Ah, the holidays. Sybil and I survived Thanksgiving, barely. I got myself a nice speeding ticket on the way to my parents' house, so that made for good conversation. Luckily, it was early in the trip, and Sybil was able to let me know how she felt. In her defense, I have an almost neurotic need to be punctual. Since we were already running over an hour late, I really put the pressure on myself. Good that's over, now I get to hear about how much the ticket cost.
It's that crazy time of the year. I HATE IT. So much of Christmas has nothing to with Christ Mass. Buying presents, shopping, fighting the crowds all make for a stressful time of the year. I never get into the spirit of the holiday until about five to seven days before Christmas. Usually, I have finished my shopping and am lounging about. Hopefully, that happens again this year.
For me the best thing is Christmas Day. I look forward to cooking the dinner all year. The menu is turkey (might be goose this year), cornbread dressing (I'm sorry, Yankees, but cornbread dressing is waaaaay better than stuffing.), mashed potatoes (is that with an "e"?), rolls, and maybe a salad. Nothing healthy. Last year's turkey was, in a word, awesome. I'm hoping to repeat. I gotta stop; I'm making myself hungry.
7 comments:
You're also making me hungry. Holiday food is good.
And I still have a Thanksgiving to celebrate with my in-laws tommorrow. More turkey for me.
I made two turkeys and a ham this year on Thanksgiving. I have no idea why, except that you can get a 20 lb turkey for six bucks and the leftovers you can freeze for the rest of the year. That can last two people a very long time.
BTW, nice picture. You're the spitting image of George C Scott. :)
Gotta agree with you on the cornbread dressing. Yankees aren't nearly the cooks that southerners are.
Christmas shopping for me has become so much easier since the advent (heh, I like that I could fit the use of the word "advent" into a Christmas discussion) of online shopping. Very few crowds to deal with in my family room after N goes to bed. Works for me.
And to me the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is awesome. I love the decorations, the cookie baking, the wrapping of presents, and most of all I love the Christmas music. Woohoo! I rejoice on Thanksgiving when I can break out the Christmas CDs. Oh, yes, and the Christmas movies, love those too.
Spreading Christmas cheer throughout blogland. . . . . . .
Since I've been Catholic, I've slowly (sometimes painfully so) gotten acclimated to 'Catholic culture', which is, in some respects, very different from what I grew up with.
One aspect of 'Catholic culture' that I really like is the way we do Advent. It really is a time of preparation and anticipation. More like Lent, really, than Christmas; in fact, Advent is to Christmas pretty much what Lent is to Easter, with less of a 'penitential' emphasis. We don't sing Christmas carols in church; we sing 'Advent' songs - 'The King Shall Come', 'The King of Glory Comes', etc. We don't even get our tree until the third Sunday of Advent (which has some advantages - the trees that are left then are pretty deeply discounted, altho they can be pretty skanky-looking). Growing up, Molly's family didn't put their tree up until Christmas Eve. Classically, the celebration of Christmas starts on December 25, it doesn't end then. The period from Christmas to Epiphany (January 6) is 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'.
Of course, these days, Advent is nowhere near what it was when Molly was a kid (or even more, when her parents were kids) - the 'consumer culture' that has attached itself to Christmas has had about as much effect on Catholics as it has on everybody else. But, it has helped me to maintain my focus on Christmas and try to keep the consumerist culture at arm's length. (sigh)
You got a speeding ticket.....and you was running 1 hour behind....Oh my....that must mean you was going 100 in a 65....LOL
I love X-mas.....setting traditions with my 4 year old....letting her help me cook and make crafts....FUN FUN!!!
Have a great day!!!
ftn-
I'm jealous.
thereseinheaven-
That's a lot of food. I didn't always look this way.
trueself-
I'm still trying to get Sybil to go along with online shopping. No luck, so far.
desmondjones-
Our church is doing a lot this year. As a Methodist, we celebrate Advent and Lent. It is a time of anticipation.
lori-
Not quite a 100.
I used to like the way, at our Anglican (I think Americans call this episcopalian?) church when I was a child, we lit the advent candles in the weeks leading up to Christmas...
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