The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It’s that time again. You know, when everyone’s hoping it might snow, and trying to figure out what to do for Christmas THIS time around. I’ve been pre-occupied with other things this past month, but turning my attention to something else is far overdue. It’s time to start writing out a few cards and letters and trying to decide what gifts I plan to buy, so considering there are only about 20 more days to go, I’d better get with it!

I have always loved Christmas. People say Christmas is for kids, but I never grew up, did you? I guess part of it is that I love giving gifts, no matter what time of year. I love the bustle of shopping, decorating the house, baking special treats, and wrapping beautiful packages—never mind that they will be ripped to shreds and destroyed in a moment—that’s part of the fun.

Christmas was always at my Grandma Rose’s house when I was a kid. That was partly due to the fact that my Mom and Dad and I lived there too, until I was about five years old and we moved into our own house. In later years we had a tree and opened presents on Christmas morning at home, but to me, Christmas didn’t really start until we got to Grandma’s house. Dinner was always there, regardless.

I was the only child, as well as the first and only grandchild, for quite a few years growing up, so my expectations were naturally somewhat skewed. I can remember a Christmas when I was probably about two years old, when it looked as though there were about a thousand presents under the tree, and most of them ended up being for me. That was all right! I’ve always loved receiving gifts too—but still, nothing makes me happier than watching someone open a package that I’ve prepared just for them.

Our family developed a few of its own traditions through the years. The type of tree and how it was decorated, decorations in and around the house, what kinds of sweets Grandma and I baked to serve or give away, and what would be on the table Christmas Day: all these things took on their own special significance. I nearly always baked with Grandma, rather than my Mom, but that was because Grandma let me cook at her house, and she’s the one who actually taught me. Mom baked sugar and candy cane cookies, but that was about it. Grandma taught me how to make peanut brittle the old-fashioned way, and to make fruitcake. One year I made goat milk fudge. I even learned how to make and put together gingerbread houses at Grandma’s, so those became part of our Christmas tradition, too.

Grandma would usually let me decorate her tree for her, and she never went out and selected her own, but someone in the family would always bring her one and put it on a stand. My Mom decorated our tree, and she would select it in the summertime while she was out in the woods. Mom preferred blue spruce trees with all blue lights, but Grandma’s was generally a fir and was covered with all different-colored lights. We never had white lights on our tree back then, and I never saw trees with all white lights until we moved to Seattle.

Normally there were huge gobs of tinsel on the tree, and as many different shiny glass and metal ornaments as we could get on it. We’ve had many ornaments through the years, but I like to decorate with special ornaments. Each year I buy one special ornament to represent that year, or we will receive an especially nice one as a gift.

One year I bought a lighted capiz shell star to put on top. Grandma’s tree had a star for a topper for a while, but one year she bought one of those pointy ornament-type toppers that is supposed to look like a star. Mom had an angel that went on top of ours. The angel was a printed picture on cardboard, but she had real platinum blonde hair and wings made of white feathers glued onto it. It was very beautiful, and we enjoyed it for many years, but one year Mom stored the Christmas ornament boxes in one end of the horses’ metal feed shed, and one of them dragged the boxes down to see what was inside. The horse was just being curious, of course, but the angel ended up being trampled in the muck, and I was so upset I cried. Christmas was never the same without it, and it was almost as though someone I loved had died.

We didn’t have a fireplace when I was growing up, and there were no mantle decorations, so it was always a toss-up where to hang our stockings. Mom would put an orange in the bottom, along with handfuls of candies and nuts. We didn’t have “stocking stuffer” gifts, since Santa supposedly filled the stockings while we were asleep, but somehow I always knew it was Mom. Now that we have a fireplace, Sam, Roxi (our German Shepherd dog), Hadarah (my horse), and I can hang our stockings on little brass hooks set in place by the previous owners. Sam’s stocking has a picture of a teddy bear on it, and mine has a rocking horse. Roxi and Hadarah just have red fuzzy stockings topped with white fur, but they don’t care. I think Roxi’s will have a nice, yummy bone and lots of dog treats, but I don’t know what to put in Sam’s stocking yet. Hadarah’s will have some apples, carrots and a bag of horse cookies. Hmm, am I Santa? At our house, probably I am.

This will be the second Christmas Sam and I spend in our house. It’s odd to think back on traditions and decorations brought from both our families and over the years we’ve been together. Now we’re trying to decide what fits us, here and now. I’ve always wanted outdoor lights, but Sam doesn’t want to put them up. We don’t have children or loads of friends or church members that we expect to drop by, and all our family members live a long way from here. We’ll spoil the dog, and I do hope we can have a small get-together with our friends, but Christmas nowadays is rather Spartan compared to when we grew up. Most of us will have to work at least part of the Holidays, and all of us have to watch our waistlines.

I plan to start getting into the right spirit tonight by watching a few of my favorite Christmas movies on DVD, having a couple of Irish coffees, and making up a Christmas carol playlist for my iPod that I can share with my co-workers. Maybe tomorrow I’ll start on the card writing and make a few cookies while I’m at it. It sounds like fun to me!