Holiday edition of the Thursday Three

Courtesy of Terry at Possumblog:

The Second Annual Axis of Weevil Ramahannuchristmakwanzavus Thursday Three!

1. Are you an early bird in the prep for the holidays, and if so, how early do you start?

I take great pride in having 99.8% of my shopping done by Thanksgiving. That would not, however, include finishing the gifts that, in a fit of insanity, I decide to craft from scratch. Those are generally finished after the Christmas Eve service.

Of course, family members are a bit put out by being asked in August what they want for Christmas., not wanting to be locked in that early in the season.

2. If you decorate your house, when do the decorations go up, and what are they?

Assuming I’m not having company for Thanksgiving, the non-tree decorations go up the weekend before Thanksgiving. An evergreen swag on the archway between the livingroom and diningroom, another on top of the built-in buffet (that one with lights!), several wallhangings, various candles and sundry other gee-gaws ‘round the house.

The tree is assembled Thanksgiving Eve, after a good dinner has lulled me into thinking it will be easy. It is pre-lit; however, it is several feet taller than me, made in sections, and equipped with enough plugs and wires to keep an engineer cursing for hours. Once it is up (and wired so that all three sections will light up at once), I rest for a couple days, finishing the decorating on Sunday.

3. Do you go out of your way to find special, well-thought-out presents, or are you so harried and confused that gift cards make more sense?

I do ask if people have a preference, and try to listen carefully to gather clues to the perfect gift. Gift cards are purchased when specifically requested, or to round out another gift. Theater tickets with a gift certificate to a restaurant seems to be popular with some of my friends; of course, I specifically state they do not necessarily have to take ME with them…have I mentioned that my birthday is two weeks after Christmas, and I’d like dinner and a play for a gift?