What are YOUR Holiday Traditions?

Pearlsim, I hope the joys of the season comfort you and your family in the loss of your brother. Thanks for sharing your heartache with us...I hope the healing has already begun.

 

To all who have lost beloved family: I had a nap this afternoon and dreamt deeply. When I awoke, I felt such peace deep in my soul because so many loved ones had somehow drifted into my dreams and I felt their presence profoundly. They are with us, as surely as the air we breathe. May you feel their love and warmth in your heart and soul this season and always. They are but a breath away.

 

Strangest thing! I teach music for a private elementary school and tonight was the all school Christmas musical. Hubby was in charge of running a slide show for one of the songs, but he was having trouble getting the projectors at the church to recognize my computer.

In all the wrangling and figuring, up popped my screen saver...a picture of my brother and I (plus another brother) taken when i went to visit him in mid October, after his diagnosis. We are standing in Discovery Park in Seattle...one of his very favorite spots on Earth.

It was like my brother found a way to be with me tonight.

 

Christmas.....

Yes, I do send Christmas cards and should be getting mine finished up as we speak but just have to get my writing brain warmed up, so here I am on the forum doncha know.

Gift bags are a miraculous invention! I have never been great with sissors and tape, so use them a lot but not so much on packages that go under our tree as I like the traditonal look of wrapped packages there and so take time to wrap most of those.

The worst gift I ever got was a beautiful food processor from my husband...So what is wrong with that? I had found a numbered retrieval ticket from my favorite local jewelry store when clearing off his dresser one morning a few weeks before Christmas and was expecting maybe an emerald ring that I had told my daughter about, thinking she might have hinted to my hubby and that he was having it sized for me.

Yep, you guessed it, he was having his good watch repaired! No emerald ring....Waaahhh! I still have that food processor, but I never wear it....Hhmmmm

We put up our Christmas tree usually the weekend before Christmas and take it down whenever we get around to it.
We always had a real tree, Ponderosa pine if we could find it, a long-needled tree, kind of bushy. Usually a ten footer. A few years ago though, I got my husband a new sleek leather lounge chair which is arranged in the den where our large Christmas trees used to stand.

So we decided to invest in a really good artificial tree about eight feet tall but with a narrower shape to fit in the space left after accomodating the lounge chair....It is easier to decorate and take down too. We get fresh wreaths to give us that holiday pine scent in the house though. We use either white or gold lights and besides our collected ornaments we tie on with ribbons lots of tiny baskets filled with wrapped candy kisses and tons of candy canes (all the kids love to come and "munch" off of our tree!)

Our tree looks kind of like a country "home-made" tree with lots of the kids old school handmade ornaments, bread dough santas and ginger bread men, memorbalia, and at the top a doll-like angel with a country print dress and yarn brown yarn hair ( Sometimes we have used a gold star, but the kids like that angel the best)

Let's see....Oh, we usually open our gifts Christmas morning after a breakfast of my special Christmas Quiche, with hot chocolate for the kiddos and Bloody Mary's for the adults. Lunch/Dinner mid to late afternoon depending on the family's wants any given year.

We usually serve a sprialed smoked ham, heated with a brown sugar glaze and pineapple slices, asparagus or green beans with mushrooms, mashed potatoes and red eye gravy, sweet potatoes, sometimes dressing too and a relish plate and hot croissant rolls. Dessert later in the evening is one's choice of pumpkin pie with ice cream topping or pecan pie.

When my mom was alive she use to make the third, and my favorite choice, a mocha walnut torte cake....Unfortunately I never learned to make it and could never find her recipe for it. Anyone have a good recipe for this cake by any chance?

A couple of years we diversified and had lobster dinners which were fabulous when there were just a few of us home for the holidays and once we decided to have a huge family Mexican Fiesta Feast with each family bringing their favoite Mexican dishes....One of my sisters even brought a Pinata for the children to hang from the tree and break open for candy after dinner....That was a fun year when the kids we small..

Ok, seems like I have gotten the memories flowing and myself in the Christmas spirit by writing on this thread so better get going and make good use of the weekend to get out the rest of the Christmas cards and start on that tree as well!

Voyager

 

Pearlsim...

Just read your post about your brother. So sorry to hear of your loss, but then it sounds like you haven't really lost him and that he has indeed found a way to be with you during you special moments...Love and memories are the things that last and translate from one world to the other aren't they?

I am so glad that you have those for your brother and the wonderful pictures to bring those important moments to life again for you...

May you and your family be blessed and comforted this holiday season Pealsim....Thanks for coming to share with us, it is so good to see you posting again.

Voyager

 

Forgot to answer a few questions...

What annoys me most about Christmas is that the season seems to bring on so much stress for many in our society to the point of causing more crime (it has been rampant and very scarey in our city this year with home invasion, murder, strong armed robbery on the streets and at the ATM machines ect)

The sense of alienation that some people are made to feel at being left out during what is supposed to be the happiest and most celebratory time of the year just sends them over the edge into crime or mental deterioration. That kind of sadness for them and the danger that it poses for the community at large is what both annoys and frightens me during whole season....

The cure for this situation, as I see it, is the enactment of millions of random acts of kindness....We never know when one small jesture might save someone from going over the edge, you know? I am not preaching here, just reminding myself actually...We have many such chances to do something for people this time of year and don't have to look very far to find need....

Our grandaughter's nursery-school teacher's home was flooded by a burst pipe last week causing thousands of dollars worth of damage some of which was not covered by insurance and that they can ill afford to repair....Our daughter is heading up a drive to help them out with food, Christmas gifts and money to help them get back on their feet so this is one of our Christmas giving goals this year....

As I said, you don't have to look very far...there is so much need...

What do I want for Christmas?
I honestly have most everything I need, just really wishing for the health, prosperity and happiness of our family this year, especially that of our brand new grandson in his critical first year after heart surgery.

That's one big wish right there huh?!
Voyager

 

Voyager, you obviously don't have a Grinch-y heart, if you can feel that much sympathy toward criminals...The reason crime goes up during this part of the year is that the criminals know there are presents under the tree and in the car. It's opportunity more than desperation. Not that some criminals aren't also desperate, but the crime is done because the victims are plentiful.

I'm sorry about people who feel depressed at this time of year, but not people who prey on their fellow man. The random acts of kindness are always a good idea...

The Christmas season, as with so many other aspects of our society, has been, IMO, drained of its meaning and sacred qualities and made into a consumer holiday, which gives many people an aching heart. If we could just get back to simple values of celebrating Christ's birth, not chasing the latest gadget, I think we'd all be happier. I feel very good this year because it's not at all about presents (we aren't getting any - family is agreeing not to) and it IS all about the true meaning.

Just my little soapbox...

 

What an interesting thread!

Okay, here's me:

I use bags whenever possible, because I'm a terrible gift wrapper.

Our tree is a small fiber-optic fake one.

We set up the tree a couple of weeks before Christmas and take it down a day or two after Christmas.

It just dawned on me that no one in my family drinks alcohol at Christmastime. And we don't do egg nog, even without rum. I knew there was something wrong with us!

My best gift as a child was a clarinet when I was 7. I was stunned, since I'd never asked for one of my own, or even hinted about it. I was okay with playing the metal clarinet I borrowed from the school. My Christmas clarinet was a costly one even then, and I wonder now what my parents did without to buy it for me. I still have it, and I treasure it.

The hardest to buy for is my mother-in-law, a sweet lady but very particular. The easiest is my daughter, who, besides musical things, likes dragons and gargoyles and stuff like that, just like I do. This year my MIL is receiving pretty pearl earrings and necklace that her son, my husband, picked out. Our daughter is receiving a gorgeous roof gargoyle and a big brass griffin doorstop.

I have never sent out Christmas cards or emailed any, though I think either kind of card is fine.

I don't recall not liking anything I've received for Christmas.

What's the movie where the boy wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas? And his dad wins that leg lamp? That one.

I usually start Christmas shopping around Thanksgiving, and if I'm lucky, I'm finished a couple weeks before Christmas. I do most of it online.

I've never re-gifted.

Our tree is fiber-optic and the lights are multi-colored blinking ones. We add a few ornaments but no tinsel.

My husband and I stay home. Our kids and families come here for Christmas.

A widdle bitty star adorns the top of our widdle bitty tree.

I gave up trying to do much decorating, period. Whenever I decorate, it looks like Martha Stewart on crack.

Christmas morning is when we open our presents.

We have a varied menu to accomodate the meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans in our family.

The only thing that bothers me about the holidays is wondering if the weather's going to be okay for our kids to travel.

Ummm... I wouldn't mind getting a low D whistle, or maybe music books or Celtic music CDs. Actually, I'd be fine with anything.

 

I got chatted up in the checkout queue at Marks and Spencer last Sunday. I was buying a box of luxury chocolates and a bottle of champagne for my sister and I was standing there with my two little items sandwiched between two other womens' enormous shopping loads when this man leaned across the queue, tapped me on the shoulder, nodded at my two items and said "I like your shopping". I replied (TIC) "That's my Christmas dinner". He sighed and said "Box of chocs and a bottle of bubbly - you're my kind of woman". Then I held up a little carrier bag and said "I've got all of my Christmas presents in here too - 20 gift vouchers...." "That's it." Said the man "What's your address?".

I'm afraid I have no imagination for Christmas presents. I bought each of the little children in the family a gift voucher for Clarks Shoes (a store which specialises in sensible shoes). The older kids got vouchers for HMV records. Adults get bottles of wine and chocolates. If I know someone collects something, it helps, but I'm just no good at choosing unusual gifts. I wish I was.

 

Christmas Traditions

1. Is it just me or do you, too, hate those "bags" that everyone is giving gifts in now?

I love the bags. They are easy, convenient, and pretty. And reusable.

2. Is your Christmas tree real or artificial?

Real. It's a Fraser Fir.

3. When do you generally put the tree up and take it down?

It goes up on Mary's Feastday, Dec8, and comes down on Epiphany Day, Jan.6.

4. Homemade Eggnog is delicious. A shot of brandy enhances the flavor.

5. What is the best gift you received when you were a kid?

My Brownie camera. (1948). I opened it and started using it right away. No one else in the family had a camera, so those b&w shots from that Christmas are precious to all of us now. The Brownie inspired me to become the "official" family photographer.

6. Who are your hardest and easiest people to buy for?

Hardest--the grandkids. Their sizes change, the styles change. I can't keep up, so I give CA$H.

Easiest: My husband. He likes everything I get him.

7. Do you send out Christmas cards? YES.Is it permissible to email Christmas cards? OF COURSE

8. What is the worst Christmas present you ever received?
Can't think of anything.

9. What is your favorite holiday movie? "Meet Me In St. Louis"--a great family film. It reminds me so much of the family I grew up in, and the house I grew up in.

What is the holiday movie that makes you turn the channel if it's on TV?
"It's A Wonderful Life"

11. Have you ever "re-gifted" a Christmas present? What was it?
re-gift often, as I receive so many beautiful things that I don't need. I like to pass them on, not for any special occasion. "The gift you have received, give as gift."



12. Do you decorate your tree with clear lights or colored lights? Blue and white lights this year. No tinsel.

13. Do you travel at Christmas or do you stay home?
Stay at home.


14. Top of the tree - Angel.

15. Do you have a theme to your tree decorations?
It's always old-fashioned looking. Reminds me of the way my parents did our tree.

16. Do you open your presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Christmas morning.

17. What's on the menu for Christmas dinner?
Roast beef, potatoes francaise, glazed carrots, broccoli and cheese, and stuffed mushrooms. A dessert of apple pie and vanilla ice cream.

18. Besides lists of random questions asking about Christmas - what is the most annoying thing about the holidays?

All the mail solicitations for donations from a thousand different organizations.

19. What do you really hope Santa brings you for Christmas this year?

Peace on Earth. Boys and girls home from Iraq and Afghanistan. ~sigh~

 

These days we get the children a savings bond and adults (who drink) the liquor of their liking. It's so simple ~ the way I like it.

 

Lurker wrote:

Don't know if they have Netfix in Canada, Lurker. I'm with Cogeco Cable, and I tried the digital box for movies they had, but didn't like the set-up and sent it back. I do have some movies with the package we have right now; some with commercials, and some without. I hate those commercials in movies. However, I have fun looking through the movies on sale. I'm not really into the oldies, as I said before, but I couldn't resist the $5.00 bargain of Alfred Hitchock's four CD's with 20 movies. I even watched a few silent movies and got a laugh at the actiing. I remember some of the old actors. Geesh do I ever feel like ancient Chinese History.

Thanks for letting me know about Netfix. I'll check it out. Have a lovely Christmas Lurker. :rose:

Elle

 

Voyager, Yes, it it is one big wish, and I sincerely hope your little grandson will continue to keep healthy after his heart surgery.

 

okay - I couldn't post what I wanted to... Moab said can't post power point slides... oh well!! But I'd like to share this card with you all:

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=0212320003

Enjoy!

 

This is a lovely card, NIner. Thankyou.

 

My Christmas Tradition -

Every year I get nogged up and fall face first into the mashed potatoes.

Murry Chrimble everyone.

 

Correction. It's Netflix not Netfix, Lurker. Sorry about that. The actors I remember were in talking movies and not silent movies. I'm not that ancient, although to you younger ones, I probably am. :-(