holidays

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.

National Biographer’s Day

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Today is one of those made up holidays (aren’t they all) that caught my eye as I was planning the subjects for this month’s writing. I have taken a memoir class for the last thirteen years, and now that I’m working again, I won’t be able to return. This has made me fall into my feels, so I thought that memoir is very similar to biographies, and as it turns out today is National Biographer’s Day, which isn’t as generic as I thought it would be.

It commemorates the anniversary of the first day that Samuel Johnson met his biographer, James Boswell in 1763 in London. Samuel Johnson was an English writer and the biography written about him is said to be one of the most celebrated English biographies. Dr. Johnson himself was a biographer in his own right in addition to his other writing talents.

He is also known to have said that the “best biographers were those who ate, drank, and ‘lived in social intercourse’ with those about whom they wrote.”

In honor of this momentous occasion, a few thoughts, suggestions, and writing prompts:

  • 1. What is the best/most satisfying biography you’ve read?
  • 2. Whose biography would you like to read but haven’t yet?
  • 3. Begin writing a biography of someone you care about or want to discover more about.
  • 4. It’s not biography as much as autobiography or memoir, but write a few paragraphs of your own biography. Start anywhere in your life.

Spend your weekend learning about others and yourself.

My Jewish History, Part Two

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Before I had kids, things seemed so simple. My husband and I combined what we were already doing religiously. On the High Holidays and Passover, he usually went to work, so there was no conflict. At work, he ate what he wanted, and at home, we continued to eat matzo. It was the same when the kids were born. That is, until he began working from home, but we continued to make it work as we blended our two religions with our children.

Our wedding was an interfaith ceremony as well. We were married under a chuppah or canopy. We had a Rabbi and a Priest. We (my spouse) broke the glass, which represents the remembering of the destruction of the temples in Jerusalem. We celebrated Christmas and Easter with my in-laws, and the Jewish holidays and Thanksgiving with my family. This continued after our kids were born.

After we were married, we continued to celebrate the Jewish holidays with my family. We also celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and then went to my husband’s family for Christmas and Easter. Thanksgiving somehow felt Jewish to me. It wasn’t overly religious, especially if your family didn’t go to church. I also felt that it was inclusive of all traditions. No one was left out. Now, I realize today that when I thought that I wasn’t thinking about the Indigenous people who we peripherally celebrate on that day as well, but to me as a Jewish person, it was the one holiday that I wasn’t left out of things. It became a bigger holiday for me, and for my kids.

When my kids were born, I knew that they would be raised in both faiths and celebrating both sets of holidays – Jewish on my side and Catholic on my husband’s side. Even though he and his family weren’t religious, they still celebrated Christmas and Easter in his family, and we continued that with our kids.

We would travel from our home in upstate New York to our families: mine for Thanksgiving, which my in-laws would attend, and his for Christmas. We would still see my parents during that time, but the primary celebration was spending Christmas Eve at my in-laws and spending the night. We didn’t begin to stay at our own home on the holidays until we had a house and wanted the kids to wake up there on Christmas morning.

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My Jewish History, Part One

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A family piece that’s come down from my mother. A Rabbi, praying.
(c)2024

This is the first part of a three-part series. The impetus was something I read in Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which I will reflect on in the last part. Part One delves into my childhood, growing up Jewish in what I consider a fairly religious household, although it was less religious than my grandparents’ households that my parents grew up in. Looking back, it is certainly more religious than I raised my own kids in, and that will be discussed in Part Two. Part Three, funny enough is the part I wrote first, but then kept expanding and writing and re-writing, and realized there was more backstory than I could fit into that section. I hope you enjoy reading about my past lives, and my reflections and reconciliations with who I am today and how I became that person, at least in this one aspect of my life.

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Mental Health Monday – Post Holidays

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Many of us have been in Christmas mode since mid-December. And that’s not to leave out any non-Christians and their holidays. Our work week revolves around the Christmas holiday, and while we celebrate Chanukah and a couple of birthdays, we all share the same days off during the holidays. Some have even had one to two weeks off from work, and those two weeks have probably not been relaxing. Family and holiday responsibilities can take it out of us. Even though I work from home, with the kids returning to school and work, and one more Christmas dinner with our family, it is important to be aware of how we’re feeling, now we’re coping, and how we’re getting through the days in reorienting to the sometimes less exciting days that follow the holidays.

Five quick tips to re-enter the world after the holidays.

  1. Give yourself a little extra time in the mornings before work. Whether that means meditation, prayer, reading a book chapter, or having a hot cup of tea, take the time to acclimate to the morning with something refreshing and soothing before you hit the traffic and the workday.
  2. Listen to music on the way to work in your car or through headphones on your commute.
  3. Journal. It doesn’t need to be long or poetic; just jot some thoughts down in a notebook and keep it going for this first week back.
  4. Plan your meals for the week. It can be incredibly de-stressing just knowing what’s for dinner even if you still need to go shopping for the groceries. For the first time in a long time, we planned five days in a row, which is a minor miracle in this house.
  5. Give yourself breaks during the day. This first week back can seem like a month. Take the time you need. Stretch. Drink lots of water. Have a cup of tea or a snack (chocolate chip cookies make a great snack!)

Happy New Year!

New Year Intentions

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I resolve…

Probably to break the resolutions I make on the first! I prefer setting goals and intentions rather than “resolutions”. This year, in addition to the traditional lose weight, be kinder, eat out less and cook more, be present, I have decided to set some intentions specifically for my writing. Not writing goals, but writing intentions. Things I intend to do. I discovered this word and process from my memoir teacher (Hi, Mary!). I’m not sure why, but the word (as well as the idea of) intentions sounds more possible, more do-able, and less harsh. It has a gentle feel of the possibility of anticipated accomplishment. It’s not the boss of me, but it’s more than a pie in the sky.

Not only have I decided to set intentions, but I’ve decided to set actual deadlines for some of these intentions. My blog planner has been supportive of setting an editorial calendar for myself, but firm deadlines are foreign to me, and I’ve decided to change that.

I have so many projects that have great potential, some of which I’ve been working on for years. My Wales journey has journal entries from 1987 where it all began, and I’m no closer to a finished product. I have two very special projects that have great potential: St. Kateri’s Shrines and the Labyrinth Prayer Book (working titles only) that I need the impetus to buckle in and move them forward.

That’s where the intentions come in; with setting definitive goals for aspects of their completion, both of which I can see in the near future.

I will possibly share progress under the “writing” tag, and once the calendar turns over to January, I’ll have the next three to six months of deadlines.

Wish me luck. I know I’ll need it and the moral support is invaluable.

Happy New Year, and happy new intentions! May they remain for more than two weeks.

‘Tis the Season

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I have not been to Starbucks in quite some time. Today is Red Cup Day, so I planned a quick in-and-out/grab-and-go, get my drink, get my cup, and go home to do some work. On the way out the door I grabbed my pouch and keyboard, just in case.

I walked in, and this place is hopping. Seven baristas behind the counter, all moving, creating the dance that has everyone doing their parts, seeing the rhythm that is so natural to them, and yet in that small space, no one is tripping over any of the others, smoothly weaving in and out, and the one barista who seems to be tracking everyone’s drinks, knows all of our names, our orders, who’s waiting for what, greeting, smiling, conversating.

It’s a joy to be here.

I chose my drink, which is a feat in itself since I don’t like coffee, and for the red cup you’re limited on what you can order – they want to show off their seasonal treats and have you try those. I finally settled on the caramel brulee latte, but no coffee; comes with whipped cream and a caramel-ish drizzle. There is a tray of free samples – cranberry bliss bar, which I haven’t had yet this year.

I got my breakfast wrap, and was offered a second sample. I was going to decline, but the customers all have, and this is my favorite treat, so why not.

I settle in, and decide to share with you the wonder of the holidays at Starbucks, especially this one that is my local, well-run, friendly, and makes me remember what joy in the everyday is.

Yes, it’s children laughing and choirs singing. It’s songbirds and sunrises, it’s well-worn jeans and waking up before the alarm, but it’s also the simplicity of the coffee shop where they learn your name, and make your morning that much lighter and brighter, and add just a little bit of joy to the regular.

Red Cup and Hot Drink on a Cold Day. (c)2023
Cranberry Bliss Bar – Free Samples. (c)2023
Settling in for an hour’s work. (c)2023