Random Christmas Hoopla

Stacey has tagged me for this fun "hoopla". 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.

12 Random Christmas Things About Grace:

1. I do not enjoy Christmas shopping. It's the worst season of all to shop, especially for those of us who don't enjoy shopping to begin with. Ugh!

2. When Joy was a baby and Hope was around 3, we got really excited and put up our Christmas tree extra-early. By Christmas week we were sick of it, so we took it down on Christmas Eve.

3. The past 5 years have found me becoming more and more of a Christmas Scrooge. I know it's a matter of attitude, but sometimes I feel stuck.

4. I like making Christmas wish lists.

5. I tend to cause family fights with my extended family at Christmas, usually through not being able to keep my mouth shut. I'm learning to say very little, but sometimes it's very difficult. Maybe that's one reason for my Christmas Scrooginess.

6. My favorite Christmas present ever was the engagement ring Peter presented me during Christmas, in 1991.

7. I can only listen to Christmas songs for short snippets of time because I become sick of them very quickly.

8. In 4th grade, I had the lead female part in our church Christmas play. We did a play about dolls, I still can't remember the name of it, but it was about dolls that learn about the true meaning of Christmas. I was a pretty china doll and the boy I had a crush on was the male lead, a patched doll wearing overalls.

9. My favorite meal at Christmas is breakfast - I love making a special Christmas breakfast dish. I also really like ham, which is what we're having for Christmas lupper. Lupper is our own made up word for the meal you eat halfway between lunch and supper time, sort of like brunch, but later in the day.

10. I still have the ornament I was given on my first Christmas - it's a little Christmas angel wearing a red dress and hat. I keep her in my curio all year long and then put her on the tree at Christmas.

11. We do not have any Christmas decorations up in our house yet, except for the girls room, which they decorated themselves.

12. My favorite childhood Christmas memory is from 1978, the year I was in 2nd grade. We lived in Iowa and didn't put up a tree or expect any gifts because we were going to my grandparents in Illinois. When we got home after Christmas, late at night, we walked into our living room and there was a tree set up all pretty and the huge teddy bear I'd wanted at K-Mart sitting under the tree. I had that bear until I got married. Another special thing about that Christmas is that year was my Grandma's last Christmas on earth.

Don't feel obligated to post, but I'm tagging Sher, Sue, Heidi, Tash, and Marietta.