not this year-always a live one, the biggest live one we could find.

I adore the entire Nutcracker Suite and  Concerto Grossi by Corelli

I am a glutton for Christmas CD's must have 200 different ones.  this year it
is very old stuff-now I am listening to songs that won the war-I'll be home for
Christmas-right this minute it is Johnny Mercer winter wonderland.  In the car
it is Christine Lavine's run away Christmas tree.  The kids are obsessed with
it.

old version.

choose and give it to the kids-either fudge or little spritz cookies

Well, not really meaning to be a cliche, I do love chestnuts roasting on that
open fire, love the smell of the tree, and spiced whatever-either potpourri or
spiced cider or spiced anything.

Goats,  

(singing solstice songs, lighting the wish candles, etc.), maybe our midnight
service would have to be in there.

ok.  i'll play<smile>

i don't have an artificial and probably will not mess with a living one this
year.  orrrrr, maybe i'll get a fragrant 4 ft. norwegian royal spruce, with
the long, flat needles.  or maybe not.LOL

almost anything lilting and sweet or fun and energetic.  i like too many
scores to pick just one.

same story here.

'it's a wonderful life' and 'miracle on 34th street (with natalie wood as
the child)'  okay, so i'm hokey this time of the year.LOL

baked?---those lovely and tender little snowball cookies that melt in my
mouth, with nuts inside.  i forget what they are called, they look like
snowballs to me because of the confectioner's sugar around them and they are
real buttery.   i can never make them right, always overbake them and
haven't made them in years.  not baked-- homemade creamy fudge with walnuts.

baking smells and the fragrant tree.

"the littlest angel"

gift giving---well, it IS a ritual for me<g>.  but, in case it isn't to
anybody else, i also love driving around and being giddy from the gorgeous
christmas lights on homes.  and there is the leaving of the shoebox of hay.
caroling.  burying an egg at solstice.   uhohhh, too many rituals.  i have
too many to pick just one.

ohho!  you're being sneaky again.<giggling>
kate

Not in the last few years... too tired to set it up.  Hopefully this year.

O Holy Night.  I have a tape from about 15 years ago, when my son's
children's choir sang with a local adult choir in concert.  Hearing that
song with the combination of children's and adult voices still brings me to
tears every time.

Don't really have one, but the most memorable I heard was a few years back
when someone brought Macarena Christmas into work... what a fun CD!

A Wonderful Life

Doesn't matter, as long as he's cute, and not TOO baked :-)

Cedar.  My favorite scent any time of year as well.

Any real story (and there are several each year) about human kindness and
the spirit of the season making lives better for someone, somewhere.

A new one... last year I worked in the dispatch area of a local charity that
provides toys to children of needy families.  We sent out thousands of bags
of toys, and by the time I left there I felt like Christmas had come alive
for me.  So many people showed up to deliver toys I nearly cried.  I can't
wait to do it again, and won't give it up until the day that nobody needs
it.

Janet N.

tree    and it has to be fresh saith the family    It
is always the biggest one they can find and then hours
spent cutting the bottom off cause the ceilings are not
12 feet high. rofl

O Holy Night

Not sure of the name but Miss Piggy is questioning
Figgy pudding

don't have one

Moravian Cookies

mulled apple cider or same stuff in wine

Little Drummer Boy

Giving to charity

Duckie

lucy and i have a tradition of scavenging garland scraps at xmas tree
lots and doing a design around the fireplace mantle. Mainly because i
have antique bubbly lights from my childhood that make me feel warm and
fuzzy all over. Also have a collection of handmade snowflakes, each with
a story from all over the world that have to be visited once a year.

jimi hendrix experience-electric ladyland.....don't ask.>g<

Handel-Messiah

I have become very attached to bill murrays "scrooged"

chocolate caramel candy

pine and desert sage at about 6,000ft.

Actually, i vividly remember each year my earliest memories of my father
reading the story of the birth of jesus from the 'King James'.

i do a solstice pipe ceremony that has to stay.

Tree yes.  But an artificial prelit one.  I adore the live trees but my
allergy's go nuts

Anything sung by Kate Smith

Anything by Kate Smith, Bing Crosby, etc

Holiday Inn

Baklava

Wood smoke.

The Night Before Christmas.  Which I memorized years ago just because I like
it so much and its cool to be able to recite it to the kids.

Driving around on Christmas Eve to look at everyone's decorations.

(I did have to give up Christmas Eve church services where we would go
outside with candles and sing Silent Night.  Maybe if I get to hear again)

Jo

As I have in years past I want to ask each of you to do one thing for me
this Holiday Season.  Now more than any other time of year I miss hearing
music.  And it is unlikely I'll ever get that back, even with an implant.

I'm grateful for every bit of music I've ever heard.  And I'm grateful that
I did truly appreciate it at the time.  I loved the years I sang with a
children's choir, etc.

So at least once this year, in spite of the overload we all get with
constant Christmas music on the radio and in the stores, etc.  Please for me
take the time to stop and just listen to one Christmas song all the way
through and really enjoy it for me.

Jo

I have an artificial tree, and for the past three or so years have
been doing it in gold and silver.
I have ribbon on it and numerous decorations, some made to resemble
giganic snowflakes, and others large icicles. SOme of the decorations
aI bought today are a little garish; large crystals like a 50s
chandelier, large pearl and gold danglies like a 60s gogo dancer.

Silent night- I love everything about it including the story Johann's
gift to Christmas. That is one that I have to be really happy before I
read it to the class, as I find it quite emotional.
For many years when we were growing up and went to the Evangelical
church in Manitoba, for our church concert I would sing Silent Night
in Ukrainian.
My sister's solo was O Holy Night.

I enjoy listening to Boney M. Felis Navidad. and Mary's Boy Child.
Old Toy Trains

Boney M
Because I work with children, I have quite a selection of Christmas
cds. Raffi, a Canadian children's entertainer has one I enjoy.

The classics: Miracle on 34th Street (original)
It s a wonderful life

rum balls

i have never roasted chestnuts on an open fire

I love the natural smells of pine- a freshly cut Christmas tree

Johann's Gift to Christmas

there are more, but I am not good at remembering titles.

family dinner

Until my father died when I was 8 years old we celebrated a very
traditional Ukrainian Christmas which took place according to the
Julian calendar and was on January 6-7th. According to that tradition,
Christmas eve is very important and the Christmas ever dinner includes
twelve meatless dishes.

Because we stopped doing this many years ago, there is much I do not
remember. The carols though seemed very magical.

There was one preserved fruit my mother made, that was made of dried
apples, prunes, and raisins. It was very rich, but very tasty.

There is also a boiled wheat dish pronounced kootya that was like
ambrosia. The wheat had to cook for several hours, and then ground
poppy seed and honey were added.
You could not eat a lot of either of these desserts. LOl

    Rose   @}>->--
    Being educated means that rather than fearing the unknown, one seeks to understand it. RB

    Please remove "Ima" to reply.

this year we finally have room for an indoor tree!  looks like it will be
blue spruce as that is what the local growers grow and we'll go cut our own
in a week or two.  It will have ornaments and multicolored lights.  I know we
have the lights (I've strung them around our living space in the past) but
I'm not sure what we have in the way of ornaments.  May have to buy some.

1) Britten's Ceremony of Carols
2) Burr Oak Ensemble's Christmas tape (has a wrenching version of "Christmas
in the Trenches" as well as an uplifting "Behold that Star")

#1 above
have a new international Xmas music CD to check out this year.

A Christmas Story   "you'll shoot your eye out!"

coconut-pecan cake

Christmas tree, wassail or mulled wine is a close #2

How the Grinch Stole Christmas - my dad used to read it to us on Christmas
Eve.  He had this real playful side and had a wonderful time doing the
different voices.  I miss him .......

attending Midnight Mass   I've only missed it once since I was about 6 or 7
and that was because we didn't get to church as much ahead of the service as
we should have and the building was absolutely packed.  Went home and watched
the National Cathedral on TV and went to the local service in the morn.  I
now try to sing in the choir, which guarantees one a seat  :)

A tree is great if someone else puts one up...I can live without it.

Holiday music?  Perry Como on album!  As a kid we played it EVERY year
till we drove our dad nuts!

Holiday CD?  Mannheim Steamroller (sp?)

Movie? Any Christmas cartoon movie!

Bake goodie?  If I can ever find another good German bakery...I love
REAL pffernieuse (sp?????  Feffer-Noose)

Fav Scent?  Orange cinnamon

Fav Story?  The nativity

One ritual?  Having my family come from out of town to visit!

Janet R

Melinda wrote and asked:

Mary has already put up a 2-foot artificial tree, but I'm
ready to go out and purchase a real, live pine tree about
5-foot tall.

Adeste Fideles

We have a dozen around here but one of our favorites
is "CHRISTMAS WITH Frank Sinatra & Nat' King Cole."

White Christmas

Rum balls

Pine trees in a forest

Matthew 1:18-25   and   Luke 2:1-25

Church, preferably Midnight Mass.

Very mini survey  

1)   Tree or not? If yes, can you describe the sort of tree you have?

****** Yes.......usually a small artificial tree, always with
multicolored lights, and a mishmash of ornaments.   We always got a new
ornament every year for christmas when we were growing up so that when
we finally moved out on our own, we had enough ornaments to at least
decorate a small tree of our own.  I still have all of those old
ornaments plus some newer ones that I just LOVE ... such as some Thomas
Kinkade ornaments (absolutely love his stuff!) and of course a few U of
M / Go Blue ornaments.   Like I said....a real mishmash of ornaments!
LOL!!!

2)   Favorite piece of Holiday music?

******Hmmmmm........that would have to be a toss up between feliz
navidad and silent night!    Actually, truth be told, I LOVE christmas
music and can sometime be caught singing christmas tunes in the dead of
summer!    The music is always so joyful and peppy.....makes you just
want to dance!

3)   Favorite Holiday CD (may be redundant but possibly not)

******Call me sappy, but I like some of the older ones that have people
like Elvis Presley, Anne Murray, Bing, John Denver, etc. on them.

4)   Favorite Holiday Movie

******Christmas story and rudolf the red nosed reindeer!   (yep, I'm a
kid at heart!)

5)   You get to pick only one holiday baked goodie and only one this
year: what will it be?

******Only one?   Gee Melinda, that is a hard one.   I guess it would
have to be a toss up for me between homemade coconut macaroons, my moms
special homemade sugar cookies that have nutmeg in them and are oh
soooooo yummy, and plain old homemade peanut butter cookies.

6)   what is your favorite scent of the season?

******wood burning in the fireplace, the fresh scent of pine, spiced
cider, and the lovely scent of a good peppermint candle burning.

7)   Favorite story of the season?

******The birth of Christ!

8)   If you had to give up all your traditional rituals accept one,
which one would you keep?

******Hmmmm.....I guess it would be christmas eve services.   I love the
midnight service, but over the last few years I have been going to all 3
services we have.   We have a service at 6:00, 9:00, and then at 12:00
midnight.   I usually go to all 3 and then just sit in the sanctuary
between services and meditate, take in all the lovely sights, colors,
and sounds, and etc.   I also like to use the time to fulfill some
secret santa duties with people from my bible study group and other good
friends from church.   It is a good chance to leave a small gift or two
in the public office of our church with notes on them.  Of course, I
find others to write the notes in their handwriting so no one can
recognize my handwriting.   You should see the looks on some of the
elderly people here in my building when I ask them to write out a note
for me.   Too darn funny!!!

Donna G

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Jo}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Jo, it will be an honor and a true pleasure to honor your request!

Not only will I listen very intently to those christmas songs, but will
more than likely sing some of them at the top of my lungs no matter how
poorly I sing.   Will also more than likely dance a bit to several of
them and always think of you as I do.

I absolutely LOVE christmas music and one of my favorite things to do is
to sit in the room with all the lights turned off and the lights on the
christmas tree plugged in.  I sit in the dark, get lost in the beauty of
the tree with its lights on and christmas music playing in the
background!!!   The best and most soothing and cherished balm to the
soul that I can find.  

Merry Christmas Dear Friend and May you feel the Love of all of us
honoring your request this holiday season!!!

Hugs!

Donna G

Tree or not?  If yes, can you describe the sort of tree you have?

Yes, we have a tree but it's artificial (spelling) with tons of lights and
shiny ribbon.  This is our second year to saying no to ornaments.  They are
just too much to drag out and repackage.

Favorite piece of Holiday music?  

"O Holy Night".  My son's guitar teacher told him today that most young folks
do not like it and my son  made a special effort to learn it on the guitar with
him singing.

Favorite Holiday CD (may be redundant but possibly not)

anything by "manhattan steamroller"

Favorite Holiday Movie

OK it belongs to children or child at heart but I love the Muppets Christmas
Carol.  It's light, funny, and shows growth on the part of Scrooge.

You get to pick only one holiday baked goodie and only one this year:  what
will it be?

Pumpkin pie

what is your favorite scent of the season?

cinnamon

Favorite story of the season?

the Christmas Story

If you had to give up all your traditional rituals accept one, which one would
you keep?

Christmas devotionals with my family.  We read bits of the Christmas story and
sing our favorite carols.  Since we are all musicians it makes the holiday
sparkle.

there will be more surveys coming as I live vicariously through you all <g>
Also remember, I am quite tricky.  I am probably huntung for information as
well as forging bonds, sharing memories, etc.

Big live tree with tons of old ornamants, most made by the kids in grade
school, some made by bob and i in grade school, lots of garland and icicles.
Yes, it's guady but we love it it.

Rudolph!

Chipmonks Christmas....when i was a kid my dad broke my chipmonks christmas
album in half!!!!!!! I think he heard "I just want a hoola hoop" too many
times! I have never forgiven him and still remind him every year!!!!

A Christmas Story...You'll shoot your eye out!!!!!

Not baked..but buckeyes. YUM!!!!!!

pine

Rudolph

Italian Christmas eve with 12 kinds of seafood. I HATE seafood, but i love the
whole tradition of it all and the whole family being together. (minus whoever
happens to be in jail or under house arrest at the time. we're only going to be
missing two this year!)

~KJ

Akron, Ohio
http://arthritisinsight.com
Knowledge is power...support is essential.
Tina's Togs Quality Plus Size and Vintage Fashions
http://www.stores.ebay.com/tinastogs

No tree this year or several years past. Only artificial when I do on
account of getting sick from real ones. Bummer.

O Holy Night

An Andy Griffith CD with several songs and stories on it.

It's A Wonderful Life and most versions of A Christmas Carol, esp. 1951
with Alistair Sim as Scrooge.

Pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin and other spices.

A Christmas Carol

Gift giving.

'Tis the season. :)

Nell

I love noble firs and we always get the biggest one we can squeeze under the
ceiling. Usually about 8 feet. I asked if we should consider an artificial
tree one time and Brett looked at me like I'd just sprouted horns. "We live
in Oregon...there is no reason to have an artificial tree!"  That was the
last time I asked.lol

I don't really have one.

I do like the Bob Rivers Twisted Christmas CD...but that's just for fun
while I'm driving to work. I prefer the traditional for home and family. :o)

A Christmas Story.

Does it have to be baked? Grammy used to make the most delightful Divinity,
half with nuts and half without, just for me. She stopped doing it about 15
years when she couldn't stand comfortably at the stove for long periods
anymore. I'm going to try and make it this year for her.

Peppermint, without a doubt. My friend and I scour the malls looking for
peppermint candles with a really good scent. This is usually the only time
of year you can find them.

Don't really have one.

Christmas morning stockings. It's magic the way they are filled over night
and we get to find the treasures left for us in the morning.

Kelly C.;o)

Always, fake...so much easier for us with the furkid. I have a big Charlie
Brown tree...we made colored foam ornaments last year (Joe and I) so Hope
could pick them off the tree and not hurt them...so we have candy canes and
santas and reindeer it's a tacky big tree but I love it. We also have a lil 4
ft tree in our bedroom.

Carol of the Bells...and jingle bells there's a story here. jingle bells has
never been my fav but Hope learned to sing it this year. last night at 9:24pm
she started singing it at the top of her lungs...very cute stuff.

I have a few Time Life Christmas Music...all the oldies but goodies
Harry Conick Jr has a Christmas CD out that I like alot, and Trans Siberian
Orchestra..some of my favs...but love the old stuff best.

I have three...absolute all time fav is White Christmas can't be Christmas
without this movie (I watched it in September this year when Hope found her
Christmas videos). Second would be The Santa Clause, my first date with Joe
ten years ago on Dec 10th. And third, National Lampoons Christmas
Vacation...since this is how our Christmas turns out every year.

Sandtart cookies...only my Nana can make them right...my mom and I try but we
just can't do it.

pine and I have an apple cinnamon candle from Target I'm loving,

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Putting up the tree...last year I did give up all our rituals due to alot of
family issues but I did put up the tree and it helped. I'm sure hoping this
Christmas is better than last.

melissa

Yes - we have an 7 foot artificial Scotch pine.  I love it!

White Christmas

A Rosie Christmas by Rosie O'Donnell and Friends (I love "I'm Gonna Eat for
Christmas!")

White Christmas with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye

Miniature chocolate cakes with no icing!

Vanilla

The birth of the Christ child.

Decorating as a family to the sounds of Christmas music and then having hot
chocolate.  I missed the kids this year! However, Bob helped me a lot.

That's okay.  I am always mining for information like this.

Happy ChristmaHannuKwanzaakah!  That's a cute commercial and covers
everyone! (Of course, there will SOMEONE who takes offense at the commercial
or my salutation.  There is always at least one who takes things entirely
too personally.)

DeeTee
________________________________
DeeTee and Bob Taggart
http://www.marykay.com/dtaggart3
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8fwov/
________________________________

Not since I moved out of my parents' house. They're christian, I am not.

Honestly, I can't stand any of it. After many years working retail it
makes me nearly homicidal when I hear holiday music. Although I like Adam
Sandler's Hannukah song.

Anything that is not Xmas music!!!

*giggle* Bad Santa. The unrated version, aka Badder Santa. A Christmas
Story is also funny.

mmmm. Butter Tarts. Hands down.

Pumpkin Spice/Gingerbread - they're similar. I think it's the
clove/cinnamon/allspice combo.

ohhh. The time at my brother's elementary school Xmas concert when in the
middle of a song a girl named Elizabeth threw up on the kid in front of
her cuz the lights were so hot, and it set off a chain reaction of other
kids throwing up on one another. Much like the "barf-o-rama" scene in the
movie "Stand By Me"   Afterward, the only thing my brother said was, "it
was sooooo grooooooss, mom. She had SPAGHETTI for dinner."

Clam chowder family dinner Xmas eve at my parents house.  But because I am
an odd combination - raised semi-christian, though non practising, but
jewish by heritage, and something closer to buddhist in my beliefs, it
will be interesting to see what traditions Tish and I develop. She is a
practising jew, and fairly strict.

I've also incorporated your candle ceremony at the New Year, Melinda. I
always do that because it feels good.

Aim

respond to me at: aimnews at comcastdotnet

We have a fake after-Christmas clearance tree that is in it's own class
- neither fir nor spruce nor pine - but with sufficient lights & glitz &
glitter it is transformed into a glorious testament to the creativity of
children.  And pets...  ;)    Hope to get the decorations unpacked
before Mother's Day

O Holy Night

Old recording, finally on CD, The Little Drummer Boy.  Hope to unpack my
holiday CDs before Mother's Day

It's a Wonderful Life

 what will it be?

My variation of Russian Tea Cakes.  Hope I can unpack the recipe before
Mother's Day

Oranges & cloves & cinnamon & - oh, just one?  <G>

one would you keep?

Getting the whole family together

all <g>
Also remember, I am quite tricky.  I am probably hunting for information as
well as forging bonds, sharing memories, etc.