Holidays
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Holidays at our House
It’s the 6th night of Hanukkah, and we’ve lit the menorah, and the candles are burning low…the Christmas tree is lit, and there are depressing Aimee Mann Christmas songs playing. Just another holiday at our house. A few years ago, we decided, for fun, to start celebrating Hanukkah. Neither Ted nor I know of any Jewish folks on either side of our families, so this is a pretty secular celebration of a religious holiday, but we kind of felt like since we’re not Christian, and we celebrate Christmas, it would be nice to expose Maya to some of the other traditions of the season, and heck, what’s not to like…
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Almost Ready….
Christmas Cards sent….check Christmas Gifts purchased…check Christmas Gifts wrapped….check Christmas Gifts mailed…check Hanukkah celebration attended…check Latkes and jelly donuts eaten…check Menorah candles lit…in progress Scrooged watched….check Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer watched…check Tree decorated…check The Year Without a Santa Claus watched….check (love those Miser brothers…they’re too much!) Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town watched…check A Charlie Brown Christmas watched…check How The Grinch Stole Christmas watched…check Yummy treats baked and eaten…check Holiday luncheon for work to attend…later today Lunch with Cherry, and yummy cookies to receive…tomorrow Go to San Francisco to see A Christmas Carol…not yet – This weekend or not at all Plan dishes to bring to Christmas dinner…not yet…
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A Good Day’s Work…
We put up the tree the other night…I love our fake little tree, though I wish we had a bigger living room, so it wouldn’t have to be smashed between the chair and the TV like that. But it’s a cozy little tree. 🙂 I bought about half of the ornaments all at once, when I first moved out on my own, and wanted a tree in my San Francisco flat. The other half have been bought or given to us since then. I’m a Donald fan, so there are several Donald Ducks, and lots of other cute ones, but one of my favorites is this one, that I brought…
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Favorite Holiday Songs
I like Christmas music ok, but not when it’s played all day, every day, on the radio. Ugh. And I like a Hanukkah song or two, which is why I titled this, Favorite Holiday Songs, and not Favorite Christmas songs, though, really, they’re mostly Christmas songs. Sorry. And, even though I was raised atheist, and don’t really go in for Christmas being that much about Jesus, kinda think it’s more about pagans and the winter solstice, and it was coopted by the Catholic Church early on while trying to convert said pagans, blah blah blah, etc. etc., there is truly something so wonderful and hopeful about the more religious songs,…
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Holiday Depression…
I’ve been hearing lately about how the holidays are a hard time for so many people…how they depress people and stress the hell out of people, and I’ve been wondering, what is it about Christmas (and Hannukah…do any of my Jewish friends get depressed around this time of year?) that brings folks down? Isn’t this supposed to be a happy time? So I thought, what is it that we do to ourselves around the holidays? 1. Maybe too much pressure put on shopping and gifts, you think? In a culture where the majority of retailers go into the black finally in the last month of the year, and our whole…
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Another Pilgrim Post
After yesterday’s post about The Scarlet Letter, a tale of Puritans in New England, I thought I’d continue on a theme. After all, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. YAY! I was intrigued to see an ad in the newspaper for a television show, promising to tell a thorough, factual story of the crossing of the Mayflower and the beginning of the Plymouth colony. As this is Thanksgiving week, I thought it might be an interesting show to watch. The show is called “Desperate Crossing – The Untold Story of the Mayflower” The story starts in the early 1600s, with the Puritans (as we now call them – they were called separatists back…
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TiVo Alert!
Popcorn and toast? For Thanksgiving?Ă‚Â You bet!Ă‚Â A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is on tonight at 8:00, on ABC.Ă‚Â ENJOY!
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All Souls Day
Today is All Souls Day. Not being a good Christian (but I am a good Atheist, which is better than a bad Christian, right?), I don’t know much about this holiday, but I read a bit on Laluna and Zee’s blogs the other day. I was intrigued. The Christian belief is that the faithful departed who have not atoned for their sins can get into heaven, if they have people still in our land of the living pray for their salvation. (If I have that wrong, please let me know…it’s interesting.) I’m a little bit more interested, though, in the Pagan roots of the holiday, if there indeed are any.…
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Happy Diwali
Ă‚Â Ă‚Â Today is Diwali, the Indian ‘Festival of Lights’.Ă‚Â We will celebrate by going to Ted’s parents’ house, lighting lights to welcome the gods and blessings, and then we’ll have a nice meal. If you’re craving Indian food today, maybe this is why. ;)Ă‚Â Happy Diwali!
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Halloween Candy
I was at the grocery store the other day, and passed by the piles and piles of fun sized candy, ready to be bought a bit too early, brought home and eaten, and for the eaters of said candy to come back and buy some more. I was thinking about how nice a tiny little Baby Ruth would taste, or maybe an Almond Joy. I’m looking forward to after Halloween, when our ‘candy cow’ is full of yummy candy. Most of it will be from Maya’s trick or treating, and some will be the leftovers from our failure to get anyone to come this far back into a little condo…
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Happy Thanksgiving!
Seeing as how Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, why not celebrate it twice a year? The second Monday in October is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and, since Ted was born in Canada (Belleville, outside of Toronto), we decided to make a celebratory feast in his honor last year. This year will be no different, and I’ll make some turkey, stuffing, yams, veggies and cranberry sauce. I’ll be giving thanks for my Canadian born husband, my Canadian conceived daughter, and our neighbors to the north. I hope that next month, on Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., I’ll be giving thanks for good election results. Keep your fingers crossed. Since this post…
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Who Put the Labor in Labor Day?
We did, that’s who. When I think of labor day, my mind first thinks of the end of summer…the crisp fall weather on the horizon, the cool weather clothes, school starting up again, the return of the good TV shows… Then there are the Labor Day celebrations…one last bbq of summer, maybe a trip to the beach, the lake, or the shore… For some people it is a chance to get caught up with some chores around the house, to enjoy a 3-day weekend by sleeping in one extra day, maybe see some friends. I agree with all of these things. Not a thing wrong with any of them. But…
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Convoluted Vacation Wrap Up
Hello Bloggy Blog Blog Blog, I’ve missed you so. I’ve posted, sure, but it’s not the same as actually writing something NEW, and I haven’t been reading my friends’ blogs, and I haven’t been commenting, and boy, I have a LOT of catching up to do. Let me start by saying, I’m still Biff, because I’m thinking…One Week Ago Right Now…I was getting ready to go to Seattle…on vacation. Sigh. So, today I’ll tell you what we did on our vacation to the Pacific Northwest. (Mostly Portland.) We left home and drove to Ashland, where we hoped to see a play, but we got a bit of a late start,…
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Time for Bacation
We’re off for a week of R & R in the Pacific Northwest, which will include a stop for dinner and a play in Ashland, OR, sleep overnight there, and then on to Portland to visit with the family, including my new baby niece, Sophie! Hopefully we will see the beautiful Chloe and her family, too. Yay! We may have blogging access while we’re there (we’re going to try, so check back from time to time), but we may not (ACK! Can I survive without my blog? Without reading YOUR blogs? I don’t KNOW!). If you don’t hear from me in awhile….you’ll know that I’m far away in the wilderness…
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Happy Independence Day
Go get your BBQ on, and while you’re enjoying feast, family and fireworks and a long weekend, let’s remember what we’re celebrating, what our little experiment in democracy means, how much we have gained these last 230 years, and just how much we stand to lose. Happy Birthday, America. Let’s all work together to make this the best country we can. K? (It’s been awhile since I read the whole document, which is indeed a very dangerous document – It brought about a complete change in government, after all – so if you’re interested in having a read, click here.)