Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Confessions: The Holiday Edition

The lovely Nora does these confession posts occasionally (and just did one last week!) so I thought I would play along.  This is a holiday themed list of confessions:
  • I do not like eggnog.  At all.  
  • I adore cheesy ABC Family and Hallmark Christmas movies. 
  • I pretended to believe in Santa for YEARS after I knew he was not 'real'.  I continued to pretend because I thought the Santa gifts might be discontinued otherwise.  What can I say, Santa brought some really cool things.
  • I have the hardest time not telling people what I got them for Christmas.  I usually buy gifts close to Christmas to make it easier on myself.  I was terrible at keeping gifts a surprise as a child.  I remember one Christmas my mom made me swear not to tell dad what I got him.  I decided to use reverse psychology on my dad and said, "Do you know what you are getting for Christmas from me?  It's not a wallet!"  It was totally a wallet.  I am sure he fell for the reverse psychology.
  • I am not the "fun aunt" when it comes to gift giving as I do not give toys as gifts.  Instead, my nephews and niece get books from me.  They may not get that excited over books in comparison to the fun toys they receive, but I never see many of those toys again, but year after year, I read the books I gave them.
  • I love my in-laws for many reasons, but I especially love them on Christmas Eve because now my mom makes something besides oyster stew!  Now it's usually a seafood feast that includes crab and shrimp.  Mmm.  Granted,  there was always a cheese and cracker tray and veggie tray, and the stew isn't too bad if you load it up with oyster crackers, so it's not like I went hungry all those years.  I just enjoy the meal WAY MORE these days!  ;) This year we are celebrating with some of my dad's family so we'll have lasagna and some other casseroles like that (I made a gf lasagna to share).
I will close with something completely off-topic by wishing my Mom and Dad a very Happy Anniversary (they have been married for 42 years!!).  I'd also like to wish my cousin Suzanne a very Happy Birthday!!

Do you have any holiday-related confessions you'd like to share?

27 comments:

Marlys said...

Thanks for the Anniversary Greeting! I asked your Dad last night if he thought the next 42 years would go as fast as the first 42, and he laughed! I'm looking forward to Christmas!
You were never good at keeping gifts a secret!

Jess said...

The first Christmas I found out Santa wasn't real, we still did "Santa" gifts because my brother still believed in him. I remember just feeling legitimately betrayed by my parents the entire time we were opening gifts that morning.

I guess my holiday confession is likely the same as many other people - I don't think calories exist on Christmas day or the few days surrounding them. I pretty much can't control myself around holiday sweets. Especially nanaimo bars!!

Happy Anniversary to your parents!

missris said...

Ooh I like the idea of this post! I would say my confessions are: around the holidays I definitely eat like calories don't count; and sometimes my family really drives me nuts!!

abbi said...

I've seen several people mention they don't like egg nog. I actually like it but anything more than one sip makes me sick since it's so rich. I love cheesy holiday movies too! My confession would be that as I kid, I was the biggest snoop. Nothing was ever a surprise!

Abby said...

I'm the same way about Christmas gifts. I also find I really don't enjoy buying Christmas gifts because I never seem to know what to get, and I stress out in worry that I didn't get the right thing.

Egg nog is gross. I feel like you have to chew it. Ryan makes us get it every year. Bleh.

Unknown said...

No egg nog for me either!
What, Santa is not real?
Great post!!!

Jeanie said...

Love all of these! Many apply to me as well!

Personally, I LOVE getting beautiful Christmas cards with photos of friends -- like you! Thank you!

Marisa A. said...

I HATE EGGNOG!!!!!!!! So gross. I love cheesy holiday movies too. Last night I sat on the couch and watched The Holiday and knitted. Panic knitted is more like it since I started a scarf for Drew in November and it's almost Christmas and I'm not even half done!

Vanessa said...

I LOVE those Hallmark Christmas movies! Deliciously cheesy. :P

Nora said...

I don't do egg nog either. Blech. So gross.

I laughed at your "you are NOT getting a wallet" statement to your dad. I can totally picture you saying that.

Congrats to you parents on 42 years! That is so awesome =)

Gracie said...

I loved eggnog as a kid and now I just don't anymore. It makes me kind of sad!

Carolina John said...

Happy anniversary to your folks! My parents just had their 40th. So rare these days.

Leigh said...

Happy anniversary to your parent's! 42 years, holy cow!

I have never tried egg nog, so I can't say if I hate it or like it. It doesn't appeal to me one bit though!

I am terrible at keeping gifts a secret too...especially if Brian starts to guess because I suck at lying!

Amber said...

Eggnog has grown on me since being with Eric because he LOVES eggnog. I still don't really like it by itself but I like to have a little splash in my coffee or oatmeal from time to time and I LOVE chai eggnog lattes!

That is sooo funny you kept pretending you thought Santa was real for so long so you'd keep receiving the Santa gifts. Lol

Stephany said...

Congrats to your parents! That's amazing! :)

When I told my mom I didn't believe in Santa, she told me that means I wouldn't get any presents from him so I was all, "I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE!" Ha. I think we got presents from him until we were 10 or 11, still. :)

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

Happy anniversary to your parents! Mine had their 30th this year. It's always easy to remember how many years for me. lol ;)

I have a hard time not telling people about Christmas presents too! In fact, I still have three people to buy for. My parents, sister and sister's boyfriend!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE that you give books to your niece and nephews. That's who I'm going to be too, for sure. I mean, other than me not a whole lot of people give books, and since I work in the children's section of a bookstore I feel like it's only right, considering I know my books pretty well for his age! I think they'll love you for it way more when they get older and have this amazing collection to look back on.

And happy anniversary to your parents- wow 42 years, that is truly AMAZING. :)

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

You'll laugh about this eggnog story. Whole Foods was giving out free samples of soy eggnog. Dan tasted it, fell in love and bought a couple containers of the stuff. As he was drinking it the other night, I looked at the ingredients. Soymilk and sugar. That's it. No egg. Now, every time he says he's having eggnog, I correct him and say sugar milk. Eiwwwww!

qwerkyqook said...

HEY! Thanks for the birthday greeting! I should maybe start blogging again huh? I fixed my computer so now I can upload pictures again, so I should get back at it! I ALWAYS tell people what i'm getting them, or worse yet, make them open the gift as soon as I purchase it. Patience has never been my strength!

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

LOL times a million about you using "reverse psychology" on your dad HAHAHA. That is awesome! I enjoy the thrill of the secret and making up elaborate lies.

I like your point about the books- I got one of the kids I tutor books because he loves books so I thought he wouldn't mind. He said he wanted a toy but then 10 minutes later when I left he was reading the books to his sister and hes like "arent' these the best!?" I definitely feel like toys provide a more immediate yay factor, but books last longer. Maybe that's just the optimistic teacher in me.

Happy Anniversary to your parents!

crystal said...

Books are always a good gift! My holiday confession...I can not wrap a present! It always looks like poo, so I go for bags.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

I pretended to believe too :-) Also, I have never had egg nog before.

Raquelita said...

YES! I have finally met someone else who hates egg nog!

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

This was a fun post, Lisa! My confession is that I've never actually had eggnog. The idea of it just makes my mouth kind of turn. Blech.

I also like giving gifts that are practical and can be used. My little brother (18 now) has always wanted the expensive gadgets or video games. I could never bring myself to buy any of those items.

Becky said...

It's not a wallet! Hahahahahahaha I love it.

"I do not like eggnog. At all.
I adore cheesy ABC Family and Hallmark Christmas movies."

YES. This is why we're friends.

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

I like the flavor of eggnog, but not the thickness. Ew. I don't really like milk either, so it is like worse, thicker, milk. Ew.

I ate about 8 cookies today as I was making them. They kept breaking and I could never give someone an inferior cookie. So I had to eat it. Or THEM, should I say.

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

i want a seafood tradition. hmmmm