Over at Kate Takes 5, she – and her fellow contributors to this Linky – have been expounding on what makes their Christmas what it is.  I’m trying to get back into “normal” blogging, so here’s my list.

1.  A good movie.

This has to be something the whole family can watch and enjoy.  My personal favourite Christmas movie is “The Muppets Christmas Carol.”  It’s got the right blend of humour, Muppet action and a cracking good Christmas story.  Other movies just don’t cut it.  I’ve expounded elsewhere on my dislike of “The Polar Express”, stuff like “Elf” just doesn’t work for me.

2.  Foooooooooooooooooooooooooood

And plenty of it.  The fridge is usually stuffed with goodies that need to be consumed before the diet kicks in on New Year’s day.  So there’s sides of smoked salmon, a slab of beef for Boxing Day, the Christmas Goose (with at least 2 home-made stuffings), more bacon and black pudding than you can shake a stick at.  I could happily spend the Christmas period just grazing through the kitchen and not eating a proper meal once.  Apart from the big day, of course.

3.  Church on Christmas Morning.

This has to be done!  Belting out the carols, inhibitions reduced by the glass of Buck’s Fizz that did service as breakfast.  There’s hymns (or special verses of) you only get to sing on Christmas day, and they’re usually thumping good ones.

4.  Decorating the house.

Inside, not out.  Not a fan of the outdoor decorations.  But stuff strung around the rooms, decorating the pictures around the house with tinsel and cards, the telescope (see the Silent Sunday pic from a couple of weeks ago), the tree.  We’ve now got 4 sets of lights, 3 of which work, 1 of which I was given by my parents for our first Christmas in Edinburgh.  It’s a great job for all the family to get together and do.  Usually we’d be waiting until the kids had gone to bed and then re-arranging stuff to look right, but this year the kids did a wonderful job and we’ve left it alone.  Perfect.

5.  A Big Bag of Mixed Nuts.

Or, as they’re otherwise known, the rest of the extended family.

Now.  Do the right thing, head to the Linky and enjoy everyone else’s contributions.  Many of which will have pictures and all of which will undoubtedly be better than mine.