I've Been Holiday Tagged....

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I have been tagged by my dear friend XmasDolly - you all know her and my friend Kayla over at The Eclectic Element - for this Christmas tag... and I thank them both so much for thinking of me. Dolly is probably the only person I know who loves Christmas more than me, I mean, look at the name of her blog, right??? So, thank you both so much my sweet friends and here are the questions that I have to answer:



1. When do you usually know and feel that it's finally the holidays?  On Thanksgiving Day, when everyone is having turkey and their families are together, people just seem to start getting nicer; plus the center of Celebration (the town where I live) is all done up in Christmas decorations and the "snow" begins to fall every night on the hour between 6pm and 10pm.

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2. What do you want for Christmas this year? Well, I could really use a new laptop and I would love an iPad but I think Santa spent all his resources on the kids and grandkids this year, so I would just like to be able to get into our new house without any hassles.




3. Do you go all out with decorations?  I used to really go over the top, people used to say that my house looked like Mickey Mouse and Santa threw up in it... but now that I've had my spinal surgeries and hubby is a little older with more arthritis, we have scaled back quite a bit. It still looks really pretty and we are able to make the outside look really nice because it's not FREEZING like in New England.

4. What are you doing Christmas Eve?  We usually just have some wine and snacks with some friends, but we make a special toast to our friends the Wilts up in Connecticut who we lived next door to for years, and with whom we used to spend every Christmas Eve. That is a tradition we do every year... to Butch & Phyllis. Then we watch "It's a Wonderful Life" - well, I do, Bill usually falls asleep.

5. What are you doing Christmas Day?  Sleep as late as the puppies will allow us, then take them for their walk, have coffee and something that I bake for breakfast (probably cookies), open gifts while trying to corral the dogs from eating paper and bows. For dinner, since it will be just Bill and I this year, the boys and their girlfriends couldn't get the time off from work, I will be making a special dinner of boneless ribeye steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. Even the doggies will get some of the ribeye - just a little.




6. It's Christmas time. What are you reading?  Catalogues (TeeHee) ... I haven't started a new book yet, I have just been so busy with all things Christmas related. 


7. Favorite movie to watch during the holidays?  Well, as I mentioned, "It's a Wonderful Life" is my absolute favorite, but I love all kinds of Christmas movies, especially the older ones like "Miracle on 34th Street" and "The Bishop's Wife" (the original ones). But I also love to keep Lifetime Move Channel and Hallmark Channel on all during the holidays to watch all the sappy movies. I am really emotional during the holidays and they all make me cry... HECK, even the commercials make me cry this time of the year. My favorite....


But, I only love this version, the newer one is really just kind of creepy!





8. Favorite Christmas song?  There are WAY too many for me to pick just one, so you'll just have to check out my blog on every Monday to see our Monday's Music Moves Me meme where we've been doing Christmas music each week the whole month of December (shameless plug, I know)!!




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9. Favorite holiday drink?  Believe it or not, I still drink water all day long, but I do love eggnog as a special treat during the holidays with a shot of cream de' cacao in it, but no nutmeg on top, it makes me sneeze. Or when it is cold, Bill & I like to have hot cocoa with Kahlua or Irish Cream and whipped cream.

 10. How is your Christmas shopping going?  I'm just about all done... I only have to get some stocking stuffers to get and I have to wrap and ship the gifts to my kids, step-kids and grandkids.


11. If you could spend Christmas Day anywhere else, where would you spend it? I would love to be on a cruise in the Caribbean with my kids celebrating on a ship. Bill & I celebrated together one year just the two of us on a ship and it was so special and beautiful.

 

12. Any holiday traditions? Besides what I mentioned about Christmas eve, I always give my sons an ornament each year and for their stockings they get: a bag of coal bubble gum, chocolate gold coins, and a toothbrush. Plus Alexander always gets a gift pack of Old Spice.



13. Favorite thing about the holidays? EVERYTHING... but especially making people happy, I always try to say Merry Christmas to everyone I have dealings with during December: at the grocery store, the post office, the bank... any place am, I just like to see the smile and the change of face.  Here is one photo that I hope brings a smile to your faces, it sure does mine because I love this man with my whole heart and being with him - wherever we are is the BEST part of Christmas to me!

Now I am supposed to tag three bloggers to participate and answer these questions. here are the three wonderful people I have chosen:

~  Tami from Misc. Ramblings

~  Noelle from Jumpin Beans; and

~  Alexis from Running Away? I'll Help You Pack

So thank you again to my dear friends Dolly and Kayla for choosing me to participate in this tag, please head over to their blogs to visit and also visit my three friends that I have tagged.

Wishing you all the very best Christmas, full of happiness, love and time spent with those you care about most.  May 2011 bring you health, joy and prosperity.