A merry merry meme to you all!
Memage stolen from wonderfulweirdo. It's going the other way for once, Lauren! :P <3
Well, it's Christmas Eve and the oven has been firing all day in anticipation of the crazy amount of food we'll be consuming tomorrow. The Christmas ham was cooked this morning, the Christmas cake is in the oven now, and the bread is going in this afternoon. I love having foodie parents.
And yes, I will be opening my presents tomorrow and laughing at all you Yesterdaylanders. Bahaha. ;D
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper. Unless it's something weird or hard to wrap.
2. Real tree or artificial?
Real tree, always. Going and buying the tree is an annual ritual I love. ^__^
3. When do you put up the tree?
No specified time. Just whenever. Although, we have a silver spraypainted tagasaste which is sprinkled with blue glitter and adorned with blue lights, and it stays in our house year round. We call it our Second-Christmas tree, because my family actually celebrates Christmas in July, too... Hey, I live in the Southern Hemisphere. I want my wintertime Christmas, dammit.
4. When do you take the tree down?
Some time before the twelve days are up. By about that time it's starting to wilt, anyways.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Never tried it. I don't think we do the whole eggnog thing in New Zealand, really. It sounds gross, though...
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Erm. Erm. Erm. When I was eleven/twelve/thirteenish... I don't know... Anyway, my parents got me the piano music books to the LOTR trilogy. I LOVED that. A few years ago I got a bow and arrow set, as in, a proper one. That was pretty freaking awesome. Both of those are reaching it as far as "child" goes, but eh. IDC. My meme, my rules.
7. Hardest person to buy for?
Dad. Definitely. Mum is easy; she likes anything shiny. All my friends are good to buy for, too. But Dad? Every year I'm left stumped. Every. Year.
8. Easiest person to buy for?
See previous statement and how my mother likes anything shiny.
9. Do you have a nativity scene?
I have a knitted wise man and a sheep I made years ago, with the full intention of finishing the set, but I kind of went off knitting and haven't done any in ages. On a completely unrelated note, I've been considering making myself a super-long crazy scarf a la Tom Baker, but that's beside the point...
10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?
I don't really go in for Christmas cards. They all get tossed in January anyway, what's the point?
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Probably one of those lavender smelly bag things old ladies put in their undergarment drawers. Yeah, that was pretty shit. Orrrr, maybe a keyring from my friend Janelle, which flashed and had "THE BOSS" written on it in the most disgusting, chunky, multi-coloured font you've ever seen. Especially because I put some serious effort into her Christmas present that year, I just felt cheated. I don't do Christmas presents with her any more. :/
12. Favorite Christmas movie?
Does The Nightmare Before Christmas count? Because if it does, that's totally my favourite Christmas movie.
Or, or, or... I watched the 1951 A Christmas Carol with my parents last night and it was epic. That one rates pretty high.
13. When do you start shopping?
Ehhh, a few weeks before Christmas. Whenever I can fit it in, really.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so. Actually, I might have given that ghastly keyring to my uncle, but I did tell him it was a present I didn't want, so there.
Completely unrelated, but one year a friend of mine gave a fake banana as a present to someone. It's been doing the rounds of our friends (there are some overlaps, y'see) and it was given back to her at her last birthday. She's been musing over who to give it to for Christmas. Moving on.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Freerange ham on the bone. Best thing ever, no shit. We also do this really nice thing with champagne sausages and grapes, which is really yummy. Mum makes a mean Christmas cake, too. In fact, she's baking ours today, having made a whole bunch already for our friends. :)
16. Lights on the tree?
Of course, just the right amount! I think they're red and yellow this year.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
White Wine In The Sun, Tim Minchin. Definitely. It completely encapsulates the way I feel about Christmas, being non-religious and living in the Southern Hemisphere to boot. I can ~relate to it.
I'm also partial to Fairytale In New York, by The Pogues.
Mum has an insane Christmas playlist on her iPod which she regularly blasts at this time of year. I don't care for a lot of them - most notably the cover of Hark The Herald Angels Sing by Boney M *shudders* - but I quite like The Eurhythmics' Winter Wonderland, Enya's Silent Night (in Gaelic - awesome) and Jethro Tull's Once In Royal David's City. Those are basically because of who plays 'em though. :P
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Changes year to year. This time 'round we're staying at home and one of my uncles and a couple of good friends of ours are coming over. Last year we went to Gisborne to stay with rellies.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Vixen, Rudolph. Is that all of them? xD
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
What's this angel and star shit? We have Smeagol. Yeah, that's right. Smeagol. From Lord Of The Rings. He has a festive red bow around his neck for the occasion. He's waaay better than some wimpy angel.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Really? Who the hell opens their presents on Christmas Eve? That's cheating!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Buying last-minute presents for people who got you something. Honestly, I don't go in for gift-buying in a big way. I get things for my parents and my best friends. That's it. Therefore, if I get an ambush present, I'm screwed. Overall though, I don't get that stressed during Christmas. Defeats the purpose if you're stressed and unhappy, if you ask me.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
...Does Smeagol count? xDD He's not technically an "ornament" but he has been our angel for the past few years. Failing that, we have nice golden baubles and red bows which look awesome together.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
We don't do Christmas dinner in NZ. It's all about the lunch, which is traditionally something like a barbecue with more food than you would usually eat in a week. Dinner is therefore mostly scraps. I've already mentioned some of the stuff we have, but basically it's ham and cheese and nibbles; sausages, salmon, whatever the hell we feel like. :]
25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
I know a few things I'm getting: most exciting is the one from my mum and dad, which is a DVD of a Porcupine Tree concert and one of their albums, In Absentia, on vinyl. I honestly can't waaaait. :DDD
My friend Clare has bought me a $50 iTunes card, and Danny got me one for $20. Do you have any idea how much awesome music I can buy off iTunes for $70? FUUUU~CAN'T WAIT.