Hello and welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 kept in her memory. We give you 4 things to think about each week and hope it spurs you to blog, connect with fellow bloggers and just stop and reflect!
December is a month filled with religious significance for so many. Christmas (Dec 24-25) and Chanukah (Nov 28-Dec 6). Christians speak of the light coming into the world at Christmas and Chanukah is the festival of lights when the light was returned to the newly cleansed temple in Jerusalem. So, they have a common connection.
Let's talk about December and what it has in store for you....
1. How much importance do you place on December holidays? Do you plan and prepare? Is that part of the fun for you or would you rather dispense with it?
Plan? What is that? We mainly go with the flow, grin.
2. Food is a big part of the holiday season. Which foods and treats do you most look forward to having?
Cookies, yeah, cookies...as for foods...we tend to keep it simple during the cold months; soups, casseroles and even roasts...not sure about the roasts this year-the costs of food are way up.
3. It is a season for family, friends, guests and giving. Would you write a bit about how it all comes together for you in December?
Come together? My family lives in Florida, his family lives here and they try to plan...and it never happens that way. When we went over for Thanksgiving desert to our nephews, my husband's sister-our nephew's mother was trying to plan (no, that would be bully) into having getting everyone around for a Christmas party. She is an appeaser, anyways...sometimes, you just gotta' let things happen naturally. I might had said that. Just set a time and date and go with it...stop this nonsense of "planning". I might have said that as well. grin. Hey, I have been part of this family for 41 years, I can say what's on my mind, that is my story and I am sticking to it. grin
4. Life changes and traditions alter due to those changes. Has anything changed for you and if so how? If not, would you mind sharing your traditions with us?
We refuse to travel on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
--Christmas Eve 30+ yrs ago while we were out last-minute Christmas shopping in a snowstorm, we were in an accident when we lived in Hudson, NY (I might had told the story). ANYWAYS, while waiting for the police (the police chiefs gf hit us--and they were in no hurry to get to the scene, let's just keep it real) and such, we walked over to the pizza place. That started a tradition that has remained all these years. Or as my husband has stated all these years, "No bad juju." It's a southern thing (Juju). LOL
--we don't travel and we have pizza for Christmas Eve. This year, I am probably working on Christmas Eve and will bring Pizza home from my employer. Work is only a 5-minute drive...what could possibly go wrong? (Knock on wood-grin)
--if you want to come over for that and Lasagna for Christmas Day, be our guests. We don't mind. We are firm on not traveling...and his sister knows it.
--now, when our son gets his own family, we expect changes...but according to him, he will always come home. Huhuh, his wife and kids might have something to say about that, LOLOLOL and we might have to adjust our lifestyle to suit his family. Until then...we keep with the traditions that started all those years ago. AND the kid goes, "I ain't changing nothing, no bad juju from me. She'll have to go along with it." Ok then...rolling eyes. Gosh, he is in for such a rude awakening, lol.
As far as I know, or can remember (brain fart), there are no traditions in our family. There's no planning. We just go with the flow. This year there are tentative plans to go spend the day with Steve's 43 year old niece Deborah and her family in Jax. That's 2 hours South from here. We'll see if that comes to pass.
ReplyDeleteLove & Blessings. xx
That's sad there are no traditions (grin). We traveled down to Ocala one year when Liam was little and it was miserable. Never again...between my folks and my brothers live in girlfriend at the time and being seated at the childs table with our son...it was just miserable. AND we had to stay in a hotel because my folks didn't want us there. That was plain and easy to read---they didn't want us and mom might had said it---they invited us and treated us like crud.
DeleteBasically, we will do the same thing we did at Thanksgiving -- travel 2 hours north to my parents' house for the family gathering and then travel home. The only difference is that ham will be served instead of chicken for the meal.
ReplyDeleteHam sounds good, Robin. smiles. Have a beautiful day.
DeleteHi Linda, thank you for your kind post at my blog. ♥ I had to laugh at the last part because yes the wives call the shots! Ha and I understand that. I told my boys, your wives come first. But thankfully they all love coming to our home Christmas morning. I actually enjoy the calm of Christmas Eve. We use to go to my inlaws ever year until they passed. Lasagna sounds great! Tradition!♥ Enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a beautiful day, Susan.
DeleteYes, the wives usually call the shots...thankfully our DIL loves to come here, and sadly, her mother and step father have passed and her father and stepfather live in MN, which is too far to travel in winter, so we get to have them with us. When our parents were living we had to divide our time equally between both sets of grandparents so they could have equal time with the grandkids. It was a rat race of a day for us, but at least the grandparents were happy and the kids got lots of neat stuff. LOL. Now that our folks are all gone, we stay home on Christmas day, and if we get together with the extended family it is on another day. That works for the best for all of us. Whatever you do, enjoy your celebration in the way that you love best.
ReplyDeleteI agree, whatever you do, enjoy your celebration in the way that you love best. Have a beautiful day, friend.
DeleteI expect a quiet day..with friends and lots of memories.
ReplyDeleteI suspect, Bunk, our day will be like that as well. Smiles...and there is nothing wrong with that.
DeleteOh girl, I'm over here laughing and shaking my head about 'going with the flow.' It wasn't until our first year married that Tom discovered he'd married a Planner. OCD, yep; I usually began in early November. Only to discover both he and his adult son and daughter never had a plan -- nor cared to. Truly, it was nearly our undoing.
ReplyDeleteLove the idea of Christmas eve pizza. No muss, no fuss!
Traditions are a fun thing. When our kids were young, my son was good at telling me I had to make certain things for Christmas - because "it's a tradition!" (even if I had only made it once...)
ReplyDeleteMy brother has the tradition of having Christmas Eve at his house. He's about 45 minutes from us but we always go. I only get together with all three of my brothers at the same time about twice a year so I hate to miss any of them. We never see my sister in-laws anymore on holidays. They live in ten different directions!
ReplyDeleteOh girl...back in the day when kids were growing up I can remember having to go here and there and there and here! With parents being divorced it made it quite hard. My three daughters would cry because we had to leave our house so early on Christmas morning. Between being with family and preparing food for each stop it truly got to where it was NOT joyous. Finally one Christmas Marty said, "We are changing things around here". Now, many years later, our holiday works out great. I told my girls a long time ago as each one married, "You do what you need to do with your family first and as long as we can spend time together even if it with a ham sandwich, I don't care! We have always made it work. My grands get to enjoy their Christmas at their home without feeling rushed and I love it! My family changes up our menu each Christmas. Since we have the traditional foods at Thanksgiving we choose to do different at Christmas. We always spend Christmas Eve with my FLC and that side of extended family and we change up our food plan with that each year too. I guess girl as I have aged that it really doesn't matter if we share a cracker or a piece of cake or pizza together...as long as we can be together. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteYes, Liam will have some adjusting to do. Until then, enjoy!!! xo
ReplyDeleteHa! That bit about being part of the family for so long and being able to comment brought back a memory. Years ago Tim's whole (huge) family was gathered to move his parents into a new home and two of his sisters got into a very ugly argument...about what should go on a particular shelf. It got so ugly that their mother, a dear sweet woman was in tears. That was the point at which "I might have said something." It was also the point at which one of them told me to mind my own business because it was a family matter. That might have been the point at which I put down what I was doing and walked out to my car and when asked where I was going, replied "Apparently I'm not family so I don't see any reason for me to be here" and then drove away. Didn't cure my sil's but it got me out of there.😁
ReplyDelete