Christmas Spirit

Last week, Melanie of Jellybeanangel awarded me this Christmas Spirit Award.

It is evident by the fact that I am just now responding to her generosity and recognition that I truly do love Christmas that the time crunch around Willow's Cottage has gotten really really crazy.

BUT, things are getting on track finally. I do have all my Christmas shopping, buying, wrapping under control. There are a few presents straggling in by post and UPS still but basically I've done my shopping. I know who's coming, where they're sleeping and when they're leaving. I have a basic food plan in place, at least it's in place in my head. The Christmas tree has been purchased, the decorations boxes have been identified. Decorating the tree and house will commence after my last hour of teaching tomorrow.

Anyway.

Here are the rules for Christmas award.

You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award.
The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas.

You must link back to the person who gave you the award.

You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space!

Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 45; it's up to you. But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going!

Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment.

My 5 things I love about Christmas:

1. I love having my family and friends together, eating, playing, singing,reading, hanging out.

2. I love singing Christmas songs and listening to carols on CD. I love playing Handel's Messiah in the car while I drive to and from work.

3. I love lighting the Advent candles. I did not grow up with the Advent tradition but the older I get the more I love the church traditions.

4. I love baking sugar cookies from my grandmother's recipe.

5. I love waking up on Christmas morning and eating The Professor's special coffee cake that he first made when we were living out in the jungles of Papua, in Indonesia.

6. I love watching my family open their gifts on Christmas morning (after eating the coffee cake and drinking their hot beverages of choice) one by one, slowly, savoring the anticipation. This tradition comes from living a long long way from any source of wrapping paper, so paper was lovingly used and reused year after year, and from the fact that there were many years when there weren't many gifts under the tree (when you live in the jungle there aren't any stores around to purchase presents). Through the years the tradition of drawing out the time for unwrapping gifts has persisted and we all enjoy watching the reactions of the recipient as he/she discovers what a loved one has chosen for them.

7. I love drinking eggnog from the mugs my mother bought us years ago, probably an early edition of Starbuck's Christmas mugs.

8. I love receiving and sending Christmas cards. I hope I get mine out this year...

Who else loves Christmas?

Flower?

Ellen ?

Barbara?

Anyone who wants to participate!