Christmas List

1. Get kissed under the mistletoe or in the snow?
Does it really matter?

2. Santa or Rudolph?
Rudolph. I was obsessed with Rudolph when I was a kid. I read that damn book every day of the year. I sang along with Gene Autry when he sang Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Grandma had it on a 78). One year grandma gave me a Rudolph pendant with a ruby ship in the nose. Several years ago, CVS issued the Rudolph Island of Misfit Toys as little beanies. Being in the midwest, we didn't have CVS pharmacies, so my cousin in New Hampshire took orders and bought three or four sets of the damn things. I ended up with two Rudolphs, so I sent one to my grandma. Dad said I made her day (and she cried).

3. Stocking or presents?
We had both

4. Egg nog or hot cider?
I don't like either, but I hate egg nog and just dislike hot cider. So hot cider.

5. Angel or star?
We had neither. We had this spherical thins with a pointy thing sticking out of it. It looked kind of like Kaiser Wilhelm's helmet.

6. Decorating the tree, or putting lights on the outside?
Tree

7. Warm cozy fires or sleigh rides?
Fires. We didn't have horses. Although one year my brother and I hitched our sleds to the back of grandpa's tractor--he dragged us around the farm.

8. Family time or friend time?
Mostly family time. Thanksgiving is friend time.

9. Expensive presents or presents that come from the heart?
From the heart. I generally only buy presents for the kids. I donate money for the adults.

10. Snow ball fight or snowman?
Snow ball fights are easier. We never had much luck building snowmen. But we did build snowforts.

11. Coal or present?
Duh

12. Open presents quick or slow?
Quick. And don't save the wrapping paper. Just don't.

13. Diamonds or rubies?
Rubies.

14. Caroling or Christmas stories?
Stories. We never caroled. Caroling was the norm in the small Wisconsin town I lived in. I would turn off the light and pretend I wasn't home.

15. Snow days or ice days?
Snow days! As a kid, there was nothing cooler than waking up to six inches of snow you didn't know you were supposed to get. Even better was when Mom would wake us up to tell us school had been canceled. That meant we got to sleep in, play in the snow, drink hot chocolate, and if the snow was new and clean enough, make snow ice cream.

16. Red or Green?
Both.

QUESTIONS (wait, then what were the last 16 things?)

1. Best Christmas present received?
Um, a doll when I was in my mid-twenties. I had had the same doll when I was in third grade. It was the only doll I didn't destroy. At some point it disappeared--mom thinks she gave it away. So, when I was about 25 my mom gave me a replacement.

2. What's the number one thing you want for Christmas?
I don't have one. Maybe the Hobo coin purse I have been looking at since summer.

3. If you were going out with someone, what would you want them to get you?
I don't know.

4. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe?
I have kissed someone under the mistletoe.

5. Age you stopped believing in Santa Claus?
Around second grade or so I asked my mom if he was real. I continued to kind-of believe through third grade or so.... even though I knew he wasn't real, I still liked the idea.

6. Do you send thank you notes?
No, I'm pretty bad about that stuff.

7. Did you wake your parents up early to open presents?
Duh. Of course.

8. Best present you've ever given someone else?
I'm not sure. I think when I gave my brother the beer light for his dormroom. He was so sure he knew what it was--and he was wrong. Well, and last year I donated money to a local medical center. I was at my mom's house the day after Christmas when my phone rang--it was the doctor at the clinic. He was calling to thank me for the donation. He told me they don't get a lot of local support, so when he got my check he got a little emotional and had to leave the room. I got a little teary eyed when he called.

9. Do you send out Christmas cards?
It's hit and miss. I did last year. I probably won't this year--it's usually due to pure laziness.