Ho Ho Ho (a little late)

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your blogger friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy this entire post and paste into a new post on your blog, if you have one. I got the idea from Black Labs and Lilly! Change all the answers so that they apply to you. This is not a Meme or a Tag. You simply play along if you wish to. Or just read the answers! Enjoy the Disney Pictures sprinkled throughout the post!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I use both! I love to buy nice thick paper on sale right after Christmas at discount stores like Marshalls, and stash it under my bed for the year. For pet owning friends I tie a dog treat or biscuit onto the ribbon to jazz it up - a dog themed ornament is a nice touch too. When giving multiple gifts or baked goods I go with a gift bag.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. My roommate bought a small real tree this year that I adore. I always make a wreath out of the tree clippings, and I feel safer if my pups chew on a real tree than the plastic ones! I love to lie on the floor looking up at the tree, using my Golden Retriever Milly as my pillow.

3. When do you put up the tree? In our house we’re pretty slow, the week of Christmas, but usually we wait until Christmas Eve.

4. When do you take the tree down? Since we tend to be behind on the tree buying, and our tree goes up at the last possible minute we wait until the second week of January.

5. Do you like eggnog? I love it! My dad recently passed down his top secret eggnog recipe to me! Yum yum! It’ll give you a holiday buzz, but watch out, drink too much and your belt won’t fit anymore! Make sure to keep it away from the pups as alcohol is very toxic for pooches!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A new saddle – I thought there was a TV in that big box, and boy was I tickled when I opened it to find the saddle I’d been eyeing in the local tack store for 2 years!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My middle brother – he’s way too practical!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My dad – he’s very practical, but I know what he likes and dislikes!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. At my parents house we have many, and I keep my nativity scene at their second home in Vermont – it’s made of Olive wood and I picked it up at a crafts fair as a little girl.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. This year they featured Milly in 4 feet of snow, frozen whiskers and a frosty nose are hard to top!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? A bath product set that caused a terrible allergic reaction!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Benji’s Very Own Christmas Story – my dad actually sat beside Benji on a flight once, he was allowed out of his carrier and did tricks the entire flight! Boy am I envious!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I buy gifts throughout the year and stash them in a secret hiding place I refer to as the North Pole! This year I was slower than usual, and didn’t get started until the end of November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Is this a trick question? I recycled a photo album, because I owned the same album, but I personalized it with photos of my friend and I and our dogs and horses. So, sort of.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Smoked salmon – we have it every year!

16. Lights on the tree? Yes!! Classic white lights, and some years we even add real candles, but those take a lot of supervision!

17. Favorite Christmas song? God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I travel either to my parents house in South Carolina or their house in Vermont – it’s 7 -10 hours depending on traffic, and about equidistance to either place!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Most of them.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither, a stuffed animal cow!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning! The only exceptions are gifts from friends, and on Christmas morning we open stockings before gifts under the tree.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People forgetting what Christmas is about (our Savior), and those who allow the stress of gifting to taint the holiday spirit.

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? I love our hand blown glass balls – there are a few that are over 70 years old! My childhood macaroni ornaments still have a place on our tree.

24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? Blueberry pancakes and bacon on Christmas Eve for dinner and a nice pot roast for breakfast on Christmas morning. It used to be the other way around, but one year my mom put the roast in for Christmas Eve supper and forgot to turn on the oven! We were so hungry we just made breakfast, and it started a tradition!

25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year? Cherish my last Christmas in my childhood home, and celebrate the health and happiness my family and I have. I accomplished that one this year.

26. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up? Putting up our nativity scenes with my dad – they are very old, and take up the entire mantle.

27. Favorite tradition now? Drinking and making eggnog with my parents and brothers.

28. Favorite Christmas Memory? The year Santa’s sleigh got delayed in China, and he was forced to wrap all of our presents in Chinese newspapers! It was amazing! Another is the year we left carrots and hay in an empty stall, and the next morning they had been munched and there was real deer droppings in the stall. With memories like that how can you not believe in the magic?