Tagged

Got this set from Busymom. Hadn't done one yet so figured it was a bout time to tell you a little more about me.

1. Wrapping or gift bags? Christmas I wrap exclusively. The rest of the year it is pretty much gift bags. Mostly recycled.

2. Real or artificial tree? Always real. We even go out in the woods to cut it. $5 for a Christmas Tree permit around here.

3. When do you put up the tree? Weekend following Thanksgiving if we can. The next weekend after that at the latest. Never later than the first weekend in December.

4. When do you take the tree down? Weekend following New Years.

5. Do you like eggnog? No - I am a hot buttered rum gal.

Hot Butter Rum

1 pound Brown sugar (about 2 cups, packed firm)
1 pound Superfine granulated sugar (about 2 cups) (I put regular
sugar in a food processor and run it until if feels really fine)
1 quart cheap vanilla ice cream
1 pound real butter not marjarine

Put ice cream in a bowl and set on the counter at room temperature to melt while cooking sauce. Using a double boiler over boiling water, melt butter and then add sugar and let cook with water in bottom of boiler just barely boiling for about one hour. Do not cover sauce as it cooks but stir occasionally. Pour over ice cream and beat well with electric mixer. Chill one hour before using.

Makes 2 quarts.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My first bike. If it didn't say "as a child" I would have said my wedding proposal and engagement ring on Christmas Eve 1997.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - it was a wedding gift. Really pretty set. And Jaxon has the Fisher Price nativity set.

8. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I am not picky. Can't think of any.

9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail - but often not until the week after Christmas. Might make it this year though if the pictures I ordered from Costco ever arrive.

10. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story. It's a Wonderful Life.

11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Sometimes as early as September or October. I am usually pretty much done by Thanksgiving weekend.

12. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? All the cookies and candy that are at every turn around City Hall.

13. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear.

14. Favorite Christmas song? Silver Bells.

15. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We alternate. This year we traveled for Thanksgiving. Next year it will be Christmas again.

16. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer.Yes.

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder (yeah the original version is Donder) and Blitzen. And Rudolph.

Ok - I wikied it (how do you spell that anyway?) and apparently the names go back even further than I thought.

"Two of the reindeer names, Donner/Donder and Blitzen, are often the source of confusion, misspelling, and misinformation. The short facts are these: Donner/Donder and Blitzen were named ''Dunder'' and ''Blixem'' (the Dutch words for ''thunder'' and ''lightning'') in the original printing of "A Visit From St. Nicholas." In reprints of the poem, the names became ''Donder'' and ''Blixen,'' then ''Donder'' and ''Blitzen'' (the latter being German for ''lightning''). By the time Johnny Marks wrote "Rudolph," it was ''Donner'' and ''Blitzen'' (possibly because ''Donder'' was musically awkward). See Snopes.com for a thorough discussion."

17. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? One on Christmas Eve, rest in the morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Traffic and irritated people. RELAX EVERYONE! Getting pissed off just makes it all worse!

20. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme or color? Red and gold accents. But not really.

21. What do you leave for Santa? Probably a beer. Cookies and milk as a kid and carrots for the reindeer.

22. Least favorite holiday song? It's a tie between Santa Baby and Two Front Teeth.

23. Favorite ornament? The San Francisco cable car that I had to go to Chinatown to get after searching all over our first year we lived in the Bay Area.

So there you have it. A little bit about Amy.