A Christmas Meme

I don't often do memes because they spread like viruses and it seems that the more you do them, the more susceptible you are to others that come along, until you're answering questions like, "If you were a shoe, what would it be?" and "What color is your favorite belt?" Also, I'm absolutely unable to answer these questions briefly, so my readers really should be grateful that they don't have to read an entire paragraph on myself as a shoe.

Still and all and anyway, the occasional Christmas meme is fun. So here we go.

Eggnog or hot chocolate? Eggnog. I like the idea of hot chocolate, but am always disappointed by the reality. A lot like champagne, actually.

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? There is no Santa Claus here. It wasn't a game I felt like playing and Darren went along with me. We do talk about St. Nicholas and how he gave generously to the poor. This year Addie has gone through phases of pretending she believes in Santa. Okey-dokey. Just as long as I don't have to pretend that HE did all the shopping, spending, and wrapping.

Colored lights on a tree or white? I used to love white lights. They were so elegant. Now I'm tired of them and we have colored lights. Ha, funny, that's what everybody else is doing, too!

Do you hang mistletoe? Well, for one thing, we don't HAVE mistletoe in our suburban neighborhood. And I find it hard to think of it as romantic, ever since my brothers explained how it kills the tree it grows on. Not that this sort of thing is the primary way my brothers spoke into my life over the years.

When do you put your decorations up? Usually about the second week of December.

What is your favorite holiday dish? My grandmother's cornbread stuffing, which I haven't had in eight years.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, one. Or maybe we do stockings? I'm not sure, since Darren and I are still ironing out the tradition there. My family always opened our gifts on Christmas Day, and didn't do stockings. I was absolutely astonished to find out that his family opened all theirs on Christmas Eve, and stockings on Christmas Day. As a new wife, I was very eager to meld traditions and even adopt his for the good of our marriage; but waking up to no presents on Christmas morning was too bleak even for a bride. Darren graciously adopted the Christmas-Day-Gift tradition.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Well, first we pull out our artificial tree, the one that's six feet tall if you make the very top sprig stand straight up. If you know anything about my family's Christmas-tree history, you know that's pretty much a joke. (I grew up with twenty-foot fir trees in the house. I am not kidding.) Then we decorate it with the dozen or so ornaments we were given as wedding gifts (great wedding gift idea there, by the way). We've collected a few more over the years, most notably the personalized ones for each of my children from my friend Debra. And, of course, the pickle -- our favorite ornament. We save it for last, and ask someone special to put it on every year. This year Phillip "put" it on.

Snow: love it or hate it? Snow is still a jazzy novelty for me. For everybody in this area, actually; the slightest snowfall is an automatic snow day, whee! And around here it has a nice way of dropping in for a visit, lying around for a day or so, and melting. Today is different, however: we got fully three feet in some places and it doesn't look like it's going anywhere for a while. By Tuesday, I'll hate snow.

Can you ice skate? Southerners don't ice skate. I can still roller skate, though, with those two-by-two wheeled skates, the real kind from the 80s, you know.

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Martha Washingtons

What is your favorite holiday tradition? "Christmas riding," which is what Rosemary and I called driving around looking at lights. This year, though, we've also done a Jesse Tree. Each night one child hangs an ornament having to do with a story in the Bible that typifies or prophesies Jesus. I like the fact that we turn off all the lights and light the Advent candles. The semi-darkness calms everyone down and is a restful pause at the end of the day. Also it makes the house look pretty.

Candy canes: yum or yuck? I always loved getting them, and never ever liked the taste. I ate them anyway, though. Couldn't resist the hook at the end of it.

Favorite Christmas show? Muppet Christmas Carol.

The other thing about these memes is that they don't have any closure. Just one last question and bang! you're done. I find it disturbing, but that's what you'd expect from a comfortable dressy-casual flat with a velcro strap.

-- SJ