And, to move away from the negativity of earlier...

...a Christmas survey, courtesy of Choralgirl.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Gift bags, because I am horribly uncoordinated.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial; I have allergies like whoa.

3. When do you put up the tree?
I often don't anymore. It's not that I dislike Christmas - I'm just not sentimental about holidays in general.

4. When do you take the tree down?
If it goes up, it usually goes down a few months later. What can I say; I'm INTP.

5. Do you like eggnog?
I would accept pay exclusively in egg nog if I could.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Probably my talking Mother Goose that I got when I was four, although, if we're counting teen years as childhood, my keyboard I got when I was fourteen.

7. Hardest person to buy for?
Everyone. I am NOT an intuitive shopper. I am better at doing personalized things.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
My kids.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Oh, goodness, no. Maybe some people's bag, but not mine.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Neither - I'm kind of thoughtless because of my lack of sentimentality.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Probably some of the worse clothes my paternal grandmother got me when I was a kid (she has no fashion sense), but they were gotten with sincere love, so.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
I dunno - I'm pretty fond of Christmas Story, but I think probably Polar Express, for the music.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
If/when it occurs to me?

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Ham or macaroni and cheese.

16. Lights on the tree?
Every freaking color you can think of, and the small ones, not the big ones.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Either Coventry Carol or Stille, Stille, Stille. I am very, very fond of the more obscure music.

Oh! And The Holly and the Ivy. I love it because it's the most pagan thing I've ever heard, and it's as if people thought, "Oh, shit, we better throw some Jesus into this or people will recognize it for what it is!"

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Usually stay home because of money.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Apparently Dancer is a girl, according to Polar Express. And yes.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Either a goddess (and if they want to call it an angel that is certainly their prerogative) or a green man (and if they want to say it's an older Santa that's their thing).

21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
All of it. I am annoyed with fundies who are annoyed with me for practicing another religion and being annoyed with them for being unable to process that, I am annoyed with the commercialism, there is a part of me that is annoyed about the whole subversion of Saturnalia/Yule/Mithras' birthday (especially in light of the rabid fundies), and all of it.

I also like a lot about it, so don't take me for a Grinch.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I like all colors.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
Whatever happens to be yummy and made.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Something I can't have anyway. And I would really like to see something positive happen with our government.

26. What do you like most about Christmas?
Family, when it happens? The kids being happy.