Stolen from Ebeth's blog

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I'd have to go with hot chocolate. Especially if it's Swiss Miss (I'm a cheap date.)

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? When I was growing up Santa would arrange the toys in little vignettes. I especially remember the year I got a family of dolls and they were arranged around a little playset. The children were swinging, Mom was pushing them and Dad was watching. Santa isn't quite so creative these days and the gifts are usually wrapped in red paper.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White, always.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? This year I did buy some mistletoe from our fruit and veg shop in the village. Once I got it home I couldn't decide the best way to hang it. It sat on the kitchen table for a while but I kept freaking out about the children touching it because it's apparently poisonous if eaten. At the moment it's drying out on top of the TV in the kitchen. The only way anyone could get under our mistletoe is if they laid down on the floor next to the freezer.

5. When do you put your decorations up? The weekend after Thanksgiving which is at the end of November.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? I love the whole meal. We usually do the full American Thanksgiving and then have an English Christmas lunch with turkey, brussel sprouts, roast potatoes and parsnips, sage and onion stuffing, etc, etc.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? The one that stands out is the year Jon wanted a bike but we didn't have enough money for a new bike. Dad took my old bike and painted it red then painted black web all over it and a Spiderman face on the seat. He put on new handles with tassles and it was the coolest bike on the block!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? It wasn't a big revelation. It was the year I got my Lemon Meringue doll (part of the Strawberry Shortcake family). I think I had been suspicious before then but that year I remember laying in bed and hearing lots of shuffling and moving in the living room and Mom and Dad talking. That's when I knew for sure.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Usually just one and it's always pajamas.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? With a mishmash of homemade ornaments and odd baubles. This year it's dominated by some Lego ornaments Toby and J made and a big rainbow coloured paper chain that Tobes and I made. I still have ornaments from mine and Jason's first Christmas together. We were completely broke so I made all the ornaments for our first tree. I dream of a designer tree but the closest I've come is the tiny tree we had in Tokyo. I had to buy all the ornaments and they were all either white or crystal. Very pretty tree but I think I prefer the mishmash.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it but never really experienced it. My first Christmas in England I remember walking down Barnet High Street and it started to snow really hard. It's barely snowed since.

12. Can you ice skate? Oh yes. We're going skating at Somerset House this year. Can't wait.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I had a Barbie perfume maker that I loved. And my Pink Thunder Huffy bike. My EasyBake oven too. I was a lucky little girl.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Being with family and friends.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Mom's sugar cookies.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? This will only be the second year that we've done it but I love the Christmas Eve procession in Blackheath. A little girl and boy ride through the village on a donkey as Mary and Joseph followed by other children dressed as shepherds. Everyone follows them down to the heath carrying lanterns or flashlights. We all gather outside All Saints Church and sing Christmas carols. I love it last year and I've been looking forward to doing it again.

17. What tops your tree? A little angel.

18.Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Probably giving. That's not me being generous, I just dread getting a gift I really don't like and not being able to hide my reaction.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I love most of them (barring Cliff Richards) from the traditional carols to the children's songs to the modern stuff. I do love Wizzard's I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday. Perhaps I've been in England too long.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Definitely yum. I carted back over a hundred of them from Texas. The ones here just don't taste right. You can do so much with them - hang them on the tree, make peppermint bark, put them into cookies, smash them up and sprinkle them on ice cream. I even got some tiny ones for the tops of cupcakes. They're so festive.

Really getting into the Christmas spirit now. I went to the grocery store this morning and the Salvation Army band were playing. Lovely to do my shopping with the accompaniment of a brass band playing Christmas carols.

We had the ceremony to turn on the Blackheath Village Christmas lights a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. They had a little funfair for the kids and an Elvis impersonator entertained the crowd with some of his greatest hits (and was surprisingly good). The vicar of All Saints blessed the occasion and the lights were turned on to lots of cheers. I love this little community.