Today marks the last day of sanity for me. (Yes, yes, you can go ahead and crack 'Were you EVER sane?' Get it out of the way.) My grandma LOVED Christmas. The family togetherness, the smell of pine, the lights and decorations, the huge dinners, the cookie exchange, everything. This will be only the second year without her, but it takes so much effort to do all the things she so loved.
I'm glad that we are still making as big a deal about the holiday. Mom has shared some great memories of Christmases growing up in Wisconsin, and funny tales about driving in the snow. We've got our lights partially up outside, and even set them to flash to music. (Lights and Sounds of Christmas, Home Depot On-line) Brother delivered our real North Carolina pine tree, which is soaking in a bucket, and smells sooooo good! Mom's setting up her Santa collection, and our decorative mini-Xmas trees are scattered through the common areas. Mom listens to her crooner's album, while I rock out to punk Christmas covers. Soon enough, we'll be baking cookies for the exchange, decorating the tree, arguing about how to hang stockings, and driving to look at all the decorations on the Space Coast.
I look forward to the hectic last-minute gift hunting, wrapping each gift, and attempting to make Dad's hard-to-guess. (He almost always gets each gift right before he unwraps. Tricking him is a game and tradition.) I especially look forward to all the parties and celebrations. According to my meticulously kept list, I've finished shopping (yeah, right!) and just need to knock out the rest of the Joyeux Noël.
For my Hebrew and Jewish readers, Happy Chanukah! Enjoy your holiday, and have a few latkes for me please! Mmmm... latkes.
As for the rest of us, Happy Festivus!
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