It's a New Traditions MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My life has changed dramatically since I joined both the SDMB and the MMP, and this year I lost my mom, and so I feel the need to begin some new traditions, and recognize those which have already established themselves.

Cooking the Holiday Feast

I enjoy baking, but the holiday meals are prepared by the girls. I am told to sit back, relax, “Here mom, eat these snacks/drink this beverage”, I play with the grandkids, it’s wonderful. My daughters are all three excellent cooks, and they have taken the traditional holiday menu and added their spin to most of the dishes. Since I have been in charge of the holiday food since I was twelve years old this is such a blessing.

The Tree and Its Trimmings

Let’s face it, living in a sparsely forested remote community in the Alaskan Bush where choices range from spending an obscene amount of money for a tree that has been shipped up from Washington State in frigid conditions which will cause all the needles to fall once you bring it in the house to going out and cutting down a painfully prickly and always Charlie Brown-ish Sitka Spruce to buying an artificial tree which are, again, ridiculously expensive due to the freight charge to get them there. Also, my house was always on the small size, with fishermen, kids and Pomeranians everywhere, so I generally didn’t bother with a tree. Here my house is large enough, with both a formal living room and a family room, plus the living room has a fireplace so there will be decorating this year, including a six foot pre lit artificial tree off to the side of the fireplace and visible from the street through the living room window.

Christmas Eve

When the kids were young there was much excitement on Christmas Eve, the last few years not so much. This year all of my children, my two grandchildren, my maternal auntie, my cousin and her daughter, and my #1’s mother in law (and one of my close friends) will be here for a Fancy Pants evening, including a Secret Santa exchange and a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity.

Christmas Day

Since my #1 daughter and family will be here for Christmas Eve they will be staying over for Christmas Day. This will be my first Christmas morning with my grandkids, and I am very excited about it. For the rest of the day please refer to Cooking the Holiday Feast.

With this being the first Christmas without my mom, I am thankful that I will be surrounded by my family. I expect that my eyes will be leaky, but I have been learning to live with that. All in all it looks to be a reasonably happy holiday season.
So, what are your old or new holiday traditions, whichever holiday you may celebrate, and if you don’t have a particular holiday you celebrate this season, is there anything special you do for the winter season in general?

2

I have one older tradition that remains, though handicapped these days, and one new one that’s turned out to be really nice.

The older tradition (since 1997) was to head to the Chicago Christkindlmarket to buy presents, along with Marshall Field’s. I used to get 60% of my gifts between the two. These days, it’s changed since Marshall Field’s closed. I cried the first Christmas I visited there after it turned into Macy’s. It was like going to Kmart. Now I go to the Chicago French Market for brunch before heading to the Christkindlmarket. Not the same, but an acceptable adaptation. I make sure to bring several friends, some who have never been so I can enjoy their experience, and some who are looking forward to buying certain things that are always there, as I do. There’s a honey booth that sells this amazing vanilla bean honey, and I have to hit the candy store for imported marzipan cookies that I can’t find anywhere else. The majority of my gift shopping is now done on Amazon.

My second, and new, tradition, I started two years ago. I make sure to take Christmas Eve off, and invite a couple close friends who have families out of town or for whatever reason are away from family. I cook a Christmas Eve dinner, leg of lamb with all the trimmings, and we just have a nice evening of friends and drinks. When dinner is cleared away, we play some cards and just hang out. If they stay too late, I make them help me wrap presents - I thought that would make them skiddaddle, but no. Turned out to be great fun, when I thought it would make them feel sad or something to help me wrap stuff for the family I was going to see the next day. Well, that’s how new traditions are made, no? Sometimes accidentally.

This year, I’m not going to my parent’s house first like always, because a cousin who lives far north has decided to host the extended family Christmas this year. There won’t be time to go to my parent’s house first or we’ll all be driving around all day. So we’ll be doing our gift exchange at the same time as everyone else instead of just between us. It will be weird, but change can be good! Hard to say whether this will turn into a new tradition or if it’s just this year, though.

3

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 63 Amurrkin out with a predicted high of 78 and maybe rain this afternoon and evenin’. We shall see.

Thanks for startin’ us off wiki!

My holiday tradition centers around wantin’ it all to go away as quick as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I love spendin’ time with family and all that happy stuff. I just want it to be over so life goes back to well, as normal as it gets. I like the churchy stuff, however. I like the fact that as far as the Episcopal church goes, this is Advent, followed by the season of Christmas which culminates at Epiphany on January 5th or 6th dependin’ on how you see it. One thing I do really enjoy is the Epiphany Party. Ton o’ fun that is. Oh and I like to host a biiiiiiiiig New Year’s Day Feast. I love to cook that meal and have people over to pig on stuff like fried chikin (that’s this year’s plan), collard greens, black-eyed peas, N.O.T. sallit, cornbread, and some kind of dessert. I’m Scrooge and The Grinch if the lessons they were supposed to learn didn’t take. :smiley:

Ok, now I need more caffiene. Then, alas and alack, 'tis Moanday so irk purtification must commence. Sigh.

Happy Moanday Y’all!

4

Since VWife and I are geographically isolated from the families and she does not travel well, we eat Chinese food on Christmas Day and have a list of pay per view movies waiting. Christmas is observed whenever VunderKind arrives, sometimes as late as March.

Oh, and a sucky weather Monday blurf.

5

My standard holiday tradition involves driving up north to my parents’, normally on Christmas eve- the bro also shows up sometime that day too.

On Christmas day itself, my Mum’s at work in the morning (the animals still need feedin’, though the zoo’s closed), so Dad does the cookin’. I try to help out, but the kitchen’s quite small, and he generally doesn’t let me. This year though, I plan to bring up some ready made/part made stuff, especially veggie and gluten-free stuff, ‘cos neither of them are that hot on baking, and since Mum quit gluten, they’ve wound up buying in baked stuff which is expensive, and hasn’t been very nice. I’ve been experimentin’, and I’m sure I can do better.

My maternal Great Uncle generally shows up at the zoo in time to drive Mum home (she walks there) at which point we stuff ourselves silly. Mum (possibly accompanied by a few less sober members of the family) goes back out to give a second feed for the animals some point in late afternoon, then we play silly games into the evening.

Boxing day we all go down to my maternal Aunt’s house, which is a few hour’s drive away, sometimes Mum has to work first, but the last few years one of the staff has volunteered to feed critters (the zoo’s closed that day too- the only two days of the year), which makes it a bit easier.

My Aunt officially has an open house for any family on Boxing day, but it’s normally been just been us (plus Great Uncle), her kids (plus grandkids now, though they mihht not be there), and my Grandpa (until he died). Last year though, a heap of her in-laws suddenly decided to take advantage of the 40-year old invite, and showed up en masse without warning.

I then head home the day after, utterly stuffed silly.

So endeth the saga of the Nut family Christmas.

Anyway, it’s actually sunny today, and I have stuff to do, so I should probably stop lounging around and go do it!
Happy moanday!

6

Morning all,

Tradition for Christmas used to be I traveled to Jynxster Mom & Dad house, but since we bought our first house 3 years (good grief has really been 3 years???) ago, they come to us. We still have crab imperial as our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Christmas day dinner is usually a tenderloin, but I have threatened upheaval by proposing a goose. Mixed reactions have occured, so now I guess we shall go with the tenderloin. Other than the tradition of Jynxster Dad having a hissy fit because Jynxster Mom bought too many gifts for me/spent too much money (I swear this happens year and opening presents ends on a sour note), we don’t have much else tradition wise.

Good news for the week so far is that my anticipated assistance for the Spain project has been kindly thanked but not required. All that may change as boss lady, who ordered me to assist is back in the office today and might not take the rebuff well.

7

Our only, and biggest change involves the New Grandchild. When her mother, our daughter and only child was celebrating her first Christmas, she was only two weeks old.

This being Chicago, of course it had to be about 20 below zero. The two sets of grandparents lived in roughly a triangle from us, each leg being about a 45-50 minute drive. Thus we had to pack the child, unpack, eat, celebrate, repeat then finally head home. It was a looooong, tiring day. We decided on the spot that “they who have the grandchild stay home and if you grandparents or anyone for that matter, want to visit, feel free to drop by, we’ll be home dressed informally in our comfy clothes”

Every year since 1985 it has been thus, even the first year after she was married.

So our baby’s baby was born in June. They live about a 2 1/2 hour drive away. Last month when discussing Christmas plans, my beloved child threw my own rule back in my face!!!

“So dad, we’re having Christmas here because you remember your own rule, right”

:confused:

So we’ll head down on Monday, stay thru Thursday and a new tradition is born.

8

The part of my family that I see on a regular basis is Jewish, so we’re already all done for this year. My birthday is Christmas Eve, and I really hate being away from home on my birthday, so I rarely see my family for Christmas (Mom was raised Catholic, so we’ve always at least paid homage to the idea of Christmas). My college roommate is one day younger than me, so she typically farms her kids off to either their father or grandparents (they do their gift-giving at the winter solstice) and comes to visit for something we call 48 Hours of Birthday.

Roomie and I also have a Christmas/my birthday party every year. We used to do it on Christmas Eve, after everybody else was done with their families, but as we’ve gotten older we shove it in whenever it will fit. This year, it’s not actually happening until the 28th, which is the first time ever that Jessmas will be after Christmas.

Also, this morning is terrible, but that’s not the subject at the moment. :wink:

9

I’m a champion present-wrapper; recently, Lilbro asked me to teach him :slight_smile: he’s a quick study and would have been able to figure out most tricks by himself eventually but the advantage to being taught is that it shortens the “eventually” a lot. There are always several rolls of wrapping paper at Mom’s: I like picking which ones to use, do I want to use all-different papers or to have several things wrapped with the same one? Are there any partials I shouldn’t use because the previous time was too recent?

While not a Christmas tradition per se, it often happens that we have presents we bought someplace that didn’t have wrapping paper, or which have been in the back of a shelf for months waiting for Christmas/a birthday; if I’m around, I’m the one who gets to wrap them.

This year we’re having to grow new traditions. I don’t want to bore you trying to track holidays and relatives and relatives of relatives; the tldr version is that “where we celebrate each day” has been shuffled. I can’t go home for Christmas and Mom may be coming over for New Year’s; Christmas Day will be in her house and I’m sending a present for each Kidlet “delivered there by the Shepherds”. I have matrioshkas for the Kidlette, want to find something for the Kidlet that isn’t too similar to my usual stuff.

10

No traditions to speak of, but plenty of transitions.
This year I had to sell the house in which I’d spent the last 18 years and adapt to one bedroom apartment.
My arthritis has gotten worse and worse to the point where I couldn’t even walk from my apartment to my car, car to office, and vice versa in the evening. So I will be getting a power chair.
Because I’d missed so much work and thereby abused the generous accommodations the company had extended me, I was separated from my job. I thought about going on disability, even so far as to start paperwork with the state, but didn’t follow through because part of me is still fighting.
So, I’ll get the power chair, get another job, and return to the rat race, possibly as soon as February.
other than that, blurf to the max.

11

I’ll have to think about the Christmas traditions. Too much like an essay for this time of the morning.

Second workday with frost on the windshield. The computer says low of 26 last night. I’m so glad I have a seat warmer.

12

My Christmas tradition is to go to Oldest Sister’s house on the Eve, spend the Day and then head back so I can be back at irk. This will be the last year for that tradition.

Oh, I’ll still be going up to Oldest Sister’s but beginning Jan. 1 I’m actively looking for a new job. Shit went down last week and I’ve discovered that after Night Audit Lady was gotten out of the way, I’m next in the cross fire. I’ve suspected that for quite a while, but it’s been almost but not quite blatantly stated. She Who Must Be Obeyed wants me out.

The good thing is that Detailed AGM thinks this is all bullshit also. He’s figured out a way that I don’t have to go to the kiss-ass Christmas party next week because I am not going. I will stay behind as Head Bitch In Charge and run the show until Squirrel AGM gets back. (Both AGMs are going this year because they’re giving Big Boss a special present. It’s a clock that has one of his catch phrases engraved on it.)

So that’s where I was last week: wallowing in negativity. A more positive outlook begins today.

13

My traditions:
My tree has been up since November 1st, 2002(redecorated in 2010). it’s not sloth anymore, it’s tradition!

Gathering at a friend’s house. All my blood relatives are well away from me, so I get together with whoever’s not with family.
No blurf for me.

14

Happy Moonday!

It’s grey and wet outside, most of the snow has melted and I’ll be heading out soon to buy FOOD!.

When I was growing up our tradition was the Family Christmas Eve Party. The whole extended family would attend, the only acceptable excuse for not attending was death (your own). I barely remember the ones at my grandmothers house, she died when I was 5. After that the 6 siblings rotated who held it each year. Everybody paid a certain amount (it increased over the years) to cover the cost and whoever hosted it each year did all the work.
We picked names and did a gift exchange as well as buying for Godparents and Godchidren.
We stopped a few years ago as 3 of the 6 siblings have died and several families have moved further away.
I miss it.

My mother always had Christmas here, but it was a Christmas Lunch as opposed to dinner. We’d have ham, N.O.T. salad, deviled eggs, bread or rolls. Food that was prepared the day before so there was no cooking on Christmas day.
Lately my older niece hosts the Christmas Brunch. She has the biggest house and we can all fit more easily. We have it early so the everybody can go off and do stuff with the other side of the family. We’ll eat and exchange gifts.

When Sah-son was little our tradition was to go out driving around looking at the lights. I’ve always scouted out the good houses in advance. There’s a court not far from here where the 4 houses seem to try to outdo each other every year. Appropriately named Tidings Court. There was another house in Cape StClaire that was truly a Winter WonderLand for kids that you could walk through their yard to look at everything. He kind of lost interest as he got older.
I’ve never driven 34th Street in Baltimore, maybe we will this year It’s a big deal around here, and everybody on the street participates.
Sah-son still opens one gift on Christmas Eve.

Damn I do go on.

15

Been a relatively quiet day on the irkfront. No big, the world is comin’ to an end problems. Just routine stuff which keeps da bear busy enough. The big excitatement is the hot water tank went kaput over the weekend and leaked water all over the place it lives and apparently into the storage room next to it. No biggie not havin’ hot water as far as I’m concerned.

16

A time of year when I am most happy to be Jewish.
Then I go and marry a shiksa. :slight_smile:

17

I always put up my tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and Mr. Anachi does the lights. Somewhere around the middle of the month, our development has a Luminaries night where all the folks who live here get out and walk around admiring everyone’s lights. There will be hayrides and carriage rides, cotton candy and a petting zoo, and myriad other things as folks set up chairs and welcome goodies in their driveways and bond with neighbors. It’s a fun time.

Since before the 'rents passed on, my youngest sister has hosted a Christmas Eve house party attended by family and friends and I have hosted family for Christmas Day dinner. These days attendance has dwindled as children have moved far away or their jobs have got in the way. But we still have our core group. Mitch Miller still gets played at sister’s house, and the Prime Rib will be served at mine. I expect that as the children (now all adults and nearly all married off) have children of their own, traditions will change yet again.

18

Howdy from da cave! I stopped at the sto’ and bought fried chikin. Deal with it. I shall shortly whomp up some wild rice and green beans to go with the chikin. ‘Tis rainy out just as the weather PTB said. I’m sittin’ here in shorts and a tshirt cause it’s warmish out.

Yeah, it’s just a whirlwind of excitatement at da cave.

19

Since moving here 9 years ago, we’ve pretty much done minimal effort Christmas. We have never put up a tree in this house - in fact, I just gave all of my ornaments to my sister. We’ve gone to my brother’s a few times, but mostly we drive to Ocala to be with my husband’s family, since his folks are too old to be driving 800 miles. We long ago dispensed with gift-giving except for doing a silly stealing exchange with $10 gifts (still haven’t bought this year’s offering.) Honestly, I’m Christmas’d out long before Thanksgiving. So our new tradition is to do our best to ignore it all.

Do I win the Grinch Award?? :smiley:

It was raining but not icy this morning, so my commute was no big deal. The office was freezing - I need to make myself some mitts! That’s tonight’s plan.

Oh, yeah, and today’s our 30th anniversary! Who’d’a thunk it? So far, my sister is the only one who’s mentioned it. I’m pretty sure my mother has no idea that it’s today - she was pretty pissed about the elopement at the time and she’s never acknowledged the day, even tho she loves my sweetie. And I’m pretty sure none of my other sibs know the date either, altho to be fair, I don’t know theirs either. One sister was married in January, the other in… May?? My bro’s ill-fated wedding was in April, and the other sister’s short-lived fiasco was in September. I do know her divorce was finalized on April Fool’s Day. :smiley:

We were originally going to dine out last night to celebrate, but the weather was so crappy, we passed. The place I want to go is closed today, so maybe this weekend? We shall see.

Time to feed the puppy. Happy Moanday!

20

I got an unexpected day off school. So I went home and made some cookies that I’ll bring to work ono Wednesday.