It's beginning to look a lot like....mid-late November.

Jack on Christmas last year

I just finished a rough week with two exams, a quiz and one of these awful class exercises we do in Stats where we have to work in a group with almost no time and we are all frantically trying to finish within our groups while ignoring the dull roar created by all the other groups who are frantically trying to finish... Anyways now that the week is essentially over for me I have time to day dream about the impending Christmas season! Planning gifts that I will (hopefully) make, deciding what day we will get our tree (December 8th, immediately after my Stats final in finished) and picking out the movie we'll watch with Andrew's family (a tradition.) I found a Christmas meme on IROCKSOWHAT and decided to waste some delicious time filling it out and sharing it with you and generally "gettin' all up" in the Christmas spirit!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate (just not Starbucks H.C., that stuff is chalky)

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapping is one of my favourite holiday activities, I have a great time deciding what the theme will be each year.

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

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No.

5. When do you put your decorations up? Sometime in the 1st week of December. I think it's important the November stays a bit somber and comtemplative with Remembrance Day and all...

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Stew and Pancakes! (Another Gillott family tradition)

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? The annual Christmas party we had with some close friends of the family and their kids. We didn't have a lot of family in B.C. growing up so we made our own with these people.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I forget when, but I'll be you anything I employed inductive reasoning and established a strong, cogent argument to present to my mother and get her to admit the truth.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Our Christmas Pajamas! (Yet another Gillott family tradition)

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Mine and Andrew's is red and white with some home-made pine cone ornaments, some wood textured ornaments and his ever growing collection of musical insturment ornaments. (He gets one from my mom each year.) Andrew's parents tree is all sentimental ornaments and my Mom's tree in a million feet tall and looks like something from a fancy mall display.

Andrews Parents house last year

My Mom's last year

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I LOVE snow! I saw two flakes yesterday. It was great!

12. Can you ice skate? I'm pretty decent

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I don't think I could pick an all time favourite but one of the best was for our first Christmas Andrew wrote and recorded a song for me and gave me the c.d.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family and traditions.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pumpkin Cheesecake...

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I love them all but pajamas are especially important: Getting them on Christmas Eve, putting them on and not taking them off until it's time for dinner on Christmas Day.

17. What tops your tree? A homemade snowflake last year, hopefully I'll find something I like this year, I am being picky because the tree topper is an important tradition to me. My dad and I used to put it on together every year.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving! It means I get to shop and not feel guilty about it!

19. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Meh

20. Favorite Christmas movie/show? The Family Stone, because I love the idea of big crazy Christmases with a big family.

21. Saddest Christmas Song? Silent Night, but Sufjan Stevens does a really pretty/sad one called Sister Winter.

22. What is your favorite Christmas song? Fairytale of New York