I know, I know, Christmas Eve isn't until tomorrow, but I'm not sure I'll have a chance to post again until after Christmas, so I'm wishing a Merry Christmas now to everyone who celebrates it. I find it kind of funny that I consider myself mainly Jewish but I didn't really do a Hanukkah post this year. I didn't do one last year either, but in my defense I started the blog only in December 2012 so.... I hadn't really gotten the hang of it yet. ;)
This post is going to be a bunch of Christmas related memories. Just random rambling, probably! I'll do it in red and green to be festive. They won't be in any order, but I'll put the year (or the approximate year) at the beginning of each memory. To anyone who actually reads this, enjoy! Lol.
Year: 1995
My family has always celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, but we didn't ever have a Christmas tree until this year. I was at my friend Amanda's house about two weeks before Christmas and she had gotten this new, gorgeous nightgown and little silky housecoat combo. She said to me, "think how pretty I'll come down and sit by the Christmas tree." Oh how badly I wanted that nightgown and a tree to sit beside!!! I knew I'd never get a nightgown like that (only Amanda could get such pretty things) but, I thought to myself, I could at least wear my best pajamas and sit by a tree! Except... I didn't have a tree. I asked my parents that night for a Christmas tree, and the next night, and the night after that. They said no. But they finally gave in when the found me putting construction-paper Christmas lights and ornaments on a lamp in the living room. I even taped a star to the top! We got our first tree that following weekend.
Year: 2001
My mom's mom (Grandma Moller) used to come visit us at Christmas. I remember the Christmas of my 8th grade year, coming down into the kitchen with my best friend at the time, April, and seeing my mom and my Grandma making lefse (pronounced LEFF-seh), a norwegian pancake-type thing. They were making it to take to the giant family Christmas party that my mom's cousins put on every year here in Portland. You can put lots of different things on lefse, or just eat it plain. It's made out of potatoes, and it kind of looks like a tortilla but it's much sweeter. My mom and Grandma put either butter and sugar or butter and cinnamon sugar. It was so good.
Year: 1999
I don't remember many presents I got as a kid, but I do remember getting a few interesting gifts my 6th grade year. I was pretty tomboyish as a kid, and didn't want "girly" toys, but I wasn't quite ready to be happy about receiving clothes for Christmas! So I told my parents I wanted "boy toys that girls could like too." Yikes!!! My poor parents! But they did a really good job. They got me a bunch of Legos and two Transformers action figures. I remember building castles and forts for my action figures out of the Legos. I loved it! My sister, who was 2 years old then, got several new books on potty training, which I thought was hilarious.
Year: 1991
Every year, my mom's friend Bonnie has this Christmas party at her house. My mom and Bonnie played (and still play, actually) soccer together, so a bunch of their teammates and their families, as well as some neighbors, would come to Bonnie's house to celebrate the holiday. It still happens, actually, I was just there on Saturday night. It's a potluck style thing, and Bonnie always has stuff for the kids to make gingerbread houses. I remember being 4 years old and eating ice cream with my dad. It was late for me, probably about 8:30pm. I had told my parents I wanted to stay for the dessert part, but they said no because I had to go to bed. So I told them to bring my pajamas and I'd change at Bonnie's, eat dessert and then go home. We have a picture of my dad and me eating ice cream that night, me in my pink pajamas. :)
Year: 2012
Last Christmas, my mom and I went to visit my Grandma. There's actually a post or two about that trip on this blog (Archives: Dec 2012. South Dakota.) It was the first time I ever went to church on Christmas Eve (that I can remember) and really heard the whole story of Christmas. I was surprised at how little sense the whole story made to me! But I still like Christmas and the traditions that come with it. I like how it feels. I love giving to others and how that makes me feel. I loved watching my Grandma open presents. She's adorable!!!
Grandma loves her presents!
Year: 2013
So I know Christmas hasn't happened this year, but I wanted to share one of my favorite memories from the holiday season so far. My Zumba friend, S, really wanted to get home to see her family for Christmas. But they live in New Jersey and it was going to be pretty expensive for her to get there, not to mention she'd need to find people to cover her classes for her, people to take care of her pets... etc. Well, one of her friends/zumba students had a conversation with S about this and realized how much she wanted to go home for the holiday. So the friend, (Y), set up a GoFundMe page to get S home for Christmas. The goal was $1500. The site was passed around privately through facebook and email. The goal was met. Actually, it was exceeded. And today, Dec 23, 2013, S and her boyfriend T boarded an eastbound jet and she will spend Christmas with her family for the first time in years. S is one of the nicest people I've ever met! I can't think of anyone more deserving of this gift than her.
Have I mentioned that she's supercool???
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