december: week 3

It's like Groundhog Day around here, with all the Turn a Squares and Dashing... I'm still busy working on Dashings.  I've got the second pair half done, but that is the mitt that my father-in-law picked up with his own and is now mailing back to me.  The third pair is also half done, and I'll probably finish that pair later today.  This last pair is for the husband and are shortened dramatically.  

So as not to bore you further with seeing the same dang yarn knit up in the same dang pattern, here's a Christmas-themed meme I copied from Andrea's blog.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?  Wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or artificial?  Real.  Noble Fir.

3. When do you put up the tree?  Usually the first weekend in December, but this year it was the last weekend in November.

4.  When do you take down the tree?  As soon as the tree is officially a fire hazard.

5. Do you like Egg Nog?  Yes, non-alcoholic right and out of the carton.  Bud's of San Francisco is the best in the West.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? LA Gear tennis shoes, pale pink/pale green.  I was 11, I think.  It's not so much that this was a favorite, but I remember this gift very clearly.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?  No.  We have a near-entire set of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" characters.  (Our Yukon Cornelius is not quite the same scale.)

8. Hardest person to buy for?  My father-in-law.

9. Easiest person to buy for?  Annika.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?  Usually, mail.  This year, I'm not sure that I'm going to get any out, though.

11. Favorite Christmas movie?  Elf.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?  Anything on the smörgåsbord.

13. Clear lights or colored?  Colored on the tree.  Clear on the house.

14. Favorite Christmas song? "Christmastime" as performed by the Smashing Pumpkins.

15. Travel or stay home at Christmas?  Stay at home.  I am a firm believer that the kids should be in their own beds on Christmas Eve.  I do wish we could be nearer to family, though.

16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?  Yes.  Absolutely.

17. Angel or Star on top of the tree?  Star.  A sequined gold star.  

18. Open presents Christmas Eve or Morning?  The Pajama Fairy brings the kids -- sometimes the adults -- new p.j.'s that are opened Christmas Eve.  All other presents are opened around 6am on Christmas morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year?  That it goes by a little too fast to enjoy it.  And that after-Christmas sales commercials appear on TV beginning Christmas Eve.

20. Which looks best, theme trees or homey trees?  Homey, I guess.  I hadn't ever really thought about it.  Our tree is covered in ornaments that people have made us or the kids have picked out.

21. Gingerbread or Sugar Cookies.  Gingerbread.  Always gingerbread.

Enjoy the last few days until Christmas.  I'm constantly reminded -- by television, my kids and my pocketbook -- that there are only 10 more days until the big guy arrives.  And 375 more days until next Christmas.