Thirteen Things about Christmas and me!

1. I LOVE Christmas! It’s such a magical time of year. Miracles do happen, you know.

2. The Christmas songs are fantastic; Chestnuts Roasting, Jingle Bells, Santa Baby, Silent Night, Father Christmas, even Santa Claus and His Old Lady by Cheech and Chong…love it all!

3. The decorations are just so beautiful and I love getting them all out, being flooded with memories about where I got this one, or that one. My first ex-husband and I really got into Christmas and we bought many decorations together…I ended up with them. I like to put the tree up as early the day after Thanksgiving, depending, of course, where Thanksgiving falls in the month, and I don’t take it down til a week into the new year. Only see it once a year, might as well enjoy it!

4. Finding a perfect present for someone and watching them smile when opening it…love it!

5. I don’t look at Christmas as a stressful time; I look at it as a beautiful holiday, full of goodwill and a spirit of loving and kindness.

6. I even enjoy shopping; I love to watch the people in the malls.

7. Receiving presents is always good!

8. Visiting friends and seeing their decorations is good too!

9. I love baking holiday cookies; we had a tradition in our family of making cookies called Sand Tarts. You had to make the dough beforehand, chill it, then roll it out thin and use cookie cutters. Then we’d brush them with beaten egg, sprinkle on yellow, red and/or green sugar or sprinkles, saving, of course, the cinnamon and walnuts for the horse cookie cutter. Don’t know why, but the horse always was done different. My parents would do this each year and I couldn’t wait to do this with my kids. Alas!

10. A holiday table, laid with all the trimmings, and all the foods I enjoy cooking at Christmas: roasted turkey or maybe a crown roast of pork, chestnut stuffing, mashed potatoes, green crunchy string beans with slivered almonds, brussels sprouts with a mustard sauce, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie for afters…mmm!

11. Although I’m not religious, I love going to a church service on Christmas Eve and singing the carols & hymns, not that I can carry a tune to save my life (but I do know all the words!).

12. Carolers; I love wandering carolers, especially when it’s snowing!

13. The smell of a fresh Christmas tree, or wreath!

Miss Meliss has tagged me to tell you 7 things about myself. Since it’s illegal to not do a 7 thing meme, I guess I must participate!

1. Breakfast: I have a new favorite breakfast – Fage 0% yogurt, a bit of honey, and some Udi’s natural artisan granola…YUM! Add a clementine or two and I’m in heaven!

2. Curly Hair: My hair is bone straight, and I wore it that way til I was 21 or so. My first ex-husband had a couple friends that were hairdressers, so I made an appointment with one of them to get a perm and I was THRILLED! Nick, the hairdresser, was concerned with such a drastic change (my hair was halfway down my back) and I just told him GO FOR IT! I LOVED it and wore my hair that way for many years. Once I started coloring it, tho, the combination was too much and I stopped perming. Last year, I decided to give it a try again, and it felt like home. Even friends who’d never seen me with curly hair said it looked extremely natural on me.

3. Scents: I love playing with different scents. Lately I’ve taken to using Aveeno unscented lotion, four pumps of lotion, two spritzes of perfume and voila! Scented lotion!

4. Photography: When I first started getting in photography again, I thought this time I’d try making some money at it. But … that kind of spoils it for me, and I’m not sure why. I like to take pictures for me; it others like it, so much the better. When friends ask me to shoot their wedding, I stress out; what if they don’t like the pictures, what if I don’t capture the perfect moment, what if, what if! And I want photography to be fun! So I think I’ll stick with fun and not sweat the rest of it.

5. Health: Lately, I’ve been worried about my health. I think that has everything to do with turning 50! I’m taking high cholesterol meds, BP meds, happy pills and vitamins now. So maybe I should exercise more than just walking the dogs and seriously start to watch what I eat. Actually, no maybes about it! DO IT! As I’m always saying to others, just frickin’ do it!

6. Biting my nails: I’ve been doing that for years…on again, off again. I used to wear fake nails when I living in Japan and had a high profile job where raggedy nails didn’t cut it. But now I wonder if it’s just me. I used to go see a nail lady in the town where I work, and once she worked her voodoo magic, I had no desire to bite … until the nails got too long.

7. Knitted things: I think I have an obsession with mittens, gloves & scarves, also blankets! I adore knitted & crocheted things, but unfortunately I can’t knit or crochet to save my life.