Just a few questions to kind of get a grasp where people are for the coming holidays:
FYI, 20 =/= "a few questions."
1. Are you cooking this year for Thanksgiving? If not, who will and where will you be?
Still not sure -- either at my mother's or my sister-in-law's.
2. On average, when you travel for Thanksgiving, how far do you go?
1 hour away.
3. Or....if you have families at your home, are the gatherings large or small?
Medium-sized.
4. Even eat out at a restaurant for Thanksgiving?
No.
5. When do you start shopping for Christmas gifts?
We'll start getting things in the Summer, but the real shopping starts in October or November.
6. Do you decorate/get a tree for your home for the holidays?
Yes, but it doesn't go up until mid-December and it stays up until Epiphany (January 6).
7. What is your most favorite holiday song?
"Merry Christmas from the Family" - Robert Earl Keen. ETA: If we're talking about Christmas carols (which I do not want to hear sung by popular recording artists), it would be a toss-up between the Wexford carol ("Good people all, this Christmastide"), Taladh Chriosda ("the Christ Child's Lullaby"), "What Child is This" and "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly."
8. Do you join in with holiday festivites at work?
Yes.
9. Are you an early shopper (starting in November) or a last minute shopper (last week up til Christmas Eve?)
Both. I usually get started early, but almost always have something last minute to get.
10. What other activites do you engage in to get you into the holiday spirit?
Not many that I can think of; I'm not much of one for "getting into the holiday spirit." It'll come when the time's right.
I'm really old-fashioined on this one -- as far as I'm concerned, Christmas does not begin until the evening of Dec. 24, and it lasts for 12 days (starting with Dec. 25 and ending Jan. 6). Prior to Dec. 24 is Advent, not Christmas, which is spent preparing for Christmas, both practically and spiritually, not celebrating Christmas. Yeah, the kids tell me to loosen up every now and then.
11. Do you attend church on Christmas morning?
Yes, and the night before as well.
12. Favorite television programs during the holidays?
The endless reruns of "A Christmas Story" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." They're pretty much the only Christmas TV shows I'll watch.
13. How much vacation time do you take during the holidays?
A week or two.
14. Do attend New Year's functions or spend quiet evenings at home?
Varies from year to year.
15. Ever been to Times Square?
You couldn't pay me to go to Times Square on NYE.
16. Do you remember where you were for Y2K?
Yes, my mother-in-law's.
17. What do you do as far as charity/community service during this time of year?
It varies from year to year, but there is always some of both.
18. If there is one thing that you could outlaw during the holidays, what would it be?
Well, the main things that I would outlaw are Christmas decorations and Christmas music before Thanksgiving -- turns me into a Scrooge faster than anything. But you asked about things "during" the holidays, and what I just described is technically "before" the holidays, so I'll say the awful, awful schlock that passes as "Christmas music" in the malls and on the radio.
19. If you care to share, who is that one relative that is the most embarrasing one to have around for the holidays?
There isn't one.
20. By the end of it all, how much do you think you will have spent?
Like Sydney, too much.