christmas 2006

to me, christmas just keeps getting better and better. perhaps it's that we're older now and don't care so much about presents and they are not so much our focus. or perhaps it's because mom has the routine of timing and cooking breakfast, hors d'oeuvres, dinner, and decadent tiramisu and peppermint cheesecake desserts to an exact science. or perhaps it's because the kids are now around to make the days that much more enjoyable. but mostly, i think it is because more and more i appreciate being around my family, relaxing, laughing, and reminiscing with them. sure everyone has their quirky (read: annoying) moments, but even that predictability can be endearing (sometimes).

just as we have our traditions (check out everyone in their christmas eve pjs), we also go with the flow and welcome new changes and additions. Extra special additions this year were grandma trani and aunt mj making the trip from skaneateles. they haven't spent christmas with us in years and they hadn't even met paigey yet! uncle mark was off hiking (wishfully skiing, but that didn't happen) in maine, so grandma lowell didn't have her normal chauffeur. she drove herself to us on early christmas eve, in the safety of daylight and spent the night in my old room. it was such a treat to have both grandmas in the house for both christmas eve and christmas night. so nice to go to bed and wake up with a full house (including the 5 pups!) not to mention that everyone in those beds had on brand new pjs -- even the grandmas. (poor mj -- guess santa didn't get the memo on her and only got her earmuffs. hmm... maybe try again next year mj!)

there's lots more somethingsomething about christmas 2006, just not enough time to write about it and sleep!

yuletide cheer

ah the holidays! i decorated my charlie brown xmas tree tonight. eva and i bought our christmas trees from city market yesterday ($20 to benefit COTS -- not a bad bargain -- a tree and a good deed!). it's crooked, misshapen, and the branches are still kind of all bunched up against the trunk, but the weight of the ornaments and lights seems to be doing its job.


i have been feeling so adult lately -- not only do i own my own place, but i have an entire box full of christmas decorations! on good advice from jennie, i have purchased at least one ornament for myself each year since i started trying this whole adult thing. this year danielle and i bought each other a friendship, hungarian, blown out, hand-painted egg. i have also amassed ornaments from various students over the years, post holiday sales, and hand-me-downs. when mom replaced her tree topper with an elegant red velvet saint nick, i proudly inherited our old angel. and since g'ma t is a pro cross-stitcher, i happen to be one of the lucky 5 grandchildren who has her very own 12 days of christmas tree skirt.

traditions are my favorite part of christmas. the comforting warmth of routine exercised with such love just can't be beat. every year since i was wearing feet pajamas, we have been allowed to open one present on christmas eve. i love that i can always count on a new pair of flannel pjs on december 24th. (except for the year that dad forgot to label which presents were the pjs and i opened up a purple sweater, turtleneck, sock combo...)

years ago, mom started buying each of us a snowbaby that was themed around the events of our year. the year i took astronomy, i got an astronomer, the year jules joined hockey, she got a hockey player, the year i tried to take my kiribati dog home with me, i got a snowbaby and her dog. mom used to display all of our figurines together, but since we've left the nest, our snowbabies have had to separate. i wonder what i'll get this year...


though the meaning of christmas, or the yuletide, or the holidays, or whatever it is we must call it these days to remain pc, has morphed from what it originally was, what remains at its heart is people trying to be as good and as loving and as caring and as grateful as they can be. whether we show it with presents or traditions or donations or charity, i have to believe that like the lights of the christmas trees, we're all trying as best we can to shine our light onto others and to celebrate the beauty that is life.