Thursday, December 19, 2013

Christmas

Last night my daughter and I completed the last of the cookies and fudge to be loaded into containers and delivered to people and businesses in our community.  Every year we make at least 10 different types of treats to fill the containers we find at our local thrift store (Goodwill this year).  We usually give a tin to my brother and his wife, as well as a tin for my daughter's teacher.  All of the others we give to local businesses that have employees who, through the year, have made our days a little brighter.

Aside from the pleasure of cooking and the pleasure of not having to eat all of it ourselves, we also get a great deal of pleasure from the smiles that come from each one of those tins.  In a society that has become focused on the material giving during the holidays, it is good to give of ourselves too.

What do you do to spread holiday spirit?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Holidays

Ever notice how when the holidays arrive time seems to go right out the window.  It started for me almost a month before Thanksgiving.  There I was, getting everything done and staying organized, mostly, and before I know it, WHAM!, Thanksgiving had arrived and I hadn't blogged in a month!

The worst of it is that I have no idea what happened to the time.  Now, almost a month later, I am still not caught up and don't know if I will be before Christmas gets here.

Oh well.

I suppose my daughter having a few friends for a sleepover the weekend before Thanksgiving, coming down with the flu the day afterward didn't help.  Then we are unable to go to the family gathering as she is still sick, so on the Wednesday I am trying to get all the fixings for a Thanksgiving meal then get is all cooked so we can have at least something that resembles a turkey dinner (it worked out ok at least).  She wasn't truly better until the Sunday after Thanksgiving though.  I was worried.

During Black Friday I stayed home and avoided the crowds as is my custom.  There is just something lacking in Christmas Spirit about the whole shopping frenzy thing to me.  I spent most of the weekend contemplating what Christmas truly meant to me and what message I wanted to give my family, so my daughter and I made a few ornaments out of wooden spools to put on the try and gift to family.  We decided to make ornaments throughout this next year and donate them with a tree to a family that otherwise would not have a tree.

As for gifts, many of them are homemade this year.  Next year I hope to have them all homemade.  New Year's Day I will sit down with my journal and make a list of folks we give gifts to and decide what I want to make for each of them.  Then I will spend the year making them.  I'll have to let you know how that turns out.

Now all I have left is to make the cookies to give away (and keep a few at home), plan Christmas dinner, and finish getting the gifts under the tree.  Keep your fingers crossed.