1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? BOTH - sorry! Egg Nog w/ nutmeg or Hot Chocolate w/ a shot of Butterscotch Schnapps. 2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrap, wrap, wrap, wrap, wrap! & he always seems to know what color's we've decorated in that yr.! 3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White in various sizes & finishes. I would like to do the house in colored lights just one yr. though. Not the tree though! 4. Do you hang mistletoe? I keep meaning to! My Nana ALWAYS did! 5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually 2nd wk. of Dec. although I'm finally getting it together & we've already begun! 6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Hmmmm.... My mom's corn pudding. But her mashed potatoes are perfect. Her Ham is too. Did I mention her cherry pies?! 7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Well.... It's not my favorite but my family discusses it & laughs about it every yr. at my expense. When I was little I would get so worked up, excited & anxious about Christmas Day that on Christmas Eve I'd start getting sick & w/o fail every Christmas morning until I was 8 or so, I'd throw up as soon as my feet would hit the flr. Everyone would wait for me every morning while someone took me to the bathroom as soon as I woke up. 8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? When I pulled the beard off of Santa & made all of the kids start crying. My mom always reminds me of how I yelled "YOU'RE NOT THE REAL SANTA CLAUS!" & yanked his beard off. We were asked to leave. 9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, it was the only way my mom could get my nerve's to settle. DH asks me every yr. if I need to open a present on Christmas Eve & I always say 'No thanks, I'm a big girl now!' 10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? In gold. Also with ornaments that look like old mirrors and old Russian icons. Okay - that sounds really pretty!!!! This yr. I have a red whimsical tree in the LR, I'm aiming for an elegant woodland tree in the office & I'd like to do a small cars, planes, trains & boats theme on a small white tree in the playroom. 11. Snow: love it or hate it? LOVE IT! But I'd better be inside enjoying that doctored up hot chocolate by a fire. 12. Can you ice skate? Nope. That'd mean I'd have to go outside. 13. Do you remember your favorite gift? There are so many great gifts, but last yr. my sister who lives out of state & doesn't have much money to spare, put together a small basket of her favorite things. It makes me feel like we're together during the yr. sharing & introducing each other to new things. You can't beat that! 14. Whats the most important thing about the holidays for you? The shear magic, wonderment & joy of it all. My heart just sings - it feels like anything is possible! 15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? My mom's cherry pie. 16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Watching It's A Wonderful Life w/ a bottle of red wine w/ DH. 17. What tops your tree? Usually a finial but I just found a great angel that I hid in the back at Bombay. 18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Totally giving! In my family we look all yr. long wherever we go for each other & we never ask for lists. You never know when you'll find the most perfect thing at some little dive on a wknd. trip in August & it was probably under $10! DH's family seems to always ask for lists & go at the last minute. Then they never get me anything off of it! It's taken me a long time to get used to the whole list & generic wrapping/ bag thing but I finally have. 19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Holy Night by Bing but I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is a real close runner up! 20. Candy canes??? Sometimes at DS1's insistence. He always wants you to have what he has. 21. Favorite Christmas movie? Either The Santa Claus or Elf. 22. What do you leave for Santa? In our family -- we ALWAYS leave out the Best Scotch and shortbread. Mum always says that Santa will need a "warm-up" by the time he gets to our house ...... even when I was very little -- Santa always got a crystal glass of The Best. Milk & cookies but I think we may be starting a new tradition this yr.! Thanks Teacats!

Sugar, Sugar by Tommy Roe, Unchained Melody by Righteous Brothers, Who'll Stop The Rain - CCR, Teach Your Children Well. Has anyone heard "Crusin" by Huey Lewis and Gleneth Paltrow? It's great.

I, too, had a musical rocker, circa 1956. It had the original paint and 'Little Bo Peep' decal. Still played music! Having recently given up on the whole grandkid thing, and tired of storing it out of the Dallas heat, I finally listed it on CL. A young guy bought it for his daughter. Made me feel good that some little girl was going to enjoy it...hopefully as much as I did.

Harry Nilsson - one strange and twisted creative dude. My favorite song of his, among many I like, was written to express his thoughts about the breakup of a marriage. It's entitled "You're Breaking My Heart" and can be heard on YouTube. I recommend it. Reportedly, his close friends (including several Beatles) sang the song at his funeral.