Monday, December 21, 2009

Snow day and Christmas meme

So, I hear that a bunch of you guys got a ton of snow this weekend or something? And it's actually kind of funny because when we made plans for my family to come out to Denver for Christmas, we worried that bad weather on our end could make travel difficult. And instead, DC has two feet of snow and this weekend in Denver it was sunny and in the 50s.

Also, my office is closed today, and I'm wondering what that means for me. Do I get a snow day too? After all, when all of Denver got a snow day, I was still working at home. Or does working at home mean I never get a snow day? But if I'm the only person working, it's going to be pretty challenging to get certain things done, because nobody will be in to discuss, answer questions, etc. I just don't know. I emailed my boss to ask what I should do, and I'm still waiting to hear back.

So, with all this snow in the air, and this being Christmas Week, what better time for a Christmas meme? (Stolen from Swistle and quite a few other people.)

Eggnog or hot chocolate? Eggnog. OMG yum. My mom always makes eggnog milkshakes by blending eggnog with ice cream, and that is a million times better than just plain eggnog. Adults always had rum in their milkshakes too, but even now that I technically qualify as an adult, I still prefer my milkshake without rum.

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? Santa leaves small gifts, wrapped, in stockings. Presents under the tree are from family. I intend to uphold this tradition with our kids as well. Though in Germany, where Christmas is celebrated on the 24th, apparently Santa sneaks in the house in the middle of the afternoon and leaves the gifts in the hallway? I'm pretty sure we'll be sticking with the American version of this one once we have kids.

Colored lights on a tree or white? I grew up with colored lights but Torsten had very strong feelings about only white lights on a tree, so we went with that and actually, I love it.

Do you hang mistletoe? No.

When do you put your decorations up? It depends, but the last couple of years it's been the weekend after Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite holiday dish? Yorkshire pudding. YUM. This is one of the perks of having a British father.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Our policy used to be that we would save gifts that were sent from extended family until Christmas Eve and open them all then. But now we don't really receive gifts from extended family anymore, so everything is saved until Christmas morning.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights and a general (but not super restrictive) theme of red, purple, gold, and silver, with a silver star with white lights at the top.

Snow: love it or hate it? I love it. Maybe this opinion will change the longer we live in Colorado? But since we work from home, it's not really an inconvenience, so we can just light a fire and enjoy the beauty from inside. Plus, there isn't much cuter than a dog romping in the snow.

Can you ice skate? No. Unless you count "clinging to the wall of the rink while flailing wildly and watching your feet slide uncontrollably further and further apart" as ice skating.

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Hm. We don't really have a traditional holiday dessert that we eat every year. This year, we're planning on frozen mint chocolate cream pie, trifle, and chocolate orange souffle. All of those sound yummy to me.

What is your favorite holiday tradition? No one specific thing, I guess. Just the season. The tree and all the pretty lights everywhere and baking cookies and having fires in our fireplace. Just all of it.

Candy canes: yum or yuck? I don't like them, but it's not that I can't stand them. And actually, have you ever had a lemon with a candy cane straw? Amazingly good, and quite lip-puckering.

Favorite Christmas show? Umm. I don't really watch Christmas shows, I guess. I like it when TBS or whoever shows all the holiday episodes of Friends around Thanksgiving and Christmas, though.

I hope lots of you guys will do this meme too! As Swistle said, it's unexpectedly fun to fill out, and I'm enjoying reading them everywhere, too.

11 comments:

  1. These are so fun to read! Eggnog milkshakes sound to.die.for btw!

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  2. Working from home=no snow day. My last job I worked from home 2 days per week, and I was always bitter when the rest of the world had snow days and I had to work.

    Have you seen the recent issue of Real Simple? There is a whole article about how to paint/decorate with purple, and I thought of you!

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  3. Ooh good idea. I was wondering what to write about today and you've supplied the answer! I just love reading this stuff about other people too, btw.

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  4. I telecommute for one of your competitors (I suspect, anyhow -- another international health consulting firm in the DC area) since moving to San Diego from DC 2 years ago. Our policy, alas, is that when inclement weather closes the DC office, telecommuters are still on the clock! Like you said, it's tricky to charge time when the colleagues you need to be available on that end are not at work! Hope your supervisor lets you take the day off...

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  5. I'm going to admit I was really sad the east coast got socked with snow and we got none. Seriously, I was ready to shovel. And to throw down some salt. Instead, our temps hover around freezing, which means everything melts during the day, freezes overnight and proves to be a very scary morning walk with the dog. Wah.

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  6. My mom still gives me all of my gifts from Santa -- "she" doesn't get me anything...Santa does all of the work. Despite the fact that I am 36.

    And if you love eggnog, you should have been at the 15th annual Eggnogpalooza yesterday :)

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  7. I just did the meme at my blog -- mind you I'm so "chatty" that my answers get a little long-winded at times! LOL. That was fun to do though!

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