I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged for the first time, so dutifully* here are my answers to this Christmas meme:

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, but gift bags to hold the collections of presents for each family (lots of cousins, now)
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. As it takes up so much storage space, we feel obligated to use it each year. I'd like to do a real one someday...
3. When do you put up your tree? Around the 1st of December. Begins the season of Advent.
4. When do you take the tree down? Around New Years' day. We had been waiting until Epiphany, but that is close to Boo's birthday, and it's easier to take it down early (the artificial pine needles would pop the party balloons).
5. Do you like eggnog? No. Just ... no.
6. Favourite gift received as a child? I still remember the Barbie campervan I received from my grandparents, so I guess that must have been a favourite.
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Only on the kids' advent calendars. I've been trying to find a non-kitschy version for a while, now. I refuse to buy the blue-veiled Mary ones.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Grandmother-in-law. A combination of Type 2 diabetes, blindness and eczema makes it very difficult to find anything nice.
9. Easiest person to buy for? The kids. Toys are currently easy to get. One day they'll just want iPods for Christmas, at which point we'll be encouraging them to get a job.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Walnut-covered Christmas cake. (Walnuts = screaming death for me. Well, almost.)
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, complete with gloss-over yearly letter (eek! I'm running late!)
12. Favorite Christmas movie? They're all mostly fluffy holiday fare, so I usually forget them rather quickly.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Around late June, early July. It's a brief period of birthday-free time that coincides with the end of financial year sales, so it suits the budget. We have a very heavy end-of-year time with lots of family birthdays.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I think I once passed on a nice skincare set that I had no use for.
15. Favorite things to eat at Christmas? Mini chocolate Christmas puddings (shamelessly stolen from Colin's Christmas DVD!). Dad does a great roast dinner for Christmas lunch (I miss them), complete with a choice of lamb,turkey or ham. We eat rather well then...
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Coloured low-voltage LED sparkly things. They are only switched on every couple of nights - I'm rather forgetful.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Lots. Colin Buchanan's King of Christmas CD has some new favourites. Of the older hymns, I prefer the Coventry Carol, Gabriel's message, or O Holy Night.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay in town for church services, travel to husband's family for lunch, then down to Sydney on Boxing Day. Last year we did the whole lot in a single day, which I wouldn't recommend.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I refuse to on the grounds that it's a schmaltzy Bing Crosby song.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star. It worries me that people have started calling the angel "the Christmas Fairy".
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas day is flat out, so we usually let the kids open one present the night before, and the rest in the morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Santa. Nicholas would be absolutely livid to think that his charitable work has been bastardised to such a selfish and greedy extent.
23. What is the "corniest" family tradition you do, or miss doing? We do the advent calendar each year, so the kids put on a new sticker each day as the day gets nearer. When I was a kid we had a corny tradition of putting biscuits and milk for Santa, and a carrot out for the reindeer. I don't think we'll be continuing that one!
24. Ugliest Christmas Decoration ever invented? The spraypainted gold gumnut with fake berries.
25. Which looks the best, theme trees or homey trees? We have a blue/silver/mauve themed tree, which I liked when we first bought it. However, we've started a tradition of the kids getting one new decoration each year, so it's transforming into a more homey, happy tree. I think I prefer the sentimental value.
26. What does Christmas mean to you? A time to thank God that he sent Jesus to us in human form. Being a mother now, that process is mindboggling.

If you've had fun reading this list and would like to give it a go, consider yourself tagged.

* Who am I kidding? I have a blog, so obviously I'm happy to talk about myself... :)