As seen on Christine’s blog:
- What is your favourite Christmas character?
I see Christine’s Grinch and raise her the Grinch’s little dog! I love that poor little thing, with the antler strapped to its head, hanging off of his harness over the side of the mountain. Poor, faithful hound! I think that’s how I feel sometimes around Christmas. Like I’m hanging by my harness off the top of a mountain, thinking to myself “how did I get into this mess?” 😉
- What is your favourite Christmas movie?
Either Holiday Inn or Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol. The former is a classic, with wonderful dancing and singing, and the latter just brings out the kid in me. I should buy it for next year, if it can be had. I just love some of the musical numbers, like “Winter Was Warm” sung in that lovely contralto voice and the thieves stealing the bedclothes off of Scrooge’s bed racously singing at the top of their lungs the chorus “La… la… la la-la la-la!” I just went out and added it to my Amazon shopping cart. 😆
- Is there a Christmas book you read every year or are there Christmas themed books you enjoy?
No, not really. We don’t have children, so there is no traditional book to be read or anything. And I get so stressed by preparations that I don’t have the time to read anyway!
- What is the one thing on Christmas day that you can’t live without (basically it wouldn’t be Christmas without it)?
I’m not sure about this one. I would say family, but Terry is my family, so as long as I had him, it would still be Christmas. I really do enjoy having a tree all decorated and lit up at night, with the presents laid out underneath. That signals Christmas for me, so I guess that’s my answer!
- What is your favourite Christmas memory?
Um… okay. You have to realize that you’re talking to the person who doesn’t have a lot of childhood memories. So, at this point, I think this answer would be the look on my dad’s face when he opened his gift last Christmas. See below. 🙂
- What is the most thoughtful gift you have ever been given?
Well, I like to think that all of my gifts are thoughtful! Whoops, missed the word “been” in that question, but I’ll continue on without it. I think the best gift that I’ve given to date was the table tennis set that I gave my dad last year. He was like a little kid again; he’s so funny. We even set it up downstairs in the basement and were chasing down errant balls from amongst the clutter and cobwebs. He and I have so much fun playing table tennis together! He and his cousin Ingrid (with whom he was pretty close) used to play together as kids, so I took it into my head last year to surprise him with a portable set. It was a smashing success (pun intended) and is always a nice bonding experience for us when we play.
- What is the one thing about Christmas you could live without?
How about two? The commercialism and the stress. There’s too much emphasis on the gifting portion of Christmas and not enough emphasis on the precious time spent with friends and family. To me, that was what Christmas really is about – taking time out from our hectic lives to spend some quality time with our loved ones.
- Have you created any Christmas traditions with your own family and if so what is it?
We haven’t really created any traditions yet, per se. Terry and I have followed the tradition that my parents started when I was little of having our own private Christmas the night before. Other than that, we seem to have developed an ad hoc tradition of me in the kitchen on Christmas Eve, baking tons of cookies with my dad helping. It’s nice because I get to spend some time with my dad, but not so nice because I spend all day on my feet!
- What is your favourite Christmas song?
Wow, I really had to think about this one. I even dragged out my Time-Life CD sets to see which ones topped my list. It was a tough call, but I have to say the Hallelujah chorus from Messiah. There would be nothing like hearing that sung by a full chorus, with all parts fully represented, resonating in a huge cathedral somewhere. It would just blow my mind.
- What is the strangest gift you received or gave?
I think the strangest gifts I’ve ever received (and absolutely LOVE to this day!) was in a Pollyanna several years ago at work. One of the gag gifts was an animated, stuffed reindeer that sings Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer when you press its paw. Once I got it, I fought to keep it, and now it is one of my favorite decorations! He was finally out of juice this year when I pulled him out, so I had to change the batteries and now he’s back to his wonderful, animated self again. I’m such a little kid at heart… 😀
- If you could spend one Christmas anywhere else in the world where would you choose?
Seeing as London is one of my favorite destinations in the world, I would like to spend Christmas in London some day. I bet Harrod’s is an absolute treat around the holidays! Piccadilly Circus is probably all lit up. The nicer neighborhoods probably have their homes all decorated. It would be nice to see.
- What do you all do on Christmas Eve, anything special or fun?
See previous post about baking cookies with my dad on Christmas Eve, but that’s not an all-inclusive family event, so I’m not sure that it counts. We’re going to play board games tomorrow night, if I get my way, so maybe that will become a new, fun tradition?
Oh, I forgot about Max! lol – poor little thing! I so need to pull out that movie now!
Jenna, just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas. Thanks for making ours merrier with our ornament!!
Excellent Q&A. You are a brilliant writer. You need to have your own book …. Have you ever considered doing it?