I follow blogger Joyce ( http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com ) and always enjoy her posts. Since today was all about the holidays, I decided to participate in December monthly musings because this has always been my favorite time of year.
1. What holidays do you celebrate?
Christmas is a given. I'm always chomping at the bit for halloween to come and go. That way I won't feel too conspicuous with my Christmas decor going up around the first week or so of November. New year's eve - what's that?
2. Scale of 1-10, how into the holidays are you this year?
I've been so excited about Christmas this year, it's gotta be a 10. It's our first Christmas in the lake house. Plus we'll all be together. For the past two years, I've deferred to our daughter's husband's parents in Pennsylvania, so we haven't all been together on Christmas Day since 2022. I don't mind sharing the holidays, though, since we got to celebrate with our girls and son-in-law the weekend before Christmas both years. Since our law school daughter is getting serious with her boyfriend, who has parents in Tennessee, I've got a feeling this holiday split will be our ongoing reality. Especially once grandkids get added to the mix.
3. Favorite things to make/bake during the holidays?
For years, the girls and I have made decorated sugar cookies. This year we won't see the husband's parents until after Christmas, so I'm picking up the pink salad torch and making it for the husband. It has been a holiday staple of his mother's for decades, and it wouldn't be the holidays for him without it. I've been thinking about picking up the torch with divinity and Texas trash, goodies my granny and mother made every year at Christmastime. I'm officially the granny generation now that they're both gone, which is a crazy thought. I just don't feel mature or smart enough for the elder stateswoman role yet, but there ya go. So I think next year I'll be giving these items a try to add these traditions back into the mix for the younger generations.
4. Favorite holiday movies?
Hands down, my favorite movie since it came out in 1989 is Christmas Vacation. I remember seeing it in the theater when it was released. No matter how many times I watch the squirrel scene, I still laugh like a loon. Other family favorites we watch annually are Elf and A Christmas Story, as well as The Holiday. The Grinch movie that was released in 2018 is a more recent favorite of ours.
5. Most random holiday tradition?
I don't know that this would qualify as random, but I think our annual Christmas Eve tradition of munching on a hodge podge of favorite appetizers and finger foods is pretty cool. This goes waaaay back to when I was in high school. The big Christmas Day lunch was typical southern holiday fare - ham, cornbread dressing, broccoli rice casserole, etc. Since my granny and mother didn't want to have to whip up yet another big meal the evening before, we enjoyed a bunch of totally random foods. Things like sausage bread, shrimp and clam dip, a cheese log... all the tasty, artery clogging items that were so yummy, and only enjoyed at this time of year. With those fun holiday shaped crackers, dontcha know. I still zip around to our local stores in search of the holiday Ritz crackers every year because it reminds me of Christmases past with my mother and granny. The good old days when I got to just enjoy favorite holiday eats rather than have to host the whole holiday production from start to finish.
6. Are you hosting for the holidays, New Year's Eve or Day?
I'm hosting our family of five plus my sister and her kids on the 24th. Christmas Day it will be just the five of us and possibly our widowed neighbor. For NYE, we'll be attending a party at the club in our lake community. Complete with dinner, a live band and champagne toast at midnight, this is absolutely something we never do. We'll be seated at a table with several of our neighbors and they're a fun group, so it will be a nice way to ring in 2026.
7. Favorite way to ring in the new year?
We've been old fuddy duddies for decades now, so we usually just sleep through it. Honestly, NYE is typically overpriced and the husband hates crowds. Plus who wants to be on the road getting home after midnight when there are undoubtedly sloppy drunks behind the wheel. We're thrilled to be able to zip about 1/3 of a mile over to the club in our golf cart for NYE this year.
8. Any new years resolutions or word of the year?
I have these same resolutions most years. Make healthier eating choices. Exercise more. Read my Bible and pray consistently. Surrender to the Lord so He can utilize the gifts He gave me for His glory. I accomplish each one with varying degrees of success. Thankfully, the Lord knows I'm a work in progress.
9. Favorite holiday songs?
My favorite holiday hymns are O Holy Night and Angels We Have Heard on High. As far as secular tunes, I love It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year as well as Sleigh Ride.
10. Favorite holiday memory?
Oh gosh, I don't know that I have a favorite holiday memory. But one thing I do know is that I'd give an arm and leg to be able to celebrate Christmas with my sweet mother and granny just one more time. I've come a long way from the single-wide trailer house where I grew up. But it was an immaculately clean little place filled with amazing memories over the years, where I never doubted how much they loved and cared for me. That was the greatest gift of all, beyond anything I ever received beneath the tree, blessings I never fully appreciated until it all faded into the rearview mirror of my life's history.
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