Trying to get in the mood, and failing miserably, so I was just trying to remember some of the random things I LIKE about the holidays.....
* I know people who open all their presents on Christmas eve. We did that once, after my parents got divorce. We all went over to mom's and I hated it. The next morning just sucks...and it is NOT the presents! It is the whole "Christmas Morning Package!" The anticipation, the energy and everything...eating breakfast after eating the candy in the stocking....sitting in the pile of paper and bows...just looking at everyone looking all happy. So no more Christmas eve frenzy...
* Do you like egg not? As long as I don't thing about what it is I am drinking, or look at the fat content, I am fine. I like to put it in the freezer until it is really really cold...almost slushy. It is just soooo bad for you and I know that without looking at the label - sigh - and cookies. Real Christmas cookies, real ITALIAN Christmas cookies. Man, my grandma used to make some amazing cookies, recipes she got from HER mom who was the first child in her family not born in Italy, so you know these were some good recipes! When I was a little kid, we thought they were gross - who wants cookies with almonds and dates and fig??? But there was a brief window when I found those so alluring, and so much better than Oreos and Nutter Butters! Sadly, as grandma has gotten older, she has lost her touch with the cookies, but we still choke them down, so as not to hurt her feelings, and in memory of my greatgrandma - the powdered sugar covered, shortbread ones with the almonds and the sugar cookies with the little silver balls, the exquisite little fig and pecan tarts, mmmm, just thinking about them, makes me hungry!
* I remember the big Christmas shindigs when I was a little little girl, at my afore-mentioned great grandma's house in Louisiana. All my mom's cousins and aunts and uncles...a table with about 350 people (not really - just seemed that many), and a special table for the little kids too...at my dad's mom's house, it was more a HUGE pot luck. People would show up with dishes and load them on every flat surface in the house - table and counters and on top of the piano and TV. Pralines, and apple cake, and coke salad and ham and turkey, and riceroastandgravy, and rolls and corn bread and divinity and mashed potatoes and dirty rice and green bean casserole and chicken and dumplings....everyone just kept eating cuz there was never gonna be room in the fridge for left overs!
* When I was a little girl, me and my brother and sister had to wait on Christmas morning until mom and dad went in to the tree first, to make sure Santa had come. Me and my sister lived downstairs when I was in High School, and we had a separate phone line down there. About 6am, we called the upstairs line...we could hear it ringing and FINALLY they picked up. Can we come up yet? NO came the answer. My little brother, who slept in the room above me, was pounding on the floor. My sister was banging on the wall. Finally they let us up around 6:45.
* When we were little, Santa came while we were sleeping...all the presents and toys were there in a big heap by each person's stocking...the cookies we left the night before were gone. Of course, there were also all the wrapped presents from grandma and the cousins, but what mom and dad gave us, came via santa claus...I liked that, and I suppose it is one of the things I miss about not having children. I think my sister does it for her kids, but her husband likes to have everything wrapped up...I just loved that burst of amazement when you see that pile of goodies! NOT that we had HUGE piles, my mom was just an artful present placer!
I have no idea how they accomplished some of those Santa visits...we were living in Canada one time, and we left to go to Texas for the holidays. We had Christmas there, though Santa didn't come (we were worried he couldn't find us!!). But when we got home to Canada, sure enough, Santa had been to our house!! I do NOW remember mama making us wait outside while Daddy went in to "make sure the lights were on and the house wasn't too cold for us." I can just imagine him throwing stuff around - I am sure I got my sisters doll and she got my pile of books.....
More later...there is much more... and I am still not quite in the mood - just too much work to do, as always.....
10 comments:
Nice post.
It just plain WRONG to open your presents on Christmas Eve. A decent compromise was observed in the Peterson Family Luney Bin: We opened one (1) present on Christmas Eve.
It's the only tradition that did not inspire complete and utter madness.
oh, we had always done the one present on christmas eve thing. this was a one time experiment that failed pretty miserably....
Thanks for solving the "my blog won't update you" mystery.
You kind of brilliant, like my kid sis.
You know what they say about the eldist child being the smart sucessful one? Total BS.
We got the (1) gift treatment on Christmas Eve too. Then we could not open our gifts until after Mass. I still do it the same way with Tara. We always make cinnamon rolls and tea before we can start too.
Nice post!! I like your descriptions of the cookies!! Sounds like my kind of cookies too!!!
I celebrate Hanukkah! So im all about the potato pancakes with apple sauce and sour cream!!! It's what my family does. We fry potato pancakes and eat them!!! Woah can you feel the excitement??? And no i don't get presents for 8 days! Just one or two big things like a sweater!! Yeah thats big!!
So what in the world is coke salad?? Or did you just forget to put coma's there??? :O)
coke salad - yummmm...a southern delicacy, perhaps? strawberry jello, cherries, pineapple walnuts and coca cola....I will post the recipe...for that and DUMP cake...mama mia trailer park food Heaven!!
When my kids were really little, we waited till they were in bed and then had to put together all of the crap that we bought. It seemed like we just went to bed when the little shits are running in and screaming "Santa came, get up." It's fun. It's exciting. But seriously, it can be very tiring. It's the tooth fairy that we usually screw up with.
I thought that Christmas breakfast was the candy in the stockings!
laurie, yah very often candy WAS the appetizer to breakfast, but then mom would make waffles or something that was hard to pass up...It was always a lovely experience being a type 1 diabetic in my house...
Yeah, my hubby likes to wrap the presents,,, I am the sister of the poster person... All is true which she states.. You should add the Christmas when I got a horseon the front step with a red bow around her neck! Our parents were awesome present givers. Even got a bedroom suite one time.. Gosh.. the most I give my kids is a pappson chair! At least we didnt wrap that..
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