We wish you a meme-y Christmas...

I've been seeing several Christmas memes around, and this is a composite of them, with duplicate questions removed.

Decorations

1. When do you put up the tree/decorations?
   Sometime after Thanksgiving, if we decorate at all. On years we travel, we often don't decorate. The Advent wreath usually comes out a few days before the First Sunday of Advent.
   
2. When do you take the tree/decorations down?
   When we have decorations, right after Epiphany (Jan 6)
   
3. Do you have a nativity scene?
   Definitely. There are two small ones out this year, not counting the small one-piece version on top of my PC in my office.
   
4. Real tree or artificial?
   Artificial - one of ours is fiber-optic which is pretty neat. My tallest artificial tree is only 3 feet tall. I love the smell of real trees, but I don't like cleaning up the needles.
   
5. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
   The fiber-optic one has its own. If we put lights on the others, they're usually colored.
   
6. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
   Small ornaments (since it's a small tree), usually whatever's available. One of these years I'd love to do a tree of nothing but small crocheted snowflakes. Someday.
   
7. What tops your tree?
   Stars, usually. Not many angels for small trees.
   
8. Do you hang mistletoe?
   Not usually.
   Eating, Drinking, and being Merry
   
9. Do you like eggnog?
   Yes. It's been a long while since I've had homemade eggnog, though.
   
10. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
    Depends on the situation, but in general hot chocolate never goes amiss.
    
11. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
    DH made an awesome duck one year - that was delicious. I also love whole-berry cranberry sauce, and veggies. My dad is making fried turkey this year - I can't wait!
    
12. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
    My chocolate rumcake!
    
13. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
    We travel 2 out of 3 years. Both sets of family live long distances away from us and from each other, so we have a rotation. This year, we're seeing my family up north.
    In general, I'd rather stay home for the holidays. It's hard to establish our own traditions when we're always on the move.
    Gifts
    
14. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
    For children, wrapping paper works best because it's more peek-proof. But in general I like gift bags - they make wrapping go quickly and they're reusable. Much more so than wrapping paper (which my grandparents always had us remove carefully for reuse purposes).
    
15. Favorite gift received as a child?
    Hmmm. Hard to say. One year I received a nice set of crochet hooks and several skeins of yarn (I think I was 10?). I really liked that, and I still have the hooks!
    
16. Hardest person to buy for?
    DH, if he doesn't have a wishlist.
    
17. Easiest person to buy for?
    DH, if he does have a wishlist!
    
18. Most Memorable gift?
    DH got me a Celtic harp one year. It's a tossup between that and the Elan lap stand.
    
19. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
    Since I'm not sure who reads my blog, I might want to plead the fifth! Let's just say it was a gift with some pretty heavy conditions on its usage.
    
20. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
    Around Thanksgiving. I generally try to have all the shopping done by the second week of December.
    
21. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
    Only for a white-elephant gift exchange at work, where the gifts were intended to be recycled.
    
22. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
    Traditionally, one on Christmas Eve before Mass, and the rest the next day.
    
23. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving?
    Giving, definitely.
    Here Comes Santa Claus
    
24. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers?
    Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen. Santa's sleigh is an 8rp (reindeerpower) vehicle equipped with optional Rudolph emergency lighting.
    
25. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
    For stocking-stuffers, Santa just puts them in the stocking. Larger gifts have special Santa wrapping paper.
    
26. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
    What truth about Santa? You shouldn't believe the tabloids, you know!
    Seriously, though, I figured it out as a child over time - too many things didn't quite add up. I can't pinpoint the moment, though.
    'Tis the Season...
    
27. Mail or email Christmas cards?
    Snailmail. I do email greetings to a few folks I don't have current addresses for, though.
    
28. Favorite Christmas Movie?
    I like a lot of the older animated ones, like the Grinch, Charlie Brown Christmas, and all the Rankin/Bass ones. I haven't seen most of the classics such as Miracle on 34th Street, although I finally saw It's a Wonderful Life about 3 years ago. Ditto with A Christmas Story (You'll shoot your eye out, kid!). My dad has quite the collection of Christmas Carol movies, and I like many of them. And this year's new release, A Nativity Story, I enjoyed as well. But as for clear favorites, I don't have one.
    
29. Favorite Christmas song?
    No clear favorites here, but there are a lot I like. I have a fondness for novelty Christmas songs as well as more traditional offerings. I love many of the traditional hymns/carols.
    Traditional/Hymn: What Child is This?, O Holy Night, O Come O Come Emmanuel, many of the lesser known older carols
    Modern: "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" - Bing Crosby and David Bowie
    Novelty: at the moment, Twisted Sister's "O Come All Ye Faithful".
    
30. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
    The fact that the holiday sales pitches and decorations are being put out right after Labor Day. That, and the overcommercialism and greed.
    
31. Favorite thing about the Christmas Holidays?
    I like the liturgical season of Advent and Christmas - the music at church, decorations of candles and evergreens. That, and time off work!
    
32. What's the one thing you seem to never get done at Christmas time?
    Find time to relax! I also don't bake as much as I used to.
    
33. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
    My maternal grandfather used to make homemade ice cream (hand crank and all), and I always liked to help with that. One year he made purple ice cream, which was neat.
    
34. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
    I love it, but here in Florida I don't have to shovel or drive in it!
    
35. Can you ice skate?
    Not really - I'm lucky to make a complete circuit of the rink without falling on my backside! I do want to learn, though.
    
36. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
    Remembering what the season is really all about.
    
37. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
    We haven't really evolved much in the way of family traditions yet, what with travelling for the holidays most of the time, my stepkids alternating visitation at Christmas, and such. So I don't really have a good answer for that.
    Although I do like the holiday bowl games!