as well as a food shopping list to finish by Friday.

2.  Hot Cocoa or mulled apple cider? Hot Cocoa... and don't spare the whipped cream and chocolate shavings either!

3. Turkey or Ham? Turkey with Mom's recipe for stuffing, and lots of it.

4. Do you get a fake or real-you-cut-it-yourself Christmas tree? I love a real tree, but for years we've set up a very pretty artificial one and put candle-like lights on it.  As a child I loved it when we'd come home from school one afternoon to discover that the tree had been chopped down and was now waiting for the okay to haul inside.  That meant Christmas was almost here.

5. Decorations on the outside of your house this year? Very simple this year -- lights on the house and a wreath with the long-tailed velvet bow on the door.

6. Snowball fights or sleddin’? Sleddin' (although it's been a while since I've done that. Snowball fights were a menace to eyeglasses).

7. Favorite Christmas song? That's too hard to narrow down; it depends what grabs my heart and fancy on a particular year. Sacred: Joy to the World; Secular: Sleigh Ride would be right up there.  When I'm not paying attention, I most often find myself humming Deck the Halls.

8. How do you feel about Christmas movies? I like them - love The Bishop's Wife, the old Bing Cosby ones (White Christmas, Going My Way, Bells of St. Mary), While You Were Sleeping, You've Got Mail...to name a few. I also enjoy movies that add to the ambiance, but aren't necessarily Christmas, e.g. Anne of Green Gables (there a scene with Christmas festivities going on).

9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music? Is it ever too early? Some Christmas music I can listen to any time (usually the classical stuff by Bach or Handel).

10. Going to someone's house or they coming to you? This year we're off to my sister's where we get to christen her newly-built home; it's out in the country and overlooks the Rocky Mountains.

11. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so when? I love the Christmas Story from Luke 1-2, King James Version (the one I grew up on and learned by heart without even trying, I'd heard it so many times). I love to read and ponder, like Mary, throughout December.

12. What do you do after presents and dinner? Sit around and visit, snooze, play games, nibble.  Laugh and tell stories.  Listen to the kids do their piano recital pieces, maybe sing carols.

13. What is your favorite holiday smell? The spicy smells of cinnamon and cloves; the turkey cooking on Christmas Day; evergreens as they warm when they are brought into the house.


14. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day? Our family tradition until siblings started getting married (needing to go to in-laws) was to open our presents on Christmas Eve, but now we wait until Christmas Day.  Rick and I usually do our own exchange of gifts early Christmas morning, tucked up in bed with something steaming to sip on as we savor packages and giggle together at the fun.

15. Favorite Christmas memory? As a young child, sitting in the darkened living room on a quiet evening watching the tree lights while my mom made supper in the kitchen. I felt cozy and safe.

16. Favorite part about winter? Snow; short days and early twilights; that Christmas is in the middle of it; looking for the birds come to the feeders on cold days; watching the joy of kids and dogs playing in newly-fallen-snowman-worthy snow!

17.  Write Christmas cards or send e-cards and Facebook greetings?  Both now.  But I still love looking for the perfect Christmas cards that become part of the message I want to share from my heart, which usually includes a letter or note (to go snail-mail and arrive in someone's letter box).

And now I'm off to tackle my other lists.  From the heart of my bottom bottom of my heart, I wish you a beautiful day --- as Mary Engelbreigt would say, Be warm inside and out!

Hugs,