Life During Christmastime
Dec. 13th, 2007 01:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatI've finished most (but not all) of my Christmas shopping. Since the day of the month begins with a one instead of a two, this is quite a feat for me. {g} My dad is going to be coming by next week, so I'll give him his present then. I'm still not sure what I'm going to be doing on Christmas Day, but it might well be staying home.
Okay, what else have I been doing, aside from watching TV and getting engaged? Well, for one thing,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethje bought tickets for us to see the Spice Girls in February, and pretty much forced me to listen to their music. I'd pretty much ignored them as much as possible back in the day, but I have to admit that their music is really quite catchy and addictive. They do mention themselves quite a lot, though. I think the Spice Girls' initial decline in popularity happened around the same time as Pokémon's rise, so I guess kids like people and things that say their own names. Anyway, while Beth and I have pretty similar musical tastes in general, it seems like I usually end up liking things that she's into, but not so much vice versa. I'm not sure why that is.
Other music I've been listening to recently includes Frank Black (he hasn't put out anything new since Bluefinger, but I've been playing his albums in order, which has reminded me of a few songs that I typically forget about) and the Christmas/holiday/winter music that I have. Maybe I'll share my holiday playlist with you, after I get it worked out.
And in the spirit of Christmas preparation, here's a survey that I got frompunterschlagen:
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I usually wrap things, even though I'm really not good at it. Gift bags seem a little cheap to me. Not "cheap" in terms of money spent, just that I don't think shoving something in a bag counts as proper packaging for a present.
2. Real tree or artificial? There's an artificial one up where I live now. My family had real trees for some years, but not all of them.
3. When do you put up the tree? I've never had my own personal tree, so I couldn't say. I think the one where I live has been up for about two weeks now.
4. When do you take the tree down? Last year, they didn't take it down until March or so.
5. Do you like eggnog? No, I can only remember trying it once, but I didn't really care for it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? You know, I can remember some gifts I got, but not what my favorite one was.
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Not personally, but my mom has one. I also remember one my grandparents had that was a puzzle, with all the different people and animals fitting together.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Anyone who won't come out and tell me what it is they want
9. Easiest person to buy for? Beth
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A kick in the crotch. No, seriously, I don't know about "worst," but I remember getting a pogo stick that I never used. Even as a kid, I thought it seemed too dangerous.
11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail. It's more exciting.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Oh, man, I don't know. I don't even know that I could pick a favorite Christmas TV special, and I've seen a lot of those recently. Jingle All the Way might be the worst, although Christmas with the Kranks and The Santa Clause are also on the bad list. They get coal in their motion picture stockings.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? It varies, but pretty much never before December, and sometimes not until really late in the month.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can recall
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My dad used to make a fruit-stuffed bread called schtollen, which I liked a lot.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I think the tree at my house only has clear, but I'd have to look to be sure.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh, you quizzes and your favorites! I can't choose, but if I do complete my holiday playlist, that will give you some idea as to what I like. As far as carols in particular go, it's hard to go wrong with "O Holy Night," as long as the singer can actually hit the notes. One of the worst Christmas songs, if not THE worst, is that stupid "Christmas Shoes" thing. I mean, talk about manufactured sentiment! I had been lucky enough to avoid that song this year until last night, when Beth was flipping channels on the car radio. We came up on Delilah, and it was the first thing we heard her play. That figures, doesn't it?
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I've done both. Whenever we travelled, it was to see my grandparents in Virginia.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, and I can even recall the most famous reindeer of all.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? The one at home has an angel, but I would probably use a star if it were up to me.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? At my mom's parents' house, we usually opened them around midnight. At home, we tended to open them in the morning. I actually kind of liked the morning better, since it gave you a reason to want to get up.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The shopping really isn't much fun.
23. Favorite Christmas tradition? I can't really think of anything specific. If this quiz were being graded, I'd probably fail.
24. Up early or sleeping in? Depends on how I feel. I used to like to get up early as a kid, but now I tend to sleep later.
25. Who hands out the gifts? At my grandmother's, one person would usually play Santa, and distribute the gifts to everyone else. I always liked doing that. At home, we generally just got our own.
26. Does Santa wrap your gifts? No, he's too busy at this time of year.
27. Do you leave cookies for Santa? I never have. I'd feel bad about that, but I'm sure he gets plenty of them elsewhere.
Okay, what else have I been doing, aside from watching TV and getting engaged? Well, for one thing,
bethje bought tickets for us to see the Spice Girls in February, and pretty much forced me to listen to their music. I'd pretty much ignored them as much as possible back in the day, but I have to admit that their music is really quite catchy and addictive. They do mention themselves quite a lot, though. I think the Spice Girls' initial decline in popularity happened around the same time as Pokémon's rise, so I guess kids like people and things that say their own names. Anyway, while Beth and I have pretty similar musical tastes in general, it seems like I usually end up liking things that she's into, but not so much vice versa. I'm not sure why that is.Other music I've been listening to recently includes Frank Black (he hasn't put out anything new since Bluefinger, but I've been playing his albums in order, which has reminded me of a few songs that I typically forget about) and the Christmas/holiday/winter music that I have. Maybe I'll share my holiday playlist with you, after I get it worked out.
And in the spirit of Christmas preparation, here's a survey that I got from
punterschlagen:1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I usually wrap things, even though I'm really not good at it. Gift bags seem a little cheap to me. Not "cheap" in terms of money spent, just that I don't think shoving something in a bag counts as proper packaging for a present.
2. Real tree or artificial? There's an artificial one up where I live now. My family had real trees for some years, but not all of them.
3. When do you put up the tree? I've never had my own personal tree, so I couldn't say. I think the one where I live has been up for about two weeks now.
4. When do you take the tree down? Last year, they didn't take it down until March or so.
5. Do you like eggnog? No, I can only remember trying it once, but I didn't really care for it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? You know, I can remember some gifts I got, but not what my favorite one was.
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Not personally, but my mom has one. I also remember one my grandparents had that was a puzzle, with all the different people and animals fitting together.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Anyone who won't come out and tell me what it is they want
9. Easiest person to buy for? Beth
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A kick in the crotch. No, seriously, I don't know about "worst," but I remember getting a pogo stick that I never used. Even as a kid, I thought it seemed too dangerous.
11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail. It's more exciting.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Oh, man, I don't know. I don't even know that I could pick a favorite Christmas TV special, and I've seen a lot of those recently. Jingle All the Way might be the worst, although Christmas with the Kranks and The Santa Clause are also on the bad list. They get coal in their motion picture stockings.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? It varies, but pretty much never before December, and sometimes not until really late in the month.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can recall
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? My dad used to make a fruit-stuffed bread called schtollen, which I liked a lot.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? I think the tree at my house only has clear, but I'd have to look to be sure.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh, you quizzes and your favorites! I can't choose, but if I do complete my holiday playlist, that will give you some idea as to what I like. As far as carols in particular go, it's hard to go wrong with "O Holy Night," as long as the singer can actually hit the notes. One of the worst Christmas songs, if not THE worst, is that stupid "Christmas Shoes" thing. I mean, talk about manufactured sentiment! I had been lucky enough to avoid that song this year until last night, when Beth was flipping channels on the car radio. We came up on Delilah, and it was the first thing we heard her play. That figures, doesn't it?
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I've done both. Whenever we travelled, it was to see my grandparents in Virginia.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, and I can even recall the most famous reindeer of all.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? The one at home has an angel, but I would probably use a star if it were up to me.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? At my mom's parents' house, we usually opened them around midnight. At home, we tended to open them in the morning. I actually kind of liked the morning better, since it gave you a reason to want to get up.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The shopping really isn't much fun.
23. Favorite Christmas tradition? I can't really think of anything specific. If this quiz were being graded, I'd probably fail.
24. Up early or sleeping in? Depends on how I feel. I used to like to get up early as a kid, but now I tend to sleep later.
25. Who hands out the gifts? At my grandmother's, one person would usually play Santa, and distribute the gifts to everyone else. I always liked doing that. At home, we generally just got our own.
26. Does Santa wrap your gifts? No, he's too busy at this time of year.
27. Do you leave cookies for Santa? I never have. I'd feel bad about that, but I'm sure he gets plenty of them elsewhere.
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Date: 2007-12-13 02:32 pm (UTC)is. so. jealous. you're. seeing. spice. girls.
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Date: 2007-12-13 02:36 pm (UTC)Oh man, I was totally going to mention this song in my answer to the "most annoying" question when (if) I ever get around to doing this survey!