long answers to short questions
Here's the Christmas meme I got from Jack Lail of the News Sentinel. Rules for the game include:
1. Wrapping or gift bags? If I can't get my daughter to do the wrapping for me, I will resort to gift bags.
2. Real or artificial tree? It used to be real until we moved to Tennessee and made the switch to artificial. We wanted to put the tree up earlier and were afraid of it drying out by the time we finally took it down in January.
3. When do you put up the tree? I don't. My wife does, God bless her, in late November or more likely in early December.
4. When do you take the tree down? It stays up until after the Epiphany.
5. Do you like egg nog? Yes, Weigel's brand with nutmeg on top.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably my magic set or my hand puppets but I also loved getting Hot Wheels cars and accessories.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. We have a simple ceramic set made by my mother's second husband. My mother has a classic Anri carved wood set that I have always admired.
8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I got some horrible "adult" gifts from coworkers at WAVA and Comedy World.
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? I like sending email cards but receiving paper cards.
10. Favorite Christmas Movie? "Miracle on 34th Street" is a strong contender.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? My wife does the bulk of the shopping. This year she went to a 4:00 a.m. sale on Black Friday. I bought a gift for her about two weeks ago and a gift for a friend of mine on the West Coast last week. It seems to get a little earlier each year.
12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Some pfeffernusse and a glass of egg nog.
13. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Currently clear but we are discussing adding colored lights next year.
14. Favorite Christmas song? After this weekend's Knoxville Symphony concert, I would have to say Leroy Anderson's "Christmas Festival Overture". That choice is a little bit of a cop out since it's a medley. I need to make a whole list of my favorites and turn it into its own blog entry later this week.
15. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. I have a rule that we wake up in our own beds on Christmas morning. That may change once our kids move out.
16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Sure, can't you?
17. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. We have a big red bow. On our first Christmas together, my wife and I couldn't afford a tree topper. We happened to go to a department store called Hecht's on Christmas Eve just as they were dismantling their decorations. We asked how much they were charging for the treetop bows. They said they were going to throw them away and gave us one for free. When that bow wore out, my wife made a new one with different design but the same sentiment.
18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? Christmas morning. When I was a kid, we would get up early and open all the presents in our pajamas. Then we would have to stop playing with our toys to get dressed and go to church. When my wife and I became parents, we decided to teach our kids that presents didn't get opened until after church.
19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Repetitious airplay of the same old secular holiday songs.
20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? We collect ornaments from all the places we visit. We also have all the official White House ornaments.
21. What do you leave for Santa? Homemade Christmas cookies and store bought egg nog.
22. Least favorite holiday song? There are several including "The Christmas Shoes." Quickly moving up (or is it down?) the list is the Crazy Frog version of "Jingle Bells." Stresiand's version of "Jingle Bells" is horrible too. I don't like "Wonderful Christmastime" either but it's not as bad as the other songs I've already mentioned.
23. Favorite ornament? Most of our ornaments are souvenirs of places we've been. I'm especially fond of the St. Louis Cathedral ornament that I got in New Orleans. It has a hole in the back for a light to be inserted.
The questionnaire I received ends here. No self-respecting Christmas survey should end at question number 23. I will add two questions to make it 25.
24. Family tradition? Whoever finds the pickle ornament on the tree gets to open the first present.
25. Ever been to Midnight Mass? Yes, but only once or twice. When our kids were very young, we went to church on Christmas morning. As they got old enough to participate in the children's choir, we started going to the late afternoon Mass on Christmas Eve. Now we go to the 8:00 or 10:30 p.m. Mass on Christmas Eve. Our parish doesn't have a Midnight service.
Now I get to tag some other bloggers. This meme calls for seven tags, which seems like a lot. But I'll do it. Merry Christmas to Bean, Rich, Les, Kimmy, Doug, Barry and Stacy. Once you've posted your answers, leave a comment here so my readers can find your responses.
- Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
- Share Christmas facts about yourself.
- Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
1. Wrapping or gift bags? If I can't get my daughter to do the wrapping for me, I will resort to gift bags.
2. Real or artificial tree? It used to be real until we moved to Tennessee and made the switch to artificial. We wanted to put the tree up earlier and were afraid of it drying out by the time we finally took it down in January.
3. When do you put up the tree? I don't. My wife does, God bless her, in late November or more likely in early December.
4. When do you take the tree down? It stays up until after the Epiphany.
5. Do you like egg nog? Yes, Weigel's brand with nutmeg on top.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably my magic set or my hand puppets but I also loved getting Hot Wheels cars and accessories.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. We have a simple ceramic set made by my mother's second husband. My mother has a classic Anri carved wood set that I have always admired.
8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I got some horrible "adult" gifts from coworkers at WAVA and Comedy World.
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? I like sending email cards but receiving paper cards.
10. Favorite Christmas Movie? "Miracle on 34th Street" is a strong contender.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? My wife does the bulk of the shopping. This year she went to a 4:00 a.m. sale on Black Friday. I bought a gift for her about two weeks ago and a gift for a friend of mine on the West Coast last week. It seems to get a little earlier each year.
12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Some pfeffernusse and a glass of egg nog.
13. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Currently clear but we are discussing adding colored lights next year.
14. Favorite Christmas song? After this weekend's Knoxville Symphony concert, I would have to say Leroy Anderson's "Christmas Festival Overture". That choice is a little bit of a cop out since it's a medley. I need to make a whole list of my favorites and turn it into its own blog entry later this week.
15. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. I have a rule that we wake up in our own beds on Christmas morning. That may change once our kids move out.
16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Sure, can't you?
17. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. We have a big red bow. On our first Christmas together, my wife and I couldn't afford a tree topper. We happened to go to a department store called Hecht's on Christmas Eve just as they were dismantling their decorations. We asked how much they were charging for the treetop bows. They said they were going to throw them away and gave us one for free. When that bow wore out, my wife made a new one with different design but the same sentiment.
18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? Christmas morning. When I was a kid, we would get up early and open all the presents in our pajamas. Then we would have to stop playing with our toys to get dressed and go to church. When my wife and I became parents, we decided to teach our kids that presents didn't get opened until after church.
19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Repetitious airplay of the same old secular holiday songs.
20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? We collect ornaments from all the places we visit. We also have all the official White House ornaments.
21. What do you leave for Santa? Homemade Christmas cookies and store bought egg nog.
22. Least favorite holiday song? There are several including "The Christmas Shoes." Quickly moving up (or is it down?) the list is the Crazy Frog version of "Jingle Bells." Stresiand's version of "Jingle Bells" is horrible too. I don't like "Wonderful Christmastime" either but it's not as bad as the other songs I've already mentioned.
23. Favorite ornament? Most of our ornaments are souvenirs of places we've been. I'm especially fond of the St. Louis Cathedral ornament that I got in New Orleans. It has a hole in the back for a light to be inserted.
The questionnaire I received ends here. No self-respecting Christmas survey should end at question number 23. I will add two questions to make it 25.
24. Family tradition? Whoever finds the pickle ornament on the tree gets to open the first present.
25. Ever been to Midnight Mass? Yes, but only once or twice. When our kids were very young, we went to church on Christmas morning. As they got old enough to participate in the children's choir, we started going to the late afternoon Mass on Christmas Eve. Now we go to the 8:00 or 10:30 p.m. Mass on Christmas Eve. Our parish doesn't have a Midnight service.
Now I get to tag some other bloggers. This meme calls for seven tags, which seems like a lot. But I'll do it. Merry Christmas to Bean, Rich, Les, Kimmy, Doug, Barry and Stacy. Once you've posted your answers, leave a comment here so my readers can find your responses.
posted by Frank Murphy at
11:49 PM
5 Comments:
Thanks Frank - mine are up!
Frank,
Mine are up but you are in trouble, haha! Kidding with ya!
But it did take forever because I don't really know seven bloggers and I also don't have a fancy blog like yours .. so it took some extra time to link stuff. I hope it works :)
Merry Christmas and thanks for including me!
Stacy
I moved here from Baltimore a few years back and have the hardest time finding Pfeffernusse! I love it, I spent a lot of my childhood in Germany and adore the cookies. Where can you find them? (I'm cooking impared)
Also I wanted to tell you congradulations on your weight loss. I struggled with my weight for a long time and know how hard it is to lose it and how great it feels to get to a goal weight. Kudos!
Hi Faith,
My daughter bought some pfeffernüsse at Giant in Northern Virginia and delivered them to me here in Knoxville. It might be worth your time to call a couple of local bakeries. Let us know if you find them!
Frank
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