My Seasonal Seven

Stephanie at Metropolitan Mama recently tagged me for a meme.  A holiday meme at that.  Here’s the scoop: I get to tell you seven things about me (as related to the holidays) and then you can play along if you like.  A perfect meme for the beginning of November don’t you think?  So let’s get started.

1.  Ever since we moved into this house I’ve wanted to host a HUGE Thanksgiving.  In a perfect world both my family and Jeff’s would come together and have a beautiful meal followed by a leisurely walk through the neighborhood and an evening of Black Friday strategizing.  Then we’d all settle in for a few rounds of Taboo or Cranium and lick the last bit of pumpkin pie from our plates.  Bailey’s Irish Cream and hot toddies would flow freely as would the laughter and tidings of good joy.  Idyllic isn’t it?  Unfortunately there are a number of reasons why my little fantasy will likely never work out.  Probably for the best though really.  Want to know why?  Read on.

2.  I have a terrible aversion to raw meat.  Especially raw meat that is still attached to the carcass of an animal.  Namely turkey.  I love cooking.  I do.  But there are few things I hate more than preparing a bird.  You know that little bag inside the cavity of the turkey that contains the neck and gizzards and other parts that should have long since been thrown away?  Yeah, that repulses me.  And reaching my hand inside the cavity to retrieve that bag ‘o goodies?  I vomit in my mouth every time.  And by every time I mean both times that I’ve done it.  When I lived closer to home my mom or grandma would do it for me.  When Jeff was away in Iraq and his family came to spend Thanksgiving with the girls and I, my mother-in-law had the honors.  I think Jeff did it last year.  Really, any other capable body in close proximity is better for the job than I.  See.  Now you understand why God didn’t mean for me to host a huge meal which would likely require the roasting of not one, but two turkeys.  My stomach is turning just typing that.

3.  We have an elf.  Our own personal elf.  His name is Doogan and he comes to visit us each and every year.  The exact date of his visit is never known ahead of time but it has always happened after Thanksgiving sometime.  He sneaks into the house while we’re away (elves are well-versed in sneaking don’t ya know) and leaves behind ornaments for the kids along with notes telling them how they’re coming with regard to the naughty/nice list.  He’s a silly elf.  After all these years he still can’t spell the kids’ names right.  They do get a kick out of that though.

4.  One tradition we haven’t been very traditional with is the singing of happy birthday over a candlelit birthday cake on Christmas Eve, before or after church.  It’s something we started doing years ago when the kids were itty bitty so as to instill in them the awareness that the holiday is, and should always be, about Jesus, not so much about Santa and Rudolph and Doogan.  I wish I could say we’ve done it every year.  It’s something I really was fond of though and I’d like to be better at keeping the tradition as Jayce grows up.

5.  I’ve never had a white Christmas.  Not a single time.  I’d like to remedy that though.

6.  There are certain foods that make the Christmas season complete.  I can’t imagine a Christmas morning without homemade cinnamon rolls, egg casserole, and hot cocoa.  Oh, and of course “the smell of Christmas” as Torri calls it, brewing on the stovetop.  It’s just orange juice, cloves, cinnamon sticks and orange slices brought to a boil and then reduced to a simmer.  But without it, Christmas doesn’t smell nearly as sweet.

7.  I love the holidays.  I really do.  I love the cheery holiday tunes and I insist on playing them.  Even though Jeff could totally do without Christmas music because he is of the mindset that if Christmas music was really good they’d play it all year long.  I also love the sweet smells of holiday baking and the flicker of the lights on the tree.  I love the gold and the silver, the red and the green.  I love the holly-rimmed dishes you only pull out once a year.  I love the jingle of the bells and the chill in the air.  I love the childlike way I feel on Christmas morning.  I really do love all of it.  In spite of the love though, I can’t stand lingering Christmas decor.  Those same bells that invoke a sense of joy on Christmas Eve make my skin itch with anxiety the very morning after Christmas.  You know those people who leave their trees up well past New Years?  I’m not one of them.  I’m a do-er.  And seeing all those decorations that need to be dusted off and put away until next year gets me in a get ‘em up and out mode. 

Bah humbug yourself.

Okay, so there’s my list.  Where’s yours?