Today’s prompt comes from smplefy.
Traditions: What are your Christmas Traditions?
If you’d asked me this question a decade ago, I could have easily answered what the Christmas traditions were. Because the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas had tended to be difficult in my family, on Christmas Day, the Sner and I made a habit of hitting a casino buffet (lots of times it was the Peppermill because it was next the movie theater. Or it used to be. Y’all from Reno remember that?) and then heading into a movie. We’d wake up at normal hours, open up some pressies, and then head out.
When it wasn’t just us any more, those traditions evolved a bit. Mornings spent in different places, different houses, different people. But we usually managed to get together at some point for dinner and a movie. When there were no longer different places to go, things changed yet again. There were a couple of Christmases spent in Colorado. One or two spent in Missouri. No dinners, no movies, but instead moving to the rhythms of other people’s traditions, which is is perfectly fine. No complaints from me.
In 2004, I moved to Mississippi and in 2005, I got adopted by a lovely family, which means I started spending Christmases at Gumbo Acres. Christmas traditions at Gumbo Acres involve Bloody Marys and Mark Allen’s boiled shrimp, which are, I find, traditions that I find I have adapted to quite well.
For the last three or four years, on Christmas Eve, there has been a Dirty Santa party at Gumbo Acres that involves all the friends, after they’ve spent time with their families. A fun gift exchange, some drinks, some food, a bonfire. With so many of us married this year, establishing our own families and traditions, and with Matt and I having moved to the Coast, thus losing a bit of that connection, I don’t know if we’ll be doing all that business this year. I’d like to, but I don’t if it fits in anyone’s schedule this year.
Regardless, I believe that I’ll be making egg nog. Perhaps not the mass quantity that I’ve made in years previous, but my husband loves my egg nog, so on Christmas Eve, I’ll make it for him. Because we’re married now, I’ll be including Matt on my personal tradition of new Christmas pajamas. This evening I picked up my PJ pants while I was shopping. It was surprisingly difficult to find a pair that fit the bill. For some reason, in South Mississippi, where on Christmas Eve, the projected low will be 55, it’s difficult to find anything but fleece Pajamas. What? Really? I wanted just the plain cotton PJs because fleece or flannel is going to be too hot. Perhaps that’s what every other person in the stores have realized and that’s why there is only flannel or fleece left. But I got a cute pair of Christmas PJ pants. Now I just need to find a shirt to go with them, and i’m good. I need to find Matt PJs too. I’d planned to make PJs for everyone this year, but apparently that idea popped into my head back when I was smoking crack or something because I have no idea when there would have been time to have done that. Perhaps I’ll plan that for next year. If I start in January, I should be able to have them done by Christmas, eh?
Matt and I will need to be establishing traditions of our own – the things that are important to us. Putting up the Christmas tree and the lights got messed up this year because of my work and our being sick. That will need to change next year. My Christmas cards are still waiting to go out, and I’ll get them finished tomorrow. But I want to do pictures for the card, which we just couldn’t pull together this year. Somewhere in the holiday time, I want to make sure that I’ve got time for my girlfriends. And baking. Lots and lots of baking.
Next year I have to plan better.
My sweet husband playing Santa for my work’s Breakfast with Santa event
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