However, my plans have been thwarted, and so I find comfort in relaxation, reflection, and warm fuzzy socks. :-)
I will sing at our church's 10:00 Christmas Eve service tomorrow. I look forward to this every year, as it really puts the whole season in perspective for me. I cannot go a year without attending a Christmas Eve service SOMEWHERE, even if we slip into Ben's Catholic church in his hometown for midnight mass, only for me to look for some sort of map in the pew to navigate what EXACTLY is going on and why EXACTLY we have to stand up and sit down so much...is it to get an early start on working off all of those sugar cookies and candy canes? My Baptist/Methodist brain is still working on that...
Anyway, to honor this festive Christmas season, I have decided to list my favorite traditions of Christmas. I hope this time of year finds you and your family full of love and happiness, and hope for the New Year to come. May God wrap his arms around all of us, reminding us of the TRUE meaning of Christmas....the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Here goes...
1. PEANUT BUTTER BALLS. My mom has made these for FOREVER, and they are my (and my brother's!) favorite treat. I even remember the yellowish tupperware bowl she used to keep them in, with waxed paper in between all of the layers to keep them from smooshing together. Delightful.
2. A STORY A DAY 'TIL CHRISTMAS. There used to be (and still may be) this company called Current from which my mom would order wrapping paper and other goodies. For a few years when we were young, they sold books called A STORY A DAY 'TIL CHRISTMAS. There were stories for each night of December, ending with the Christmas story on Christmas Eve. I will never forget curling up on the couch in our pj's as mom would read us our nightly story, while creating wild and colorful illustrations in our minds. It was magical, and I hope to start this tradition someday when we have little ones.
3. CHRISTMAS EVE AT WINNWOOD. At the church where I grew up, we always looked forward to Christmas Eve services. They were not particularly elaborate, but we reveled in them nevertheless. At the end of the service, some older gentlemen would stand by the door and hand out rock candy in brown paper bags to each of the kids. I'll be honest with you - I hated that candy. I usually threw it away. But it was still fun knowing that we were going to get those little bags anyway. After the service, we would go home and ususally have a few visitors - grandparents, friends, or aunts and uncles. We would eat snacks and visit, and if we were REALLY lucky, open ONE present before bed. It was a simple tradition, but I will always remember that night as one of the most special of the year.
4. CHRISTMAS OUTINGS. A few weeks before Christmas, my family would either go to Crown Center or Independence Center to look around and shop. (At Crown Center we mostly LOOKED, at Independence Center, we mostly SHOPPED.) It's funny now that we used to make such a big deal about going to Independence Center, seeing as I live so close to it now, but we didn't growing up, so it was a special treat. What I loved most about this, though, was getting decently dressed up and riding in the car together. My dad doesn't wear cologne often, but I love when he does, and it always reminds me of going out at Christmas. That smell is one of my favorites ever.
5. THE SKATE BOX. When my Aunt Nancy was little, she got a pair of ice skates. Almost every year since, my grandparents have re-used the box to give Christmas gifts to others in my family. It has become a sacred tradition that one special person is going to get the skate box each year, but no one knows who (unless there's a newcomer to the family that year, and then they usually get it. This year it will probably be my niece Jane, as she was born in July.) The elation comes not from what is in the box, but that you get the box at all. You can usually count on a clever poem written by my Grandpa to the lucky recipient, which always gets read aloud. On the inside of the box, you'll find the list of every person to ever receive it. That's always a huge topic of conversation also. Anyway, this is probably the most special tradition of my whole family, and is guaranteed to be the highlight of the celebration.
I'm sure there are many more I can think of, but traditions aren't special unless there are only a few. So I hope you enjoyed my list - writing this really made me realize how much I'm looking forward to the next few days, now that I've had the chance to slow down and think about it.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
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