Christmas Treat Traditions: Day Seven

I am taking a trip back through time to remember Christmases past by highlighting the various holiday goodies my family has enjoyed over the years.

Christmas Day, 1994 or 1995. Dad wearing the nightshirt my mother-in-law had bought me. On his 6’4” frame it looked like a regular shirt.

Until Dad died in 2018, the girls and I spent the night at Mom & Dad’s house every Christmas Eve. Up to that point, I think there were only two Christmas Eves we didn’t stay, and that was back when I was married. It was a wonderful tradition that the three of us looked forward to every year. My parents especially loved being able to see my daughters’ faces light up when they saw that Santa had visited.

Christmas Treat Traditions: Day Six

I am taking a trip back through time to remember Christmases past by highlighting the various holiday goodies my family has enjoyed over the years.

When I was little, Santa always left a clementine in the toe of my Christmas stocking, along with some peanuts. I think I gave the clementine to my mother, and the peanuts just got in the way when I would thrust my fat little paw in to grab a piece of chocolate. Despite my lack of exuberance for these…treats…, I never wondered why The Big Guy would do something so dreadful; I simply accepted this little quirk of his and went back to playing with my new toys. Strangely enough, however, Santa no longer deposits clementines and peanuts in our stockings.

Christmas Treat Traditions: Day Five

I am taking a trip back through time to remember Christmases past by highlighting the various holiday goodies my family has enjoyed over the years.

Dad & I preparing for the season by making Christmas paper chains.

As children, my brother and I always got excited when it was time to put up the Christmas tree and decorate for the holidays. It meant that it was time for that special holiday feeling and also that Santa would soon come. Mom & Dad always played Christmas albums on the record player, one of which was Johnny Mathis, and to this day, his voice reminds me of Christmas.

This is the album we listened to for years. It’s still at my parents’ house, and when Dad bought my mother a record player in 2018, we listened to it again on Dad’s final Christmas.

Christmas Treat Traditions: Day Four

I am taking a trip back through time to remember Christmases past by highlighting the various holiday goodies my family has enjoyed over the years.

I have always loved Christmas Eve more so than Christmas Day. Everyone is extra jolly in anticipation of the Big Day. And the Big Day? It is fun precisely until all the presents have been unwrapped. Then it’s a bit of a letdown. That’s my experience anyway. Perhaps that is because we never spent Christmas Day with extended family; it was just the four of us, and we stayed home. However, Christmas Eve was a different story.

Christmas Treat Traditions: Day Three

I am taking a trip back through time to remember Christmases past by highlighting the various holiday goodies my family has enjoyed over the years.

For me, the Nineties were a whirlwind of transition. I graduated high school in 1991, and three months later, I gave birth to my oldest daughter. Then in October, I got a job at McDonald’s, where I ended up working for nearly ten years. Ten years…

My life was changing, and so was music. In 1991, we were all introduced to Seattle Grunge.

Christmas Treat Traditions: Day Two

I am taking a trip back through time to remember Christmases past by highlighting the various holiday goodies my family has enjoyed over the years.

Back in the Eighties, when I was in elementary school, my mother always made no bake cookies for my school bake sales; they sold for 25 cents a piece and were always the first thing to sell out. Good job, Mom! But, really, who doesn’t love a no bake? I’m sure people like this exist but not in my family. We all loved no bakes. And while Mom would make them occasionally throughout the year, they were an absolute staple during the holidays.

Christmas Treat Traditions: Day One

I am taking a trip back through time to remember Christmases past by highlighting the various holiday goodies my family has enjoyed over the years.

A lot of my holiday memories revolve around food, especially sweets. I think that can probably be said by many of us. Christmastime, in general, is a time of excess & over indulgence, as well as a time for giving. When you combine all of that, you get millions of people making & sharing food as an act of love. And I think most of us on the receiving end are happy to oblige.

Facing the music in January.

My Childhood Toys

Since Christmas is coming soon, I figured it’s a good time to look back and remember some of my childhood toys. I spent the early morning hours combing through old Christmas catalogs to see what I could find. My heart swelled with nostalgia as I virtually flipped through the pages, and a rush of childhood memories came flooding back. I even rediscovered a few toys I had forgotten about. Others seemed familiar, but I didn’t have any specific memories of them, so I can’t say for sure that I even had them.

’Tis the Season!

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, the Christmas season is officially here. If you are a Christmas-lover like me then you’re probably ecstatic. Or, if you are like scores of other people, you have already had your fill of Christmas-themed commercials and holiday music. Regardless of where you fall, I wish you a happy, healthy holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For most of us Americans, Thanksgiving is synonymous with family & food. For better or worse, it’s a time to gather together and eat ourselves into a stupor. Year after year, on the fourth Thursday of November, millions of Americans travel to be with loved ones on the day we have a standing invitation with food. It can also be a day fraught with various difficulties because family—and food—can be downright complicated.