Christmas meme

Since I love all things Christmassy, I thought I would play along with this Christmas meme I found on AC's blog.

1. Hot chocolate or apple cider? Well, I love both, but apple cider tends to give me a headache within the hour, so hot chocolate it is. With some Beerenburg (Dutch Schnaps) added... Mmmmm

2. Turkey or ham? Difficult, difficult. Neither. The point of eating ham has always eluded me and turkey is just... no.

3. Do you get a fake or cut-it-yourself-Christmas Tree? Neither. Fake ones are bad for my cats' health since they eat the branches, so I tend to buy real uncut trees nowadays. So, after Christmas it gets stuck in my downstairs loo for a while and when the ground is soft enough again, I will put it in my garden. I've got two in there already and they are both thriving!

4. Decorations on the outside of your house? I don't really live in what I would call a 'nice' neighbourhood, so nothing outside. And so far inside I've got one string of lights up and one little angel on the telly. I might decorate the two Christmas trees outside though. Some peanuts on a string, some birdseeds in fat as baubles...

5. Snowball fights or sledding? Sledding. I love the feel of going down a mountain at high speed.

6. Do you enjoy downtown shopping? What for? I will get the groceries needed for this year's feast in the week prior to Christmas and that's about it. We don't do presents, because Christmas is about the birth of Christ in my family. Not presents.

7. Favourite Christmas song? Fairytale in New York by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. 'You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot, happy Christmas my ass, I pray God it's your last'. How can you not love a song like that. Or anything by the Muppets...

8. How do you feel about Christmas films? Well, I only own 154, so you tell me. If it's about a favourite: anything by the Muppets, White Christmas, Christmas in Connecticut (original), If you Believe, the Santa Clause, Home Alone, Bad Santa, the Christmas Card, Christmas in Handcuffs, Prancer Returns, When Angels come to Town, All I want for Christmas, All she wants for Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street (both), Love Actually, the Family Holiday, Willy Wuff (German films) and many more.

9. When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music? Before seven in the morning. I want to be asleep in bed then!

10. Stockings before or after presents? Ah, no presents remember! And no stockings either.

11. Go to someone else's house or they come to you? Well, this year I will be going to my parents (my sister will also be there) and on Boxing Day we will all go to my brother and his family. Normally I will allow visitors on part of Christmas or Boxing Day. Definitely not all day and certainly not both days. It interferes with my Christmas telly...

12. Do you read the Christmas Story? If so, when? When I still used to live at home, the original Christmas story would be read to us after dinner over the course of a few weeks, either from the Childrens' Bible and when we were older the normal Bible, culminating with the birth of Christ on Christmas Day. Since I haven't been home for a few years for Christmas I don't know what my parents do nowadays.

13. What do you do after presents and dinner? No presents. After dinner we relax and watch telly. Perhaps a game if we feel like it.

14. What is your favourite Holiday smell? The smell of a proper tree and the food.

15. Ice skating or walking round the mall? Not too fond of ice skating, but I walked round an English mall on Saturday. Not that much fun either. So, it's a toss-up.

16. Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas Day? No presents! Christmas Eve isn't that much of a deal in the Netherlands. Yes, we would like to be home earlier than normal and most shops will closer earlier as well, but it's Christmas and Boxing Day that count.

17. Favourite Christmas memory? When I lived in England, we used to go out quite often and one night during the weeks leading up to Christmas we went to this club called Banana Joe in Bath. The only music they played that night was Christmas music. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! I was on the dance floor all night long, even though dancing wasn't really an option since the place was packed tighter than a can of sardines!

18. Favourite part of winter? Cold, snow, hot (spiked) chocolate.

19. Ever been kissed underneath the mistletoe? I don't think I ever saw mistletoe in real life, apart from high up in the trees. Perhaps that's what Roberto did wrong...