Sex Ed in Higher Ed

College instructor teaching human sexuality rants about the dumbing down of America, the lost art of manners, grammar and (the perfect combination of both) the thank you note. Also includes random rants about life, pet peeves, and sometimes raves about favorite things.

Friday, December 22, 2006

A Christmas Meme

Saw this over at Terminal Degree and thought I'd play along. And I'm also tagging everyone else who sees this - Tag! You're it!

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? Eggnog. Although I can’t remember the last time I had real eggnog. The Starbuck’s eggnog latte is vomitous. (And yes, vomitous IS a word. A word that I just made up.)

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? Wrap, silly. It’s an agreement he made with the wrapping paper manufacturers years ago.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? We had a mistletoe ball in the house I grew up in and I never quite understood what it was. Wait – did I answer the question?

5. When do you put your decorations up? This one is tricky, since we don’t have a lot of decorations. Mr. J. was (apparently) Ebenezer Scrooge in a past life.But my mom made me a GORGEOUS Christmas tree this year and we picked it up the first week of December.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Um, anything that I didn’t make myself. Which is pretty much everything.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? One Christmas morning, my mom had hidden our “big” presents. We were supposed to find them and I said, “Give us a hint! But not just a regular hint. Make it like a rhyme or something from a scavenger hunt!” And that woman rattled off a three-line rhyming clue that actually made sense. Many points for that and many more points for indulging my nerdiness.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I still (honestly) don’t like to talk about this. Let’s just say I was in third grade (I know – not the sharpest knife in the drawer back then) and I came home from school the day I found out and told my parents and then I cried. Then I flopped on the couch and stayed there all night, crying. My parents took turns coming into the living room and trying to console me, but to no avail. I think I cried all night because it was the first day I realized that life wasn’t nearly as amazing and magical as I thought. And I knew it was my first step on the path to being a “grown-up” and I wasn’t the least bit interested in being a grown-up. I can’t explain it. I was just really, really traumatized.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We have always had Christmas Eve at my maternal grandparents’ house, so yes. Christmas Eve has pretty much always been a bigger deal than Christmas Day.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? This year, my mom made me this total "Martha Stewart-looking" tree decorated with white lights. It also has burgundy and gold bows and burgundy and gold ornaments. I love it.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Both, I guess. Love it Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Then it can go away. And not in that painful, slow melting way where there are blobs of gray snow everywhere until about April.

12. Can you ice skate? How are we defining “skate”? I learned a bit as a kid, then in college took an ice skating class as a way to meet the hockey players (they taught the ice skating classes and we were all in love with the hockey players.)

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My senior year of college, my dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said I would like a Claddagh ring. He said, “Oh. You mean like a Pina Colada ring?” (And he’s the Irish one. I know. I mean, seriously. What on earth is a Pina Colada ring!?!?) So I didn’t exactly get my hopes up. Then Christmas morning, I opened a little ring box and there was the Claddagh ring to end all Claddagh rings – WAY more than I had expected. Gold, with an emerald heart which was surrounded by diamonds. I was both surprised and touched.

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Honoring family traditions and trying to create new ones.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? My grandmother makes these “stained-glass window” cookies. They’re only for Christmas and I love them.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Brunch on Christmas morning at my parents’ house. Stockings and omelets? What could be better?

17. What tops your tree? A cream colored ceramic star with the word Believe written on it in gold script.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving. And not because I’m that deep. Actually, I'm pretty selfish because I only like giving when I KNOW I’ve found the PERFECT present for someone. Something that maybe they didn’t even know they wanted or needed, but it’s just perfect. Then giving blows the doors off receiving. When it’s out of obligation and you don’t have a clue (exhibit A: My brother’s ex-fiancée ) then it’s no fun at all.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Religious: O Holy Night. Secular: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

20. Candy canes? Only if nothing else is around.

21. Favorite Christmas movie? Love, Actually and The Christmas Story. Oh – and Elf! A new favorite.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Terminal Degree said...

I was pretty disappointed on the Santa issue, too. *sigh*

December 22, 2006 1:23 PM  
Blogger Jenny said...

OK, I'll play. 'Cause I'm almost done wrapping. Merry Christmas!

December 22, 2006 8:09 PM  
Blogger Eris said...

Off topic, sorry, but wanted you to know that eaudedesiree is now eaudedeux.blogspot.com, the explanation is there.

December 27, 2006 5:57 PM  

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