The Simple Life at Home

Ok, this is specifically not a meme. It's a HOOPLA. Got it?

Now that we have that settled, Tammi has tagged me for this fun idea wherein I have to share 12 random things about myself that are Christmas related. Here are the rules:

1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas
2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word
3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.
4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.

Ok, here goes!!

1. I'm one of those horrible people who don't send Christmas cards. About three years ago, I decided to stop beating myself up about it. Every year I plan to, then keep putting it off and eventually have to accept that it's just not going to happen. :::sigh:::
2. I LOVE Christmas music!! Especially classic stuff. Each year I allow myself to buy one new Christmas cd. This year, it was the Chipmunk's Christmas album. Last year, I picked up a great one - Christmas with the Rat Pack. I love it!! Another favorite one is Dixieland Christmas, an instrumental cd by that makes me feel like I'm walking down the street in New Orleans.
3. Best Christmas? I'd probably have to say the ones when I was a kid and we'd drive to Grandma's house. All the cousins would be there and we'd go sledding and play with all of our new toys together. It was just like magic.
4. Worst Christmas? Sadly, probably last year. My in-laws were visiting and we decided to go to DisneyWorld for a few days right before Christmas. It was crowded and it rained almost the whole time we were there. Plus my in-laws are elderly and just weren't that into it, so my kids were disappointed with the trip as we took it pretty slow and didn't see much. Then we decided to spend an extra day (????) and returned home about 6 pm on Christmas eve. We were so tired and cranky we didn't even go to the Christmas eve service at church. I was upset about that and it just basically stunk all around.
5. When I was a teenager, I was THE WORST about snooping into Christmas presents! What I would do is carefully unwrap one side of the present, slide it out to peek at it, and the slide it back into the wrapping, carefully re-taping that one side. Well, one year, the gift was a gold bracelet. I decided to take the bracelet out and re-wrap just the box. That way I could wear it up to Christmas even, when I would have to put it back in the box. That was the plan. Unfortunately, one night when I was skating, I started having severe abdominal pains. I slipped the bracelet off on my way home and put it in my purse. Mom ended up taking me to the ER, where I foolishly (probably because the doctor was cute) asked her to retrieve my hairbrush from my purse...where she promptly found the bracelet!! BUSTED!!!!
6. I love kiddie Christmas programs. My favorite is "The Year Without a Santa Claus." I totally love the two brothers, Mr. Hot and Mr. Cold, that battle it out. They kind of creeped me out when I was a kid, but in a fascinating way, ya know?
7. This year, there is really nothing that I want for Christmas. I feel so satisfied with our recent decluttering efforts that I hate to start bringing things back into the house.
8. My favorite Christmas song is "O Holy Night." And in that song, my favorite line is, "Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He appeared and the soul felt its worth."
9. I hate eggnog.
10. But I love hot chocolate. My perfect Christmas moment would include a dark house, lit only by the Christmas tree lights, Christmas music playing softly in the background, two mugs of hot chocolate and snuggling up with Hubby.
11. It's just not Christmas unless I watch "It's a Wonderful Life."
12. Every year on Christmas night, Hubby and I take our children driving around looking at Christmas lights. There's one house in our area that is always on our list.

So that's it for me. I'm tagging Mylinda, Amy, Leeann, Ice Cream Diary, Stacey, and Tracy.