Merry Christmas

The Story of Our Family

Yesterday I mentioned that each and every ornament on our Christmas tree has great sentimental value. And it's true. The year I got married was the first year that I had a Christmas tree of my own. And that year Geoff and I received two Christmas ornaments commemorating our wedding. And every year after that I made a special effort to buy an ornament that signified a special event that had happened in our lives that year. I call these our "Special Event" ornaments and they are all lovingly dated, labeled and packed up each year. And every year when I unwrap them I relive the special moments in our family's life - big moments (the births of our girls) and smaller moments (the year the girls and I attempted to learn how to golf).

I also collect ornaments when we travel. It is always such a joy to unwrap those ornaments and reminisce about those family vacations. There are other ornaments on our tree as well. There's the ornament I made in catechism in 2nd grade out of beads and glitter that were put into a muffin tin and melted. I love that ornament!




And the Christmas ball given to me by my mom that has a Christmas scene on it and says "To a Special Daughter, 1980". There are ornaments from dear friends that I left behind in AZ when I moved and handmade pasta angels that were given to me by my dear friend Margaret.


And then there are ornaments that speak to my soul.


Every year when I see those ornaments again I am reminded of our family's history. Where we've been, what we mean to each other, the milestones in each of our lives and how we've built this family together. It may seem silly, but I believe that our ornaments tell our story in a very tangible way. They are among my most valued possessions. Silly or not, they mean the world to me.

Sentimental Sunday

It's been a while since I've posted a Sentimental Sunday picture. Since this is the last Sunday before Christmas, I thought I'd post a photo of our current Christmas tree. Our Christmas tree is truly very sentimental because each and every ornament on it tells a story. But you'll have to wait to hear more about that. I will be writing a post about it next week.... Sorry to keep you on the edge of your seats. LOL!

Oh and just for fun, here's a few pictures of what I woke up to this morning. These were take from the garage, there was no way I could even contemplate wading through all that snow to get a picture of my house from the street. Maybe after the snow plow comes. There isn't much I like better than a snowed in Sunday! I've been looking forward to today since they began predicting the "big snow" on Friday!

This is a picture of our side door from the garage. As you can see, we can not even open the door! YAY!

Here's Katie's car. Look how high the snow is on the tires.

What a guy!




The pine trees on the side of my house. Don't they look glorious! I love winter!

The Best Part of Christmas

For the last 8 years I've been involved in wonderful local Christmas charity, Woonsocket Adopt-a-Family (AAF). AAF's mission is to provide a full Christmas for needy children in Woonsocket, RI. My step mom Sandy from It's a Jungle Out There has been involved for 25 years and is currently the Program Coordinator for AAF. (And from what I heard while volunteering this year, she's really the heart of the program. But, I already knew that!)


My involvement began in 2001, when we moved back to RI. I started out as a volunteer during Distribution Week - the whirlwind week when all the donors deliver the gifts they've so generously bought and also when the recipients come to pick up their gifts. Like all first time volunteers, I was awed by the sheer number of bags of gifts that are donated.

Not to mention all the bikes!

Oh, I can't forget Santa's Workshop. The AAF board members also shop the after Christmas sales and stock up on toys and clothes just in case they don't have enough donors and need to complete what they refer to as "in house adoptions". This year, not surprisingly, there were fewer donors and more recipients. So, the AAF elves were hard at work putting together donations for over 300 children (Sandy, please correct me if I've got the numbers wrong). It's a wonder to behold.

This year gifts were donated for 2,310 children in 1,118 families!!! That's about 100 classrooms full of children! But beyond that, the Type A part of my personality was impressed with the simple, yet effective procedure that makes the whole process run smoothly. AAF is a well oiled machine!

I still volunteer every year during Distribution Week, but since 2002 I've also "adopted" a child. And you know what? Shopping for that child is a complete joy. AAF provides donors with a wish list complete with the child's clothing sizes and needs and a few toys they would like to have. I love to imagine the face of "my child" on Christmas morning. I wish I could be a fly on the wall.

But beyond the joy of giving, I love working with the AAF board members during Distribution Week every year. And every year, I get tears in my eyes when I see that room fill up with bags and bags of gifts. And it doesn't stop for an entire week. As soon as some gifts are picked up by the recipients, more are dropped off. The generosity of the donors is astounding. It renews my belief in the goodness of people. For me, it's the Best Part of Christmas and one small way that I honor the 11th Commandment - Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By.

And a Merry, Happy Holiday Season to All!

Sometimes I think people have completely lost their common sense. Take the whole Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays conundrum. A few years ago it became more acceptable to say Happy Holidays as opposed to Merry Christmas in order to avoid offending people who don't celebrate Christmas. OK. I suppose there's no harm in that. But now apparently, some people are upset about this change. Really? Why does anyone even care about this? I suppose that's easy for me to say, being that I do celebrate Christmas and since I'm not particularly religious, I don't mind being wished Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.

But, how would I feel if someone greeted me with Happy Hanukkah? Would I be offended? No, I don't think I would be. I think I would pause for a moment and wish them a Happy Hanukkah as well. Why not? I certainly do wish people of all faiths a happy holiday - whatever it might be. And if someone chooses to bestow upon me a cheerful greeting, I accept it with the goodwill with which it was given. Kindness deserves kindness. Look at it this way. If someone wished me a Happy St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day or Flag Day - would I get upset if I'm not Irish, their sweetheart or particularly patriotic? No, of course not. So why should anyone care if they are wished a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Ramadan or Season's Greetings. It makes no sense to me. My philosophy is to be grateful for the good wishes and cheer and move on.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. However, if you have a strong opinion either way, please present your point of view with grace and kindness. Thank you.

A Christmas Meme

I found this cute Christmas meme at A Peek at Karen's World and just couldn't resist. Feel free to play along if the spirit moves you. Come on! You know you want to.

1. Have you started your Christmas shopping?

Yes. I've got the lion's share done. I just have a couple of gift cards to get and I still need to come up with something else for my husband. Any ideas?

2. Tell me about one of your special traditions.

In 1978, when I was 14 years old, my paternal grandmother hosted a Christmas Eve get together for her 4 sons and their families. It was such a success that she did it every year until I was about 22. I always looked forward to spending Christmas Eve with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Most of whom I didn't see very often throughout the year. When my grandmother was too old to host, my Dad and Step mom took over the duties and we continued getting together with my extended family until 1995, the year my Grandmother died. Now each of her sons hosts his own children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, as my generation grew up and got married it just got to complicated for everyone to get together. Suddenly, there were too many other families to consider. But, Christmas Eve at Dad and Sandy's is still my favorite Christmas tradition. And now it's my children and my brother's children who get to spend the evening with their grandparents, cousins and aunt and uncle. We've come full circle.

3. When do you put up your Tree?

I don't have a set date, but usually I do it 2 weeks before Christmas. This year we will put it up this upcoming weekend.

4. Are you a Black Friday shopper?

Absolutely not! And I have no intention of ever becoming one.

5. Do you Travel at Christmas or Stay home?

On Christmas morning we go to my brother and sister-in-law's house for brunch. It's only 1/2 mile away. Not really "traveling", but we do leave home for a few hours.

6. What is your funniest Christmas memory?

My funniest memory is the year my mother attached wind chimes to the outside of our Christmas stockings so that she would hear us when we snuck out of bed and tried to get into the presents in the middle of the night. I still vividly remember the wind chime that was attached to my stocking.

7. What is your favorite Christmas Movie of all time?

A Christmas Story, hands down. We make a concerted effort to watch that movie as a family every year at Christmas time. I also love The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (the original cartoon version). I'm the only one who really likes that one and I watch it every year, even if I do it all by myself.

8. Do you do your own Christmas baking? What’s your favorite treat?

I do NOT do any Christmas baking. For a few years when my kids were very small, a friend and I would get together and bake cookies during one marathon session at one of our houses. It seems so silly now to think I did that with four toddlers running around. Why the heck did I think that was a good idea? I don't really have a favorite Christmas treat. Maybe I need to get one.

9. Fake or Real Tree?

Without a doubt, REAL! Though sometimes I understand the wisdom behind the convenience of an artificial tree. I'm just not ready to "go there" yet.

10. What day does the actual panic set in to get it all done?

No particular day. And I usually don't panic, but being that I'm a Type A+ personality, once I start shopping I feel compelled to finish RIGHT NOW! Even if I start in October. It's completely ridiculous. If I haven't started, I'm completely fine, but once I get going I just want it done... NOW! Can you say anal?

11. Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?

Absolutely not. See anal, above.

12. What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas?

Watching A Christmas Story, Christmas Eve with my entire family at my Dad's and playing games on Christmas Day.

13. What Christmas craft do you like the best?

I don't do "craft".

14. Christmas music? Yes or No, and if yes What is your favorite song?

I enjoy listening to Christmas music in the two or three weeks leading up to Christmas. Any sooner and I get very cranky. My favorite Christmas song is Oh, Holy Night. I get goosebumps every time I hear the lyric "Fall on your knees". Not sure why.

15. When do you plan to finish all your shopping?

Sometime between now and next week. I usually finish the week before Christmas.

Do you want to play along?Just simply copy and paste the questions into your blog, and then answer them.

Here are the official rules, though I am choosing not to tag anyone. Feel free to do so, or not.

•Then tag 5 or more of your favorite blogs, and leave them a comment telling them they’ve been tagged.

•When you post on your blog, please spread some Christmas Cheer, and leave a link back to the blogger who started the meme: Heather @ (Top 10 Christmas) Heather would like any blogger to participate in this meme, so let her know if you do it.

Holiday Attitude Adjustment

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the holidays. Specifically I've been thinking about my bad attitude toward them. I've stated somewhere on my blog that I'm a bit of a Bah Humbug when it comes to the holidays. That I dislike all the stress, the hustle bustle and the sense of obligation that comes along with this time of year. I found myself grumbling about this a lot in recent weeks and I was actually dreading the holidays. How sad is that?

But then Thanksgiving came and you know what... It was AWESOME! Amazing even. The day went very smoothly. And I didn't feel harried, rushed or stressed at all. I felt happy. And peaceful. And full of joy. And then I remembered that I felt this way last year, too. How come I forgot about that? How come I only remember all the years when I did feel overwhelmed and stressed out? Because really, if I think about it, I seem to remember that the last few Thanksgivings have been really nice. Aha!

So, I spent yesterday thinking about why this is. And I think I figured it out. Sure I've eliminated some of the "extras" and tweaked some of the essentials to make things a bit less stressful. And I think that did help some. But, I've done that in previous years as well. What I think has made all the difference is that this year I have not gotten caught up in what I call The Christmas Crazies. I haven't done any significant Christmas shopping yet. And I'm not getting all stressed when people ask me if I've FINISHED my shopping. In the past I would get caught up in that frenzied state of mind. In a post I wrote last week about being annoyed with nonstop Christmas music before Thanksgiving, I joked about getting through savoring my holidays one at a time. Well, you know what? I think I was on to something. Taking the holidays one at a time and just being present for each one makes me happier. There, I said it. I'm happy. And it's almost Christmas. I don't feel stressed, overwhelmed or resentful at all. This just might be a Christmas miracle.

Fa la la la la la la la la!

Is it just me or is anyone else annoyed by the fact that some radio stations are already playing Christmas music? Now don't get me wrong. I love Christmas music as much as the next person. As a matter of fact, I still remember the day many years ago when I found a radio station in Phoenix (where I was living at the time), that played Christmas music every day. I loved that! But it didn't start BEFORE Thanksgiving. It started the day after Thanksgiving, which is also a bit much, but I can handle that. Personally, I don't mind an occasional Christmas song starting right after Thanksgiving. But, I don't like to listen to it continuously until the week of Christmas. But that's just me. I don't like to rush my holidays. Life is rushed enough. I want to get through savor each holiday one at a time. It's bad enough that the Christmas decorations are in the stores before Halloween and that they have been piping in holiday muzak for weeks, but continuous Christmas music in early/mid November!? THAT is just too much! Tell me...am I alone in this?