Merry Christmas!

We found this gem because it was kindly given to us from our friend Bev from the blog Funny The World. Bev has been a faithful follower of Sunday Stealing for years. We are still on the mend from that pesky broken neck. It’s almost two months since the surgery. We’ve still have a way to go. So, the help from you folks is SO appreciated. We may at some point try to recruit a new author here, but as we have said, we are working on some marketing to increase our audience. But now it’s time to toast!

Cheers to all of us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The Xmas Questions of 2016

1.  Do you send out Christmas cards and if so how many do you send?

I used to send them to pretty much everyone we were related to or ever knew. Then as I was sending all these cards, but the number we were receiving kept dwindling down, I started trimming my list.  With social media, we're all pretty much in regular contact with family and friends so there isn't any need for the annual Christmas letter to catch everyone up.  These days I mostly just send out cards to those who may send us one.  This year, however, with the birth of our youngest grandson and working right up until the last minute I didn't even manage that.

2.  Do you write and send a holiday letter to describe your year?  

Ugh, NO!  I hate those things.  I used to have such anxiety about what to put in them.  I don't particularly like getting them, either.  They are like really detailed Facebook posts in which everyone makes their life sound like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.  I still get one from a childhood friend and every year it makes me feel like the ugly, unsuccessful step-sister.

3.  What do you think of photo cards?

I like them.  It's nice to see how people change from one year to the next.

4.  How about the tree thing - do you have one every year?  Do you prefer real or artificial?

Yes, we have a tree every year.  I like the look and smell of real trees, but hate the mess and hassle.  Plus, I like to put the tree up right after Thanksgiving.

My cute little alpine tree with
a woodland theme.

5.  Describe your typical tree (size, decorations, type).  If you don't have a tree, do you decorate and if so, tell us about it. (If you don't decorate, make up a story here...)

The tree pictured above is my current tree.  It is slim and about 6 ft. tall.  We used to have massive trees, but I've been scaling down the last few years.  I think this one will be around for a while.  I really love it.

6.  Do you hang up stockings?  Whose names are on them (and relationship)?

My husband and I have always filled stocking for each other and of course we filled them for the kids.  As the kiddos began to marry, have significant others, and have children I kept on adding a stocking for each addition.  I just announced today at our family get together that this was the last year for the stockings.  My husband and I will continue to exchange and I will fill stockings for the grandkids, but I'm done thinking up stuff to fill our kids' and their spouses'.

There are no names on the stockings.  Each family group had a color (red, blue, and green) and the grands each have a theme that we cater to when buying ornaments and such (snowmen, elves, and reindeer).

7.  Your favorite Christmas movies are?

A Christmas Story, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and It's a Wonderful Life.

8.  Tell us about a Christmas movie you hate.

I can't think of one.  I love Christmas movies.

9.  What's your favorite Christmas song(s)?

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

10.  What holiday song makes you want to hurl?

The Twelve Days of Christmas

11.  What do you prefer for your holiday meal?

We always have ham.  What goes with it varies.  Some years we have ham and turkey.  This year we had ham and lasagna.

12.  When do you open your gifts?

Traditionally on Christmas morning.  Our family got together on Christmas Eve day this year and of course, we did all the gifts.  My husband and I saved our stockings for tomorrow (I'm answering on Saturday night) and we also waited to exchange with my mom and stepdad till tomorrow.

13.  Do you buy gifts for your pet?

Of course.

14.  What's the worst gift you've ever gotten?

Probably the dash-cam my husband got me a couple of years ago.  It's never even been out of the box.  What the heck am I going to do with a dash-cam??

15.  Do you ever travel for the holiday?

My family did when I was growing up...at least some years.  We never do. When we got married I took over hosting the family Christmases and even though the kids are now grown I've still been doing it.  This year might mark the beginning of a change.  We all went to my daughter's home, though my mom and I did all the cooking.  Our kids live fairly close so it's not really traveling to go to their homes.

16.  Did you see Santa as a child?

Sure did.  Every year.  My mom has a photo cube somewhere that she always used to put out with all my pictures with Santa in it.

17.  Have you ever gone caroling? 

I may have as a kid.  I can't really remember.  I can't carry a tune in a bucket, so I'm guessing if I did, I just hung out at the back of the crowd.

18.  Do you drive around and look at the lights?

We did when the kids were little.  I talked my husband into going last weekend. He's not really into it, so it had been a while.  He was definitely humoring me.

19.  Have you ever had a white Christmas?

Many times.  I live in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.

20.  Do you know how to ice skate?  If yes, when did you skate the last time?

I have been skating, but not any time recently....probably not since I was 10 or so.  I was never very good.

21.  Are we crazy for thinking that the holiday season is WAY too commercial?

No, because it is.

22.  Have you ever worked Christmas Eve or Christmas day?

No.

23.  What are your Christmas pet peeves?

The commercialism and the fact that the season starts the second Halloween is over.  It's too much and too long.

24.  What's your favorite thing about the holidays?

It's always been going to church on Christmas Eve, but we don't belong to a traditional church so that's been missing the last couple of years.  I really miss it, though, so might have to look for a church one of these days.

25.  Here's your chance to say something significant to our players.  Go for it!

I really don't have anything significant to say.  I just want to wish you all the merriest of Christmases and caution you to keep in mind the important things and not get caught up in the craziness.  Enjoy your friends, your family, your meal, your gifts and be thankful for every blessing!

God bless and Merry Christmas!