1. Wrapping paper or gift bag?

Yes! I prefer wrapping paper and ribbon but my procrastination has made gift bags the de facto adornment the last few years.

2. Real tree or artificial?

Real! And we like to cut it down ourselves.

3. When do you put up your tree?

The first Sunday in December.

4. When do you take down your tree?

The night before trash day after MLK Day.

5. Do you like eggnog?

Yes, but only the alcohol-free variety.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

The dollhouse my grandfather made for me would probably top the list. He got fancier as he gained expertise, but mine was the first and remains beloved.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?

Ummm… I have a tiny ornament one on the tree that we used to hang up when we were kids…

8. Hardest person to buy for?

My brother.

9. Easiest person to buy for?

Rudi. My dad. My book-loving friends.

10. Worst Christmas gift you’ve ever received?

I received a plastic ant-farm once from my secret santa at work.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Mail. Although sometimes on Christmas eve…

12. Favorite Christmas movie?

Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

I’ve been getting better about picking things up as I see them starting in the late summer. That still doesn’t stop my being one of those people still shopping on Christmas Eve.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Yes, although nothing particular comes to mind at the moment except bottles of wine.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Stuffing! Apple pie! Trifle! Christmas cookies! Christmas candy!

16. White or colored lights?

Colored, of course!

17. Favorite Christmas song?

“Silent Night”

18. Traveling for Christmas or stay home?

Travelling up to my folks’ — for a week this year!

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?

Yes. Are there really people who can’t?

20. Angel or Star on top of tree?

Used to be an angel, but she kept endangering herself. Now it’s a snowflake.

21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve, I’m still wrapping!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?

Managing my own expectations and stress about what I’d like to get done. I’m working hard to remind myself that I will be sad after Christmas if I decline fun activities in favor of shopping or knitting alone at home.

23. What I love most about Christmas?

Time with family and loved ones. The communal joy. A night of peace.

Things are a little stressful right now chez nous as I am behind on most everything, although perhaps less so than I was earlier today.

So, to distract you from the shoulder-tensing anxiety here, I’m offering you a meme started by Sweetpea:

• Favorite Christmas cartoon: Hmmm… This is hard. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” would definitely be up there. But if you really mean “favorite kids’ Christmas show,” then I’d probably go with “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.” I still watch it every year on Christmas Eve. I still wonder: are those Santa’s bells that awaken Big Bird? The lesson? Your friends are going to come through for you, even if you don’t realize that you need them to.
• Favorite Christmas movie: Miracle on 34th Street. It’s a Wonderful Life. Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life. Really it’s all about believing that one person (be he Santa or the little guy toiling away underappreciated day after day) really can make a big difference.
• Favorite Christmas song (traditional): “Silent Night” has to win out. Particularly when it closes out the Christmas Eve service lit only by the parishioners’ candles. Makes me shivery just thinking about it.
• Favorite Christmas song (pop/modern): Dar Williams’ “The Christians and the Pagans” is my favorite of the last fifteen years. It’s all about how you can cross the boundaries between traditions to find the commonalities if you want to enough.

I’m going to give an honorable mention to Hugh Blumenfeld for “Kosher for Christmas.” It’s references are too dated to win outright, but who can’t help feeling a little kinship for lyrics that include “Let’s all sing out praises to/A long-haired, radical, socialist Jew.”


• Favorite Christmas cookie: Eskimo cookies. They’re uncooked cookies — oatmeal, butter, and sugar rolled into balls and dunked in powdered sugar. Yum! You really can’t eat just one.
• Favorite family tradition: Until I was ten, Josh and I shared a bedroom, the door of which opened right onto the Christmas tree. When we were quite little, we’d be allowed to let Mum and Dad know we were awake and they would go and fetch the stockings Santa had left for us to open in our bedroom alone. I think this was so we’d let Mum and Dad sleep in until 7 — an excruciatingly early hour for them, particularly since they’d had to stay up so late to keep an insomniac sprite from interrupting Santa’s arrival. When we were older and had separate bedrooms, our stockings would appear on the hamper between our rooms s o that we didn’t have to waken our parents at all.

Please feel free to share your answers/memories in the comments or on your own blog.