meme

Christmas Meme, Thanks to Liz

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags. Paper is wasteful and too much work.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial – easier to convince the dogs not to pee on it and the cat not to climb it.
3. When do you put up the tree? When I figure out where in my clutter I have room for a tree…
4. When do you take the tree down? The weekend after New Year’s.
5. Do you like eggnog? No.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? My brittany spaniel Lady. It was the typical puppy with the bow on her neck. Perfect. As an adult, Simon proposing to me at Manchester Airport.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Simon.
8. Easiest person to buy for? No one really, a lot of thought goes into all of them.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Not at home, no.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Email except for the card exchange with my greyhound group.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? My ex husband gave me a chain for my glasses so I wouldn’t lose them one year for Christmas. No joke.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Love Actually.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? After second payday in December. Not terribly organized, I know.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yep.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Little Debbie Gingerbread Cakes.
16. Lights on the tree? Yes please.
17. Favorite Christmas song? I’m not that into Christmas music.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Travel. None of my family can stand my animals for very long so I have to go to them.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer’s? Yes.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Nothing to open until Christmas morning really.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Radio stations that play nothing but Christmas music from the first of November onward.
23. What theme or color are you using? Isn’t red and green the theme?
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Honey baked ham.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Simon and me in the same country.

Via Email and Amy

Liz, Sooz, and the other one or two readers of my blog, you’re up!!

1. Coolest birthday you remember: Probably last year’s birthday, because the first person to wish me happy birthday was Simon…even though he was five hours ahead of me when it struck midnight and became my birthday.

2. Do you prefer hosting parties or attending as a guest? Oh totally attending as a guest, just don’t make me talk to people I don’t know.
3. What color is your bedroom? Off white with a dash of dog and cat hair for color.

4. Do you and your man have a song? What tune makes you swoon? We do in fact, several. “My First, My Last, My Everything” by Barry White, “All I Want for Christmas is You” from Love Actually (NOTNOTNOT the Mariah version, bleh), and “Run” by Snow Patrol.

5. What were/will be your wedding colors? Would you change them? First time around the bridesmaids were in navy blue and the flowers were yellow/white roses. Probably would keep it the same if we were having a big wedding, but I think it will be just whatever folks want to wear this time…except for short sleeve Tshirts, Mr. Dunne!

6. Ever sneak out of the house or host a wild bash while the ‘rents were away? What’s your wild child tale? I was a pretty tame kid really. Hard to be wild when everyone in the town not only knows you’re the preacher’s daughter but also knows the preacher!!

7. You just won the lottery! Do you stash your cash or pass the bucks? What are the first 3 things you’d do?
1. Pay off my debt.
2. Buy a house in Athens, Georgia.
3. Start a savings fund for my future kids’ future plans.

8. You oughta’ be in pictures…which actress stars as you in a movie of your life’s story? When I was younger it would have to be Molly Ringwald (when she was younger). Come to think of it, she could still play me now if I’d remember to get hair dye when I go to the grocery.

9. What’s your go-to meal for quick comfort? A nice curry with chicken on a pile of basmati rice…or a rainbow roll from a real sushi restaurant.
10. Everyone has ups and downs. What’s your hardest learned lesson? That you shouldn’t see the extra money in the bank as an opportunity to spend.
11. What advice would you give to 18 year-old you? Double major in something like English or History or Education and if someone offers you a car built by Renault say NO.
12. Favorite board game: Trivial Pursuit. I am a font of useless knowledge.

13. Dish it! What’s your “me time” guilty pleasure? Sitting at the computer, playing…World of Warcraft. What? Shut up, it keeps me from killing people in real life.

14. What’s one thing you’d like to learn to do in 2008? Belly dance. Seriously.

A Holiday Meme…a HoMe? MeHo?

(because Liz told me to…)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags. My parents used to have to help me cover my books with grocery bags in high school so if you think I’m able to wrap a gift alone you’re insane. Oh yeah, and they’re green too…

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. The dogs are less likely to wee on it.

3. When do you put up the tree? The weekend after my birthday…and Mary Catherine’s birthday.

4. When do you take the tree down? Generally just after New Year’s but this year it will be up until 8th January or longer because I’ll be in the UK till the 7th.

5. Do you like egg nog? No. You shouldn’t drink eggs and what on earth is nog? Relegated to the fruitcake category.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably Lady, a brittany spaniel that I got instead of the parrot I’d asked Santa to bring. Interestingly enough, Santa replied to my note in my Daddy’s handwriting explaining why I didn’t need a parrot. He is magical, I tell ya…

7. Do you have a nativity scene? My parents have one. It’s a tradition for my sister (the minister, mind you) to put Baby Jesus on top of the stable. She’s not right, that one…

8. Hardest person to buy for? Dave and Sooz.

9. Easiest person to buy for? The dogs, because they would love an old shoe!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Thank you for reminding me! They will make it by Easter at least…

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? That’s a hard one to answer…

12. Favorite Christmas movie? National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. “Pass me some of them potatoes, Clark, they are gooooooooo-ooooood!”

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? After my second paycheck in December.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes indeedy.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Those little white mints with the green and red sprinkles on them that my mother always has in abundance all over the kitchen…

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored but it was an accident.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Wizards of Winter by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the moment. But I think for traditional ones O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a favorite.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Well, they aren’t going to come to me, so…

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star, compliments of Mom, Daddy, and Target.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning, of course…Santa hasn’t brought anything Christmas Eve, silly.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not being able to spend Christmas with my furry family. I miss them so much when I travel. But when everyone I’m visiting is either allergic or doesn’t allow animals in the house (or both), I’m stuck.

23. Favorite dessert after Christmas dinner? Coconut cake. No kidding.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? To see everyone that I love.

25. Old fashioned lights or icicle lights on your house? I would have just white lights around the columns and in the bushes (with some garland around the columns) but I ran out of Decorate The House Money.