Unique Holiday Family Traditions
So most people that are currently on my flist, I didn't even have the pleasure of knowing this time last year. I was relatively new to LJ and had made only a handful of posts at the time, most of them to just test the waters and get a feel for how the site even worked. Things were also very hectic at work, seeing as my assistant manager was on maternity leave and I was trying to open a new site on my own.
Fast forward a year and I have a new assistant manager and things are as hectic as ever on the job. I have also met so many wonderful people on this site. Because I didn't know most of you last year, you missed out on the fun and slight insanity that my mother brings to the holidays. I truly missed it myself, just a bit, last year, because for the first time in a long time work kept me from visiting my family during the holidays (this year things are looking much better on that front). So I thought I would share a little bit of it with all of you. Especially since this is the time of year some folks start putting up their holiday decorations (though my mother's Christmas tree has been up for almost two weeks if that tells you anything).
This is me in all of my December 1970 glory (the picture was developed in Jan 1971, none of the fancy digital time-stamp stuff back then). Yes, those walls are covered in an amazing cream-gold wallpaper that does the era proud. My parents still live in the same house this picture was taken 41 years ago. It would be the first of many Christmases we have shared as a family in that home. What really stands out to me is the fact that this is back when we still had a real tree and everything was right, or should I say upright in the world. Because then the 80's came along, my mother started using an artificial tree, and after that she got really creative and started doing this to the tree:
Yes, you don't need to rub your eyes. The tree is actually hanging upside down from the ceiling, and that is a troll on the 'top' (or should I say bottom?) of the tree, along with a net with presents in it up at the top. She has been doing this now for close to thirty years. And if you look very closely, the angel on the top of the tree in the first picture is the same as the one at the 'bottom' of the second. She just has a whole lot more wear and tear on her from doing her faithful duty over the years.
I have fielded many questions over the years about this tree, and made a few jokes about it as well. On rare occasions, someone will say they have seen one once, somewhere else. But personally, my mother is the only person I know to have ever done it and to have done it for so long.
Because it has somewhat of a history now in our family, I wanted to do something different last year. So I actually wrote a Supernatural fic about, entitled 'Oh..Christmas tree?' It was the first one I ever posted on LJ. If you want to check it out, here is the info:
Title:Oh…Christmas Tree?
Author:auntmo9
Rating:PG-13 for some mild language
Genre:humor/crack;gen; hints at het
Warnings:None, no spoilers (if you know who Gabriel is you are good to go); some mild language
Word Count: 1115
Summary:A most unusual Christmas experience for Team Free Will
So what unique holiday traditions does your family have?
Fast forward a year and I have a new assistant manager and things are as hectic as ever on the job. I have also met so many wonderful people on this site. Because I didn't know most of you last year, you missed out on the fun and slight insanity that my mother brings to the holidays. I truly missed it myself, just a bit, last year, because for the first time in a long time work kept me from visiting my family during the holidays (this year things are looking much better on that front). So I thought I would share a little bit of it with all of you. Especially since this is the time of year some folks start putting up their holiday decorations (though my mother's Christmas tree has been up for almost two weeks if that tells you anything).
This is me in all of my December 1970 glory (the picture was developed in Jan 1971, none of the fancy digital time-stamp stuff back then). Yes, those walls are covered in an amazing cream-gold wallpaper that does the era proud. My parents still live in the same house this picture was taken 41 years ago. It would be the first of many Christmases we have shared as a family in that home. What really stands out to me is the fact that this is back when we still had a real tree and everything was right, or should I say upright in the world. Because then the 80's came along, my mother started using an artificial tree, and after that she got really creative and started doing this to the tree:
Yes, you don't need to rub your eyes. The tree is actually hanging upside down from the ceiling, and that is a troll on the 'top' (or should I say bottom?) of the tree, along with a net with presents in it up at the top. She has been doing this now for close to thirty years. And if you look very closely, the angel on the top of the tree in the first picture is the same as the one at the 'bottom' of the second. She just has a whole lot more wear and tear on her from doing her faithful duty over the years.
I have fielded many questions over the years about this tree, and made a few jokes about it as well. On rare occasions, someone will say they have seen one once, somewhere else. But personally, my mother is the only person I know to have ever done it and to have done it for so long.
Because it has somewhat of a history now in our family, I wanted to do something different last year. So I actually wrote a Supernatural fic about, entitled 'Oh..Christmas tree?' It was the first one I ever posted on LJ. If you want to check it out, here is the info:
Title:Oh…Christmas Tree?
Author:auntmo9
Rating:PG-13 for some mild language
Genre:humor/crack;gen; hints at het
Warnings:None, no spoilers (if you know who Gabriel is you are good to go); some mild language
Word Count: 1115
Summary:A most unusual Christmas experience for Team Free Will
So what unique holiday traditions does your family have?