1. My son Gage and giving him gifts. As the best kid in the world, it's a delight to shop for him. He especially loves video games and things to do with his Wii. He's into Superheroes the past few years, much to my delight, and his enthusiasm has gotten me further into them as well. I didn't have much money this year to buy him as much as I'd like, but hopefully he'll be happy with the gifts. I'm getting him another Wii remote and a $50.00 eb games gift card as the main gifts.
2. This year my group of Tuesday night friends (6 of us total meet every Tuesday and some weekends) are doing a Secret Santa swap. I'm excited about it this year as I think it will be great fun. We're exchanging the Saturday before Christmas, and I'm shopping Monday with the given $20 limit. I only hope I find the perfect thing for my 'chosen'. It's a surprise who got who until the exchange. It's easier to do a secret santa like this instead of buying presents for five other people. I left a list of several items I want (they did the same) to give everyone ideas. I'm anxious to see what I get too!
3. It's a wonderful life has always been my favorite Christmas movie. My mother and I started the tradition of watching this every year since I was a kid. I finally own it on DVD and plan to watch it again this year very soon. It's a heartwarming movie that I always found magnificent. I enjoy the other popular movies as well, but to me this one has always been the best. Jimmy Stewart was always an incredible actor, and here his role really shines.
4. I don't get this channel now, and I'm not into the current shows as much, but when I was a teenager I was addicted to the offerings from Nick-At-Nite. That's how I came to love a lot of classic television like Bewitched, Green Acres, Dobie Gillis, and The Patty Duke show. Sadly most of these aren't shown anymore. On Christmas Eve they would show Christmas-themed episodes all night long. I remember looking forward to this tradition years back for several years as one of my favorite things about Christmas. Now they don't show such a variety of shows.
5. Decorating the tree: I always loved decorating the tree. My mother made it a bid deal every year when we did it, and we still have some of the old ornaments I made when I was in school. This year in the apartment I have a small, cheap tree but I still love it. It has lights prebuilt and is very nice. I hope to obtain a collection of ornaments that mean something through the years, as she did. Decorating with kids is especially fun, and there's nothing that feels more like Christmas than when you whip out the tree and decorate it. I always loved tinsel and candy canes, too. Now I just need to find a topper for the tree.
This picture came from Pastrywhiz.6. My mother had a tradition almost every year of, that when we were watching It's a Wonderful Life, she would make rice pudding and I'd eat it. I seemed to be the only one (grins). This tradition stopped when I was older, and I was always a bit sad when it did. For some reason the comfort food brings back a lot of fond memories, and was a small thing I looked forward to. You know what they say, sometimes the small stuff makes the biggest impact.
7. HOT CHOCOLATE! This is the only time of the year I drink it. We always opt for either real Whipped Cream or marshmallows. Every morning at Christmas when opening presents, and every time watching Christmas movies/shows. I'm glad to have carried this tradition over with my son, as we just made Hot Chocolate last night in my little drink machine. A wonderful comfort drink :)
8. Every year my mother bakes a HUGE amount of candy and her homemade banana bread. She ships two bundles to Texas to her sisters, one to Mississippi to my Uncle, brings a plate to work and friends, and of course we eat what's left. She has perfected her recipes over the years. Each of the two fudges takes four hours to make, 2 hours of just stirring! I don't have the patience for that much stirring and don't care for fudge. I'd like to find some recipes that would suit my well. I tried one for Amaretto Truffles but need a better recipe to fine-tune.
9. Who didn't love school breaks? This is another favorite of mine. I don't get the same breaks now, and it just means no money when I do (lol), but now it means I have more quality time with Gage because he's off from school. I HATE they shortened the breaks here this year, but oh well, it will still be great fun.
10. It's Celebrating Jesus! Glory to our King of Peace. I'm sad this has been left behind in the meaning of Christmas by so many, and instead Santa is all some get excited about, but around Christmas I have always felt closer to God. I remember years ago I wrote a long list of things to thank God for. It was like a hundred lines I created as a present, and on Christmas Eve I read them out loud as a tribute/gift to him. I remember another year trying to explain to my younger brother David about God and Jesus on another Xmas Eve night when we did our celebrations together. Which, even if over 10 now, is another thing I loved. My brother and I would hide in the room on Christmas eve while my mother set out presents, and watch movies together, talk, and just spend quality time with each other.
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing your memories, Erin! Yes, people need to know that Christmas is about Jesus and not all the commercial stuff that's been drilled into people. God bless you and your family!
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