(no subject)
It's freezing cold in my office today. Not that this is a change, it's almost always freezing cold in here. There is something about the vents and circulation and the fact this was originally supposed to be a storage room that causes it. I have a little space heater. It's whirring away at my feet right now insuring that my shins and ankles are toasty, while the rest of me shivers.
I thought I was pretty well set for the holidays until last night when I started making a list (and checking it twice) and I realized that I have a whole lot of shopping yet to do. It looks like I am going to be running out and shopping on my lunch hours, something I really hate doing, over the next week or so.
This is a strange year for me as far as Christmas is concerned. A lot has changed in the couple of years since my father passed away. This year I feel like we are just starting to build new traditions. In the past, Christmas was always at my parent's house. My sister and I would come over Christmas Eve and spend the night there. That night she and I would make a feast of dips and appetizers for dinner. We made all those things we would only get sporadically throughout the year - my mom's famous clam dip, good cheese and sausages served on crackers, fancy cookies. Then me and my sister, my mom and my dad would play games and watch movies until it was time for bed. My sister would retreat to her old room and I'd get the pull out sofa, and both of us would toss and turn in unfamiliar beds until morning. And there was a huge list of traditions that we did on the actual day, from when to eat breakfast, to the proper opening of stockings, to how we cleaned up afterwards.
After my dad died we tried to do the old traditions, but it just didn't feel right. We knew we needed to make new ones, but no one really knew how. I mean, how are traditions made, anyway? It seems like they usually start simply - someone does something one year that everyone likes and they decide to do it again the following year, and one after that, and so on.
Now my mom lives in a condo and my sister and I are both married. We have other families to think about - my sister's husband's and Michael's daughter, that need to be considered. In talking to my sister about it, we both feel like this is the year for starting fresh, for trying some new things out and seeing what happens. I’m both excited and a little nervous to see how it all comes out.
I thought I was pretty well set for the holidays until last night when I started making a list (and checking it twice) and I realized that I have a whole lot of shopping yet to do. It looks like I am going to be running out and shopping on my lunch hours, something I really hate doing, over the next week or so.
This is a strange year for me as far as Christmas is concerned. A lot has changed in the couple of years since my father passed away. This year I feel like we are just starting to build new traditions. In the past, Christmas was always at my parent's house. My sister and I would come over Christmas Eve and spend the night there. That night she and I would make a feast of dips and appetizers for dinner. We made all those things we would only get sporadically throughout the year - my mom's famous clam dip, good cheese and sausages served on crackers, fancy cookies. Then me and my sister, my mom and my dad would play games and watch movies until it was time for bed. My sister would retreat to her old room and I'd get the pull out sofa, and both of us would toss and turn in unfamiliar beds until morning. And there was a huge list of traditions that we did on the actual day, from when to eat breakfast, to the proper opening of stockings, to how we cleaned up afterwards.
After my dad died we tried to do the old traditions, but it just didn't feel right. We knew we needed to make new ones, but no one really knew how. I mean, how are traditions made, anyway? It seems like they usually start simply - someone does something one year that everyone likes and they decide to do it again the following year, and one after that, and so on.
Now my mom lives in a condo and my sister and I are both married. We have other families to think about - my sister's husband's and Michael's daughter, that need to be considered. In talking to my sister about it, we both feel like this is the year for starting fresh, for trying some new things out and seeing what happens. I’m both excited and a little nervous to see how it all comes out.