Holiday values...free writing

Really? It's been about 6 months since I last wrote? It was a long, hot summer.

I am taking a class at http://www.jessicasprague.com/ called "Holidays in Hand" that I hope will help kick-start my holiday scrapbook idea. The class is only a week long, but entails a personal commitment to write at least 20 minutes a day. I would like to say I will commit to doing that, but let's face it...we all know I'd be lying. I will commit to writing for 20 minutes TODAY and then go from there *wink* How's that?

Today's assignment for the class is to focus on my holiday values. Specifically: "what are your holiday values? Those things we treasure most, and the hopes we have for ourselves and our families during the holiday season?" For me the holiday season includes Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve, and myriad family and friendly gatherings that go with those holidays. Since Mapi is in school this year I expect there will be some sort of school-related function to participate in as well.

I don't really know how to go about this exercise. I mean, I get it, but um...well, I'm just going to slap some stuff down on "paper" and let the chips fall where they may. Overthinking posts will be (has been) the death of my blog.

Halloween (what the heck, I'll include it here): I don't really like Halloween. It could disappear from the calendar forever and I would probably not notice. or notice and rejoice. We celebrate it by letting the kids dress in costume and walking around the block trick-or-treating at the few neighborhood houses that leave on their lights for kids. I don't decorate my house (well, there's that plastic jack o lantern we sometimes put out front when the kids remember) and I really prefer the kids' costumes that come from our at-home stash (though I am not opposed to buying dress-up garb that will be used year-round). The adults go with the kids to trick or treat. The kids get to pick out a few pieces of candy to eat the following week, then the rest of the loot is set out at night for the Candy Witch to take (she leaves a goody for the kids in return - this past year it was matching pajamas).

October is when I will put pumpkins on the mantel and start dreaming of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving for me is all about getting together with loved ones and sharing a meal. It does not have to be super-traditional, but I admit we do each of us in the family have our favorite dishes. Which get made. Then we end up with loads of leftovers because we all wanted our "special" holiday food :) Manuel loves mom's apple pie. Marlist wants pumpkin pie. personally, I prefer a not too sweet cherry pie. Mom makes the pies. I want her to teach the grandkids how to make them so that tradition carries on more generations. I selfishly do not want to learn how to make them, as I am convinced that will spoil the deliciousness of them if they are *that* accessible to me. usually at the table are: Mom and Dad, Manuel, I, our two girls, my brother, his wife and their three kids, and Uncle Time. We also feel blessed if a friend or relative or two join in the fun or drop by after dinner for desserts and conversation.

Thanksgiving Day we spend cleaning house, getting showered and dressed and lounging around while cooking. Usually we eat a late breakfast to tide us over until the big meal. Lunch recently has been served around 2 or so, and that is our big meal. Turkey is the main meat, and there is salad, rice (this year i may try to slip in some quinoa), beans (black or red), a winter squash dish mom makes, green beans, cranberry sauce I make, Manuel's Ecuadorian meat stuffing (if he makes it), bread and corn. Dessert is up to mom and SIL. I just want pie. Everyone wants leftovers.

The meal ends in time for us to clean up while the kids play. If time and weather permit we may stroll around the block with the little ones. Towards evening we like to look through the Black Friday ads in the newspaper and strategize for the holiday season purchases to come. No one in the family seems to go over the top with purchases for gifts, but the sales are also a time when electronics and new dishes/kitchen stuff and jewelry seem to find their way into the house. Since our weather doesn't really get cold until late November/December, I like to pick up items for my winter wardrobe for the season at the sales. Sooo much nicer on the pocketbook than doing it at another time.

The day after Thanksgiving mom and I usually go early (before 6 a.m.) to shop, returning home before lunchtime. It is a nice time for us two to visit and one of the only times during the year i get to really go shopping for more than a couple of hours without the kids in tow. It is fun for me (I steer clear of crazies and large crowds this morning - it just isn't worth it to me).

Thanksgiving weekend we decorate the house for the Christmas season. I honestly wish I could leave up Christmas decorations longer (say, put up the tree in mid-November), but it just about ruins Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday!) for me if I'm spending it looking at a Christmas tree in my own house. Like I am admitting I have no patience (hmmmm...another story altogether lol).

December we anticipate the following: office party for Manuel, some kind of event for the kids in our local parenting group, a cookie swap with friends, a day of shopping sans kids (everything else is done online), two extended family Christmases (that's two for my side of the family - unless we are travelling abroad to Manuel's family we do not plan to see them for the holidays), our little family Christmas (this year that will be Christmas Eve), and then a dinner/gift exchange with my family, my parents, my brother and his family.

Gift giving: I am still working on finding a place of peace with this one. We do white elephant exchanges for the extended family Christmases amongst the adults, and the kids do an ornament exchange. It is still, for me, too much consumerism added to the holiday. I love gift exchanges but prefer to set a $10 limit (not $25+) on gifts, or say they MUST be regifts, bought used or handmade. Within my family, we usually make a present (photo related) for my parents, and a small ($10 per couple) limit exchange for my brother and SIL, with small gifts for the kids. Eventually I would like the cousins to be responsible for making for finding affordable gifts for each other.

We leave our tree up until after New Year's Day. I don't have a set date for taking it all down, but generally feel like crawling under a rock if it hasn't been done by the end of January :) We don't put out a lot of Christmas decorations right now - just a dressed tree (kids help with the ornaments), a dressed mantel (my grandmother's Peruvian nativity set plus greenery), a nativity set for the kids, and a few decorations in the dining room. I usually change out a few pictures on the wall to include some holiday prints.

New Year's Eve has no real set routine, except it is the only holiday Manuel and I have spent together each year since we've met. We usually stay home or do an early, kid-friendly NYE celebration at a friend's house, but this year I may be up for going to Sea World to watch fireworks. Assuming my "there are too many people here!" vibe doesn't keep me from it. We have some traditions associated with the New Year that we adhere to - usually staying up to ring in the new year, 12 grapes at midnight, and recognizing a theme or goals for the upcoming year. Being a good Southern girl, I always eat my black eyed peas for good luck on Jan. 1. If we are celebrating in Ecuador with Manuel's family we celebrate more traditions.

And that's it! For what we typically do during the holidays. I know the assignment was to think about my values and then write goals for the season, and I know I didn't actually *do* that lol, but I did write. And will eventually be brave enough to share that other stuff here one day.