Christmas Questions & Answers

My dear friend Sarah posted this list of questions to her blog and asked several of us to post our answers so here it goes!

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?

Since I drink sugar-free hot chocolate and buy it by the truckload at Sam's, the egg nog is more of a treat for me but I really rather prefer a glass of wine or bubbly.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

In our house, I am Santa. I bought and wrapped all of the gifts for our family members this year (and one close friend). I think Jon has some stuff stashed away somewhere for me but I draw the line at wrapping my own gifts! Jonnie talks about Santa but when he sees gifts, he just wants to rip them open. I had the idea this year that maybe my husband could dress up as Santa on Christmas if we can find a suit. He's got the belly like a bowl full of jelly although his is full of Wendy's new Jalepeno Double burgers!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

Ah, this is where hubby and I disagree and hubby wins out. I love the look of white lights while Jon thinks they're boring and wants colored lights. Given the incident 10 years ago when had bought our first home and had our first live Christmas tree and the 6-foot tree fell out of the stand and on me when I tried to put lights on, hubby can put his colored lights on our tree. Other than the tree, our decorations are usually minimal. This year, I hung stockings in the windows down each side of our front door. The #48 Jimmie stocking is one side and the #8 Dale Jr. stocking is on the other.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?

No but I remember when my father-in-law hung up mistletoe at his old house in Washingtonville. He hung it in the doorway near the main bathroom so someone always ended up under it!

5. When do you put your decorations up?

Usually the first weekend of December is when we start. This is mostly because OSU's Forestry Department has their annual tree sale the first Friday and Saturday of December and this is where we get our short 9-foot trees. In two years when we host Christmas at our house and try to track down another 13 to 15 foot tree, I'd like to start around the same time because it will take me that long to get ornaments on the tree!

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

Since you excluded dessert, at the risk of offending my parents I must say that the ravioli and meatballs that is the Christmas tradition in Jon's family is by far my favorite. Homeade multi-cheese ravioli and homeade meatballs (98% meat and Jon added 2% breadcrumbs to please his Dad) drenched in my father-in-law's homeade sauce made from homegrown tomatoes.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child:

When I was a child, we used to go to my Aunt Alma's and Uncle Cop's house (a block away) for a party with the Suttons and the Reichs (my Mom's side). There was food, stories, and good times. The best part was my goblet of ginger ale for the toast.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

I hate to say that I figured out at young age that my Mom was Santa in our house. I learned that she stashed Christmas gifts in the spare room closet next to my room and since I was not allowed to close the door to my room when I was little, I heard her in the closet and saw her walk down the hall with tons of gifts.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Generally, no. However, if we're traveling to Leetonia, we stop at my parents on the way for a day or two and have dinner with them an exchange gifts and this is usually a day or two before Christmas Eve.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

Lights, ornaments, with a Nativity underneath. This year, we've talked about just doing lights and the glass ball ornaments. We have a lot of the collectible type ornaments like "Our First Christmas" or "Baby's First Christmas" and tons of other stuff we've accumulated over the years. We just aren't in the mood to deal with taking everything out of the boxes and paper and then back in again after Christmas. Our Ohio State ball ornaments will probably be as specialized as we get this year.

11. Snow? Love it or dread it?

I don't mind snow as long as I don't have to drive or otherwise travel in it. I keep getting reminders of Thanksgiving 2005 when we were going from Ashland to Canfield for dinner at Uncle Steve's and our mini-van did a 360 on the entrance ramp to route 76 from I-71. I was spent the rest of the drive almost in shock and said nothing and immediately sought out the wine when we arrived at Uncle Steve's!

12. Can you ice skate?

No.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

I hate to seem like I'm copying Sarah but the Ohio State Buckeye necklace my Dad got me several years ago is still one of my favorite gifts. I break it out at the start of football season and wear it until we've played our bowl game or National Championship game. According to my Mom, my Dad picked out this necklace all by himself when they were at Penney's shopping!

14. What's the most exciting thing about the holidays for you?

I enjoy having a few days off work especially if I'm not required to set an alarm to get up in the morning, rather, I get up when I wake up or when Jonnie wakes up. I like being around family not just because I love them but also because someone else is occupying Jonnie's time so Jon and I have the opportunity to visit with other relatives, take a walk, or even watch TV.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

Cherry cheese pie! When I was little, Mom used to cook up a large feast and my grandparents Woodruff, Uncle Jim & his family, and my Uncle Bobb would all come for dinner. She always made this as one of the desserts because my Grandpa Woodruff loved cherries but only having one tooth, he had trouble eating traditional cherry pie. Mom has promised me that she's going to make cherry cheese pie this year for me.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Like Sarah, I enjoy Midnight mass although I've only gone once back in 2004 when we hosted Christmas at our house. We had 2 pews of family in the back of the church although I think I'm the only one who enjoyed it. Otherwise, I guess it would just be the tradition of spending time with family.

17. What tops your tree?

Last year it was a star because when Jon bought the 13-foot tree 2 years ago, he realized that our tiny little angel that we used previously would be lost at the top of the tree. Unfortunately, he could not find a large angel that he liked so we got a star. He found some stuff after Christmas last year and I can't remember if he found an angel or not. I guess we'll find out later this weekend what is going on top of our currently bare 9-foot tree!

18. Which do you prefer - giving or receiving?

I like giving because I'm simplified my life by doing most of my shopping on-line and doing it early. I like knowing when I've found that gift the other person is just going to love such as the gift my father-in-law is getting from Jonnie this year. Sometimes receiving is awkward especially when you get something you don't like. Jon's late Grandma Nicholson bought everyone tons of stuff every year and was probably dearly loved by JCPenney but I felt terrible because as soon as Jon and I would get back home, we'd be at the store exchanging the gifts for something else.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?

"White Christmas" by Bing Crosby and "Silent Night" by Mahalia Jackson are my favorites. I have the first on CD but the second was on one of the several albums we would play on the turntable while decorating for Christmas. From just a fun perspective, "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". I find myself singing to the radio in the car to that one all the time!

20. Candy canes?

Over 20 years ago, I thought Candy Canes were cool but now, just hand over the chocolates, preferably dark chocolate!