Enola tagged me for this, so since I haven’t done a meme in a while, here goes:
1. When people say “Christmas” you immediately think….
Stress, time off from work, shopping, time with family, travel
2. Favorite Christmas memory:
I can’t remember how old I was or what year it was, but I remember being at my grandparents’ house and seeing their tree all decorated, with a little reindeer ornament on the tree. We always had sticky buns (those cinnamon rolls with nuts and frosting), and my grandma used to make these wonderful sugar cookies that she would frost and put sprinkles on.
3. Favorite Christmas song or carol: As far as starting the season off right, Handle’s Messiah is key music. I used to love Perry Como’s Greatest Christmas Songs, but for the last few years, hands down, it’s been the Charlie Brown Christmas CD – the whole thing! 
I love the traditional carols, too, but for some reason, Vince Guaraldi is it.
4. Favorite Christmas movie: Charlie Brown’s Christmas special – absolutely. Although every time I watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Miracle on 34th Street” (1947 version), I love them, too.
5. Favorite Christmas character: Fictional character-wise, it would have to be Santa.
6. Favorite Christmas ornament or object: My mother’s mother made a crocheted angel and snowflakes for each of her granddaughters before she died. I couldn’t find the snowflakes this year (I think they’re in a different box), but I love the angel. Unfortunately, when I was putting my tree up this year, the halo fell off and I didn’t notice it. Tanner found it on the floor and chewed it apart. The halo is a bit mangled, but I think I can fix it.
7. Plans for this Christmas: Quiet day, then dinner at my cousin’s.
8. Is Christmas your favorite holiday? Not exactly. I love Christmas, but I think there are too many unrealistic expectations for everything to be just like it is in the movies or on TV or in some memory of a past Christmas (real or not) that people keep trying to re-create. There isn’t enough time to do everything to make it a “perfect” Christmas, and when people travel, there comes a point when they have to go home, both from the “getting back to their lives” side and from the host’s side. If you’re hosting, it’s a HUGE amount of work, and if you’re not hosting, you’re contributing or helping clean up or making notes about how this or that went so that when you host, you can avoid something. Better to have regular time with family during the year than to try to cram it all into one holiday. But that’s just me.
Hope you all had a merry Christmas!
