I’ve been tagged by Jennifer at The Catholic Path. I think she’s figured out that I’m a sucker for a meme….

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Coffee!! I can’t stomach Egg Nog!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? They are all coordinated and wrapped. Each child has his own wrapping paper and Santa’s gifts always have Santa paper on them.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the house, colored on the tree. LOTS of colored lights on the tree. My husband thinks that the amount of lights I insist on putting on the tree borders on the insane–but the result is FABOO!

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually we do a little on each Sunday of Advent, doing the tree on the Third Sunday. This year, with such a short Advent, we’ll accelerate things a little.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Pierogi and mashed rutabagas (really! But not necessarily together….) I like cranberry sauce too–the canned kind, with the “can marks.”

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Sitting at the top of the staircase with my sister and brother, yelling, “Did Santa come? Can we come down now?”–and listening to my parents tell us that we had to wait until my grandmother got there (AFTER 7 AM MASS)–and then racing down the stairs to see the tree for the first time. “Santa” always decorated the Christmas tree in our house when we were kids.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don’t remember.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Only the ones we receive at the family reunion/Wigilia. Everything else waits until the morning.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Most of our ornaments were given to us or made by the kids. I can remember a lot of the stories behind the ornaments–I should make a little journal about them. No tinsel or garland, just lots of lights and lots of ornaments.

11. Snow? Love it or Dread it? It’s great if we don’t have to go anywhere!

12. Can you ice skate? I can stay upright, but I can’t do any tricks.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My favorite childhood gift was a pretty doll cradle with a big baby doll inside. My favorite adult gift was my digital camera 2 years ago.

14. What’s the most exciting thing about the Holidays for you? Decorating the tree.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Christmas cookies, of course! They’re also my favorite Holiday Breakfast.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Watching the kids put the ornaments on the tree, and baking the Christmas cookies.

17. What tops your tree? We have an electric star that lights up–BUT if one of the kids makes a tree top (usually an angel, on a toilet paper tube base) at school, we use that instead.

18. Which do you prefer – giving or receiving? Giving. I especially enjoy wrapping up the presents, and imagining the recipients as they unwrap them. And then it drives me crazy to have to wait until Christmas to give the gift.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? “O Holy Night.” I’m unable to sing it or even hear it without tearing up.

20. Candy Canes? Bring ’em on!