Christmas Roundup
I blame my grandmother. Or maybe my mother. I love other holidays, but Christmas is beyond that. Christmas is hands-down my favorite holiday of the year.
My grandmother loved Christmas. She passed away when I was 15, but much of what I do at Christmas just makes me think of her. She always spent Christmas with us, even up until the end. I have memories of her sitting in her red robe in her wheelchair that last Christmas, smiling her crooked, stroke-induced smile, experiencing everything with such joy. She had an artificial heart valve, and we could always hear it “clicking,” and when she was excited, it would click even faster! It was part of who she was and how I remember her.
Every year I listen to the Christmas songs on the radio and never hear the one that makes me think of my grandmother. I haven’t heard it in years, but this is it:
My mother always made Christmas eve and Christmas special. There were cookies and Christmas music, and a big ham dinner, and spiked eggnog after Midnight Mass, at which my mother and I both sang. Never mind that I was almost always sick on Christmas, with some flu, cold, or even pneumonia (that happened twice that I can remember). It is still my favorite holiday.
This year, as we are away from family, and my husband is weirdly homesick (we spent very little time with his family when we lived in St. Louis, so I’m not sure where the homesickness comes from), I am trying to keep the traditions there that my grandmother left for me in my memories. I spent Christmas eve baking cookies, finishing up a last minute gift, playing Christmas music on the stereo from my iPod (which has about 8 days of Christmas-themed music on it), and wearing myself 0ut. We were blessed to have a white Christmas (we got 15 inches of the fluffy stuff on Thursday) which helped my mood along just fine. I do miss my son, Stinky Boy, and seeing my dad and stepmom, and we had no Santa gigs on Christmas eve for the first time in about 8 years.
But still, it was a wonderful, completely satisfying day for me. I got everything accomplished that I wanted to get accomplished, and Christmas day dawned bright and sunny and full of presents and yummy food and happy children. My grandmother would have loved it!
We did start a new “tradition” this year. We went to see a movie. We saw We Bought a Zoo, which we all loved. It was different to leave the house on Christmas day, something we have not done in years. It was a nice way to spend part of our afternoon before coming back to watch the Packers game on television. I’m a dedicated Packers fan these days. We’re hoping for another trip to the Super Bowl!
I leave you today with pictures from the last two days. Be sure to also check out my “Seven Days of Christmas” pictures on the 365-Degree Blog!
One final project: a tied fleece throw for the Perfect Child. I did this while she was off working at the nursing home for the lunch shift. Lest you be fooled, I usually am working on some last-minute project EVERY Christmas eve. It’s part of my procrastination gene. It wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t save something to be done at the last minute.
The stockings hung on the …wall…with care.
The chicken dressed in his holiday finery.
Wrapping presents. Lots and lots of presents.
And there was baking. Lots and lots of baking.
The tree was loaded, even before Santa came!
Then there was fudge. With nuts.
The girls making Monkey Bread for Christmas breakfast.
The girls wearing their Christmas hats they got from their brother.
Christmas dinner. Yes, those are Christmas marshmallows on the sweet potatoes, because that’s what we had. The placemats are sort of a tradition in our house now, we received them after someone gave them away. There are 18 of them, and every time I get them out of the decoration box at the holidays it makes me want to do a giant holiday dinner just so I can use them all at once!
Oh my gosh the girls are both so grown!! When last I saw them the youngest (didn’t know if you used names online or not) was just a babe!