gifts

Holiday Traditions

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I often write about holiday traditions, and I lose track of what I’ve shared already. We have several holiday traditions for several different holidays. Usually when asked about holiday traditions, the expected reference is Christmas. We have those, and I’d guess that practically all of them revolve around food, but we also have holiday traditions for Easter, Passover, Cinco de Mayo (despite not being Mexican), St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, birthdays, and New Year’s, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some.

My birthday this year was meh, and it was barely meh. I was sick for days before, and I wasn’t quite right on my birthday, so everything went downhill. I didn’t want a cake because I couldn’t eat it. I usually spend the day by going to Starbucks for breakfast and a leisurely trip to Target to look at the ornaments and see what other treats I can find for myself.

I did go to Starbucks for my free drink, but I got it with no ice so I could save it for the weekend when I (hopefully) felt better. The rest of this month continues in slow motion. Some Christmas gifts will be late.

Since my son was working all week, I may light the menorah again when he comes for Christmas dinner.

Our usual Christmas morning tradition will be postponed to the afternoon since he will also be working an overnight and staying at work until mid afternoon. We usually have Dunkin’ Donuts and our favorite seasonal drinks and then open our gifts. I know the kids are littles anymore but I’m not sure how they’ll feel about not opening their gifts until the afternoon. Our traditional dinner is based on my husband’s family. His mother is from Belfast, and they always had roast beef for Christmas dinner, which is what we do. Roast beef, roasted onions, gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots, green bean casserole. The one thing we don’t have is her amazing trifle – I was never able to master that. Maybe one day we’ll give it a try. This year’s desserts are two pies – one apple streussel (from Cracker Barrel) and one Very Berry or Triple Berry from a local bakery. We have a nice vintage of whipped cream chilling in the fridge.

On Christmas Eve we get Chinese take-out and the day after Christmas I make a Shepherd’s Pie with the roast and mashed.

Our Christmas cards are hung up as of Monday, but our own cards won’t go out until the new year, and our tree isn’t up yet. It seems to go up later and later each year. We’re hoping for tonight. No Doctor Who this year, but maybe I’ll finally watch Fantastic Four and/or Superman on streaming. I also have half a dozen (or so) books to read, so there is no reason to be bored while waiting for present-time.

One of the traditions that we no longer do is a Christmas Eve gift. When the kids were small, they were given (wrapped) a new pair of pajamas and a book for bedtime. That way I guaranteed that they’d go to bed, and when they woke up, they would look nice for the Christmas morning photos. We do still bake cookies for Santa, and he’s kind and generous enough to bring us stockings with a nice selection of candy and usually a small gift card.

I think for the next few weeks, I’ll choose a holiday and write a small thing about how we celebrate and what our traditions are. I’ll probably start with New Year’s next week. What would you like to see after that?

Despite these last twelve months, I am trying to remain optimistic and positive and hoping that things can be better in the coming year.

Have a Happy Christmas, Happy Holidays, Joyous Greetings of the Season, a Blessed New Year, and longer light-filled days.

My kids went on vacation and…

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Does anyone remember those popular souvenir shop t-shirts? My parents went to Florida, South of the Border, Gettysburg, and all I got was this lousy* t-shirt? My husband said no one would remember them, but I remember them. I think we all got one at one point, but they are long in the bin of history.

As I’ve written last week, I had to have surgery on my achilles tendon, so our vacation was cancelled; however, we sent our kids for half of the vacation since there was a “comic” convention, Fan Expo Canada. The three of them had never gone away alone together, and they all came back in one piece, and hopefully with stronger relationships than when they left. I had concerns about crossing the border, but I grew up going to Canada all my life, and I feel that they are an extension of New York and vice versa.

I thought for this month’s inspiration, I would share a few collages of some of the things my kids brought back for me. Some were requested (the clothes and stationery items) and others were surprises, especially Niagara Falls. (*Nothing in here represents anything lousy!)

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National Hot Chocolate Day

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This was the lovely set-up my daughter did for her Secret Santa sleepover. This was the Hot Chocolate buffet: a variety of hot chocolate, peppermint candy canes, a wide range of marshmallows, and festive reindeer napkins. (c)2019

Hot Chocolate Gift Sets I put together for my kids. Penzeys Hot Chocolate Mix and a jar of mini marshmallows. Simple, cute, inexpensive, thoughtful, and delicious. (c)2019

Fandom Black Friday

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Even though most of us have been picking up holiday gifts whenever we see anything appropriate and affordable, today is the official begin to the holiday shopping season, at least as far as capitalist society is concerned.

I’ve done the 5am shopping thing once or twice, and we treated it like a day out: we did our shopping, finished by 9 or so, and went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then home for some hot chocolate and naps. It was fun. Kind of.

I tend to look online for some items that are unique and hard to find locally even though I do like to shop at my local businesses.

There are many great shops and now there is access to those small shops through online shopping. I love fandom gifts, from clothes to Pops! to jewelry to journals, pins of course, and other unique things in my various fandoms.

Apart from Amazon, here are a few places, both online and brick and mortar stores that I like to check out for my friends and family that are looking for the perfect fandom gift.

Hot Topic – great store for a variety of fandoms, and they get it. They’re knowledgable about the fandoms, know their merchandise, can and will direct you to other places if they don’t carry something, etc. It’s a good store to visit. If you’re looking for Plus Sizes, they generally don’t carry them in the stores, but you can find them online.

DC Universe – this is a new app that offers original programming and other DC programs. It is a subscription service, so that in itself might be a nice gift for the DC fan in your life.

Target – They have a fandom section (although they don’t call it that) on the back wall between books/DVDs and electronics. They rotate pop culture shows and books and often have Harry Potter, Stranger Things, Marvel and DC Comics & Movies, Star Wars, The Walking Dead, and more.

Stands – Partial proceeds go to charity. There is a limited shopping time for each campaign and each sponsor actor chooses their own charity to support. Previous (and some current) charitable causes have included: Random Acts, Jacmel Children’s Center, ACLU, Raices, Chicago Foundation for Women, Lydia’s Place, My Hope Chest, New Leash on Life, National Stroke Association, Canadian Women’s Foundation, Feeding America, Rainbow House, TrapKing Humane, Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA, and others.

50-45 – Chanukah

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Plastic dreidl that can be filled with gelt, chocolate coins for Chanukah. When I was a kid, we got new ones each year, but I try to save them for my kids to reuse each year. (c)2016

When I was a kid growing up in Queens, we lived in a two bedroom apartment. There was a tiny vestibule where you could either go upstairs to our neightbors or turn left and walk into our place. There was a window and a radiator (where on Passover we would put a wine glass for Elijah). The living room had a sofa, a television on a wheeled TV cart, a dresser, my baby dresser that my daughter now uses, and possibly a chair, but I don’t recall that detail. It flowed into the dining room which had a doorway to the kitchen.

At Chanukah, we never had an electric menorah when we lived here. It was a brass one with a lion at the back and the shamas way up on top with a row of eight candle holders below. We would set this menorah up on the dining room table on a piece of tin foil for the wax to melt onto. Each day, we’d add another candle and watch them burn brightly until they flickered out.

We’d eat latkes and play dreidl with pennies for the pot.

Along the bottom of my baby dresser, my parents set up three piles of wrapped presents, eight gifts in each pile, and every night after we lit the candles we could choose a gift. Just one.

There was a lot of shaking and feeling of shapes going on every night. I have a very clear memory of wondering if I should open the Barbie doll or her clothes first, so distinctive was their packaging.

For our interfaith family now, we usually have done one large gift for the first night of Chanukah. Only once did we do eight gifts. It just gets too expensive. We do light the candles and use an electric menorah, the candle menorah in the dining room and the electric menorah in the living room. I always get my kids a new dreidl and a mesh baggie of gelt which they devour pretty quickly.

These are the traditions that make a holiday memorable and worth celebrating year after year.

I’m posting this a bit early because Chanukah isn’t until Christmas Eve this year, but that just gives us more to celebrate all throughout the month from Thanksgiving to the New Year.

Happy Chanukah to all.

Creative Presents

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My son collaborated with his Dad (at least his Dad’s debit card) to make me a mini Lego figure of Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead. He designed it himself. Then they both made the poncho on our home printer without letting me see. It’s a superb job. He used mgfcustoms for the construction.

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Standing behind mini Daryl is a cup designed by my daughter. My family got me Lindt chocolate truffles and as it turns out, two bags of those fit perfectly into a Trenta sized Starbucks cup that my daughter saved, washed, and decorated.

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Chocolate Caramel and White Chocolate; my favorites.