Holiday Traditions - off topic completely!

[Lulu54]

Happy Holidays everyone.  I'm left to wonder how you plan to celebrate this coming week - do you have any special traditions you can share?

For me it always involves lots of family, tons of food and way too many Christmas cookies.  

What do you do to make the season bright?  

What fun it is,
Lulu

[Lulu54]

In case I don't remember to do this tomorrow, Dec. 20 -

HAPPY HANUKKAH to our Jewish members.  May the lights shine for you this day and all days.

Lots of love, Lulu

[Fluffysmom]

Thanks for reminding me of the Zoo Lights; I'm a member at the Oregon Zoo and keep forgetting to go see the Zoo lights, and take the train!  That should be a new tradition for me!

There's a Max train there if the weather is bad for driving; our Zoo is at the top of quite a hill.

Oh, yeah, I agree that the Swedish pancakes sound yummy for the tummy!

Kathy

[Lulu54]

Can I come over for breakfast Christmas morning?  the Swedish pancakes sound wonerfully yummy! - Lu

Rena - Since you are done with your packages will you come wrap mine?  haha! - Lulu

[GrannyJo6]

I love to have Christmas carols playing, watch the silly specials - I actually bought How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Driving around looking at lights is lots of fun. Our local zoo has something called Zoo Lights and you can walk through the zoo at night and it is lit up with all sorts of big "animals" all lit up, etc. Now that we have family closer with little ones, I am hoping to take them to see that. Thanksgiving was at their house and I was amazed at how much less stressful it was for me to not be the one in charge! We are going to their house for Christmas and I am looking forward to it.

One of our traditions that we still carry out is "rolled up" pancakes on Christmas morning. They are actually Swedish pancakes, and have gone from that to "rolled up" or "roll 'em ups"! Yummy with lots of butter and powdered sugar! Starts the sugar coma for the day!

[singinalong]

Well, I think this is awesome... With the holidays fast approching, I kind of lost touch as to HOW QUICKLY they are approching. :)
We usually make home made perogies... with me and my husband rolling the doh and cutting them out, and the kids at the table stuffing and pinching. It has been great fun! We have made numerous batches of gingerbread. One of the advantages of being in limbo-land, has been the time off of work. I have discovered I love to bake. My husband is usually the cook in the house. and the Master Baker!! But --- mwahhahahah here I come! So I have decided, that I am sending out baking to everyone , instead of christmas presents.
I am also hosting dinner this year. I was not going to do it, with my health the way it is, but I decided that I needed my family around me, instead of isolating myself.

I also look forward to the stockings at my parents house. I am 29, and they still put a stocking up for me, and my kids... and my mom still marks things from "santa" on my presents too.. I think its so cute!

I still remember two years ago, I ended up in the hospital on christmas day, with a burst appendix.. ewwww... that was crazy!
Good times good memories lol

love, Shari- Claus

[Rena705]

We usually have a pretty quiet Christmas...we cook the turkey at our house and then take it to Mom's and have dinner there with my Brother and his family.  I took over most of the gifts today so it won't be such a burden to do it all Christmas Day.  The nephews and neice are getting older so it's not as much fun without little ones around but we still have a good time.

My hubby's birthday is on Dec. 27th so we usually have a party for that and boxing day so that we get to spend time with our friends as well.  It works out well because all of them are from Newfoundland and have no extended family out here so we have a chance to have a few drinks, play some games and just have a few laughs.

All I know is that hubby is telling me that I am WAY TO JOLLY this year and doesn't understand why I am going around the house whistling and singing...personally it feels a WHOLE LOT BETTER than last year and I am determined to enjoy myself this year since I missed out on so much in the last few years.  A word of advice...enjoy yourself as much as possible if you are feeling good cause unfortunately we don't know what is in store for the following year and if you don't truly cherish the good times as they happen you don't realize it until it's over and you just might miss something that will never happen again.  

Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and I truly hope that all of your celebrations are in a positive light with lots of love, laughs and caring.

Lots of Ho Ho Hugs,

Rena

[Lulu54]

I love your quilt tops - I commented on them a few months back.  I do have some favorites.

one of my favorite Christmas gifts a few years back was one we gave to all of my husband's  cousins and his brother.  After his aunt died while cleaning out her things I found a box full of quilt squares.  A lovely butterfly pattern on each square obviously made out of scrap and recycled clothing.  They had never been pieced together.  There were enough to make a king size quilt.  My husband's mother told me she and her sister and their mother had made those squares when they were in high shcool  Obviously I couldn't be selfish and keep them all for myself even though I was seriously tempted.  So I hired a professional quilter to put the squares together into wall hangings.  She found vintage reproduction fabrics to use and they came out wonderful.  Everyone of the children and grandchildren of these three women got a wall hanging to cherish.  

Q- I'm sure you recipients will be equally grateful to get a piece of you as their gift this year.

Lulu

[Fluffysmom]

Can I join your family?  

I like those memories, and your shamelessly delightful celebration!  So cool that you had your gorgeous quilt tops professionally quilted and are giving them to your family.

My parents are gone, my family scattered, and I celebrate with my dad's widow's (Connie) family and sometimes with my best friend's family.  Connie's family is enormous; joyous, tell great stories, drink a fair amount, play games, laugh, hug everyone, and  have a great time.

I'm kinda shy, and have a hard time getting up the gumption to go, but I always have a great time when I do.  I'm hoping the weather and my sinus infection will clear up so I can go; I'm invited to Christmas Eve at Deb's and Christmas dinner at Rhinda's (Connie's daughters).  

My best friend and I exchange stockings full of lots of little individually wrapped fun stuff, and write funny stuff on the gift tags.  I haven't had much time or energy for shopping this year, but she hasn't either, so we'll just do silly stuff in Maui in January (the last trip we took some Hello Kitty speakers and took photos of them in various settings, kind of like that travelling gnome; we laughed our heads off).

Heather, just be glad that there isn't sound on this forum; I'd make sure your Christmas wasn't too quiet by singing, and my voice has gotten worse what with the tremors and dry mouth/throat; not pretty!  

Happy Holiday Hugs to All,

Kathy

[Quixotic1]

My family always had a tradition of making homemade gifts for Christmas.  My best memories are being down in the "rec room" of the basement knitting, sewing, and doing embroidery or helping my dad with a woodworking project.  The record player would be blaing out carols and we would all sing.  Since then we all try to make at least one gift by hand for someone.

This year I finally had some quilt tops I had made professionally quilted for my sister, my parents and my two nieces.  I have also knitted some beanies and headbands for people.

We are shameless in our celebration at Christmas with our gifts.  My dad grew up very poor on a farm in the Depression.  He was always so delighted that we could afford a lot of gifts.  So we give silly gifts and wrap things so to maximize the nimber of gifts under the tree - like wrapping each sock of a pair individually.  So our gifts spill out from around the tree and line the walls behind the chairs.  And we make people go on treasure hunts with wrapped up clues to find their gifts which are too large to wrap.  If a member of the family can't be there we do the whole thing on speakerphones with calls that sometimes last 2 and 1/2 hours.  As I said, it is quite shameless, but sooooo much fun.

This year Eve and Day will be at my house.  And even my youngest niece, who often is absent from our get togethers, will be there.  I'm really excited, expecially about the quilts.

Quix Qwingle

[wonko]

Heather, that is so sweet to pay for their heat!  And like you say, they'll think of you often.

I got a UPS package from my mom, the 1st Christmas gift I've gotten from her in years.  It's a mug.  With a snowman on it.  

So now you don't sound at all cranky next to me, eh?

Wonko, the HumBug!

[Heather3418]

Unfortunately my domestic partner of four years is pretty ho-hum about Christmas.  He was married to a woman that loved the credit cards and threw lavish, expensive Christmas parties every year.  So the he makes ME pay for that in a way, by not being involved with Christmas.  Sorry to sound cranky, but it really spoils things for me.

I asked him a couple of months ago, to take me to New York City to Rockefeller Square to celebrate Christmas, but as usual, it went in one ear and out the other.

So I saved up my Social Security money and decided to pay my adult children's electric bills this year.  Everytime they turn the heat on, they can think of their mother's loving, warm arms around them.

So as you can guess, Christmas around here is going to be awfully quiet.  I miss those Christmas's when the kids were little.

Even though I haven't mentioned it...I will be celebrating the birth of a special person in my life....Christ.

Heather

[Janette2836]

Lulu
Your house must smell - um - pretty interesting during the cabbage roll preps  :)  Kudo's to you for hosting this on good years even though you do not eat them.  That is a great idea to have everyone bring their leftovers to share.  Thanks for the idea!

Janette

[Lulu54]

Thanks for letting us peek a bit into your lives.  Its nice to read about the events that shape our families and our traditions.  

We have put on hold our big New Year's Day tradition this year, thanks to my lack of energy but I hope to resume again next year....

CABBAGE BOWL - named in honor of the football games on tv

I usually make about 100 cabbage rolls using my husband's mother's recipe.  We invite everyone we know to stop over and bring any holiday leftover food they want to get out of their house.  We provide the cabbage rolls and mashed potatoes.  The rest of the menu is pretty diverse.  We don't ask for RSVP's and am always surprised who shows up.

Like I said we're not doing it this year, but I'm wondering who will show up anyway? haha!  our friends, neighbors and family are all creatures of habit.  

Oh yeah, did I mention I hate cabbage rolls and never eat any of them?  

Not a fan of kraut,
Lulu

[jensequitur]

I have always loved the stocking tradition, because you can fill it with small gifts and fun stuff.

Typically we trade off and spend Xmas with my parents one year, then the next year we spend it with R's relatives.  Which means there's always some hurt feelings for the family that's left out that particular year.  I'm so tired of it!  Next year I think we'll find someplace to go that doesn't celebrate Xmas.

Since my diagnosis, Mom has wanted to spend as much time with me as possible.  Problem is, she wears me out, which is actually detrimental to my health!  But what can you do?

[Sunnytoday]

Every other year we go to Bellingrath Gardens to see the lights. It has over 3 million sparkling lights and over 835 displays throughout the 65 acre Garden estate, and it's a lot of fun to just ramble through it with friends and family on their wonderful paved walkways.. it's just gorgeous any time of the year, but at night with the light the gardens are just amazing!! And often we drive around town to just look at the lights at some point as well. We often decorate the house together, and while we aren't big on the whole "bake tons of cookies" thing, we often bake a dozen or two to give away when we go caroling with our churches (my parents and I go to different ones now). We always try to catch all the Christmas cartoons just like doublevision, and tonight we'll be watching Charlie brown.

We often end up at my Uncle's in FL for the actual day of Christmas where the cousins and I will play card games and dominoes all day, and they usually fill up on popcorn, roasted peanuts and candy. And on New Years eve we always end up hang out with some friends somewhere waiting till it's really late.... and the next morning watching the parades on the TV.  This year will be a bit different though... my appt. for Vanderbilt is at such an odd time, the 29th of December, so I hope I get home in time to celebrate the 1st. :)
~Sunnytoday~

[doublevision1]

Our tradition is typically a quiet Xmas.  We live far from extended family so it's been just me, my husband and our two doggies for the past several years.  We are atheists who celebrate the pagan (and commercial) apsects of the season.  Xmas tree and lights are up.  We decided to go easy on Xmas gifts for each other as we have what we need.  Just filling stockings for each other this year for fun.  Xmas parcels for extended family have been mailed to east and west coasts.  I love to bake so that will keep me busy this weekend.  Most of it will go to friends as gifts.  We'll have Xmas supper with friends and their small kids.  Will do some visting with various friends throughout the season.  We're hosting a small New Year's Eve party here - just 3 or 4 couples and ourselves.  I'm off work from Dec 18 - Jan 5 and I plan to relax, enjoy some quiet time, watch lots of movies and catch up on lots of reading.  I also force my husband to watch all the Xmas cartoons with me:  Charlie Brown, Frosty, the Grinch, Rudolph, etc.  I really enjoy a good dose of childhood nostalgia every now and then!

[Sarahsmom46]

We brighten our holiday festivities by lighting candles.  This is the Jewish festival of lights better known as Hanukkah.  We make homemade latkes or potato pancakes, which are so delicious and eat them with applesauce and exchange small gifts with each other,.  On Christmas day we sign up to volunteer along with many, many others in the local Jewish community to help run one of several homeless shelters in our area for the day so that the staff can spend Christmas with their families.  It is a truly amazing experience.  After wards, we go for Chinese food, usually the only places open on Christmas, and then maybe to a movie if we still have energy.  That is how my family celebrates the holidays.

[Janette2836]

USUALLY we make tons of cookies to give to neighbors & to share with our friends at the Assisted Living facility - Cassie (daughter) & I also polish the ladies fingernails while we are there.  Last week I helped with the Gifts of Love program that is for familes of the inner city youth & allows them to buy gifts at a reduced price.  This week I am having a friend & her daughter over so they can help with the cookies since I am not able to do it this year with only one arm.  GOAL is to make as many cookies as possible then GIVE them away  :)  OTHERWISE I will eat them ALL!

Headed out sometime to look at the Christmas lights around town.

Next week we will spend lots of time with family at different events.