Christmas Traditions

I am not traditional in all aspects of my life, but when it comes to Christmas, tradition is my middle name!  In my family it starts the minute we finish eating Thanksgiving dinner.  My mom and I find our seats in the living room, turn on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and write out our Christmas cards.  We also usually enjoy some pie during the movie.


 Thanksgiving weekend I also help my dad put up the outdoor Christmas lights.  There are only 2 things that him & I do together (just the two of us) every year and this is one of them.  We mainly work on the "Garden Party" together and sometime other misc lights.  My dad has scaled back on how many lights he puts up, but he always does a beautiful job and puts such a smile on my face.


After those two things are accomplished I spend a lot of time watching Christmas movies at home.  I tend to fore go my usual programming and fill it with a long list of movies that I must watch every year.  Wondering what is my list?  Well even if you're not, I'm going to tell you anyway:
- Elf
- The Polar Express
- Home Alone 1 & 2
- Fallen Angel
- The Christmas List
- The Santa Clause (all 3 if I have time)
- Rudolph
- Charlie Brown Christmas
- The Christmas Story
- Frosty 


This list doesn't even seem complete to me so I'm sure I am missing some.  I also enjoy (but don't have to watch every year) Holiday in Handcuffs, 8 Crazy Nights, Ernest Saves Christmas, and just about any other holiday movie on TV in the month of December.  Trust me there are plenty to keep me away from my usual shows.


One of the longest traditions I can remember is spending a day making Christmas cookies with my Mom.  It's a fun day that we spend together, sampling the cookies were making, trying to remind ourselves to eat a real lunch, singing to Christmas music, and just enjoying each other's company.  When I was much younger my brother and dad would help out with cutout cookies, but we haven't made those in so many years that I bet it's been just my mom & I for at least 10 years.  It's a day that I cherish every year.


A fairly new tradition is going to dinner and Bentleyville with my family on a random weekday during the holiday season.  This year we weren't able to do it because of the nasty flu going around, but we'll just pick it back up next year.


Usually the weekend before Christmas we get together with my mom's side of the family.  Everyone gathers at my parents house and we spend the day visiting and eating.  


Christmas Eve/Christmas day have changed slightly since I met Cody because it depends where we are for the holidays.  If we are with Cody's family on Christmas Eve we go to church, eat soup that his mom makes (which is a tradition at their house) and open presents that night.  Christmas Eve with my family is quite similar.  We go to church, eat an assortment of appetizers, and open presents.  


Our house is still a regular stop for Santa so Christmas morning is for just Cody & myself.  We open presents and play like little kids with the new things we found under the tree.  A tradition that we started last year is making a delicious and different breakfast from what we would have everyday.  Last year we made quiche and this year we copied Cody's fave item, the Everything Skillet,  off of the menu at Duluth Grill.  It was very time consuming to make, but so good!!


Christmas afternoon is spent with my dad's family and we feast again on turkey, ham, potatoes, beans, deviled eggs, rolls, and all the fixings.  The meal is completed with 3 choices of pie: pumpkin, chocolate pudding, and banana cream.  The big joke with my family is that as long as there are deviled eggs and banana cream pie I don't care about anything else.  To my surprise, my aunt made an entire banana cream pie just for me.  I was so excited and instantly put it in my car so one of my uncles wouldn't try to steal it.


The holiday season is my favorite time of year for many reasons, but my traditions (which include a lot of eating) are on the top of the list.

A Memorable Thanksgiving

In the past few weeks I have had a lot to share, but haven't had enough time to write my words down.  I was busy preparing final details for the 22nd Annual Thanksgiving Buffet at the DECC, which was a free community event (check out the event here).   I spent the day constantly on the move making sure that things were going smoothly, but I often looked around to really take in my surroundings.


There were so many families that received more holiday cheer in a few hours than they will all season.  We had live entertainment all day that people were singing and dancing to.  People could visit with and get their picture taken with Santa.  There were free books for kids and also a bookmark making station.  The Cider Man was there making  apple cider for everyone, and most importantly there was a hot homemade Thanksgiving meal.


I have never spent Thanksgiving away from family, but working all day at the buffet made me realize that I was truly lucky knowing that I would see them at the end of the day.  At one point I sat down and ate with the diners.  I spoke to a man who had just lost his wife 5 days prior and didn't want to be alone so he came to eat with his neighbor.  Looking at him you could see the sadness in his eyes, but I was so thankful he chose to be around people that day.


When I got home I was exhausted, but all day I had wanted to call Linda (I wrote about her is my previous post) so I found her number and dialed her up to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving.  Our conversation was so different than I had expected.  I thought I was doing a nice gesture, but I quickly found out her Thanksgiving meal had never been delivered to her.  She was crying and upset and quietly on the other end of the line I was crying too.  All happy feelings I had about the day were gone - I was officially distraught.


When I got off the phone with her my husband came in the room and asked what had happened.  I could barely get enough words out to explain to him what had happened, but he got the point of it.  It was decided that we needed to bring her Thanksgiving leftovers from my parents house.  We packed up the turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato, and a roll.  I then dug in our cupboards to find cranberry sauce, corn, and black olives - I then threw in a few extras like stew and hot chocolate.


I knocked on Linda's door and thankfully she answered!  She invited me in and I showed her all the food I brought plus the FarmVille gift that I had gotten her.  She wanted to show me her FarmVille farms and talked to me all about her tiny dog.  I spent about a half hour with her and could tell that by the time I left she was feeling much better.   All this was supposed to happen closer to Christmas, but it needed to be done that night.


Thursday night I was able to sleep so much better knowing that we had made the extra effort to make Linda's day better.  Yesterday I was back at the DECC getting all the stuff that will be put in storage at CSS until next.  I was walking through the large hall - most of the lights off, no signs of yesterday's event, and I stopped, smiled, and got a little teary eyed.  I thought of all the children's artwork hanging on the walls, the beautifully decorated buffet table, and the thousands of people who didn't have to go hungry or be alone on this day.  It will be a Thanksgiving I will never forget.

One Great Converstion

I think that I, quite possibly, just had the best conversation of my life . . . with a stranger.  Her name is Linda and she called CSS to inquire about the Thanksgiving Buffet at the DECC.  I have taken a lot of these calls in the last month or so and many have been straight forward and to the point.  The caller gets the information they need and I get any information required for them.  Then there are those few who want to chat a bit - there was Ramona who when I asked if I had her contact information correct she replied with "you got it baby."  Then there was Jerry, when I asked him how he was doing he replied with a simple "pretty good", but then followed up by saying "do you know what that means?  It means I'm pretty and I'm good."  Older people tend to make everything sound so much funnier.  As much as I enjoyed talking to both Ramona and Jerry it made me sad knowing that, like Linda, they will be spending  Thanksgiving alone.


Linda was such a joy to talk to and even tough I was very busy I stopped what I was doing and chatted with her for as long as she wanted, which ended up being about a half hour.  I found out that she doesn't like soup unless it's with crackers, but she really likes stew.  She loves playing Farmville and has 62 neighbors and 3 different crops that she attends to on the game.  The greatest passion of hers seems to be Avon.  Many of the women in her family have been Avon reps and she says it's almost tradition.  She went on and on about some of her favorite products which she could explain in great detail.


Linda will be 60 in December and will be spending her first holiday season without her mother who passed away this summer.  She told me that she has been feeling a bit down thinking about this since she's been starting to put out Christmas decorations, but that our conversation really brightened up her spirit.  The thing that Linda didn't realize is the kind of impact she had on me.  I sat listening to her with a smile on my face and holding back tears.  I knew instantly that Linda deserved something special this holiday season.


In year's past I have done Adopt-a-Family, but this year is about Linda.  I am going to bring her food and a few gifts she mentioned that she wished she could afford, but she has no idea I am doing this.  I am going to call her and ask her if I could get an Avon brochure from her, something she said she wished she could give me through the phone, then I am going to surprise her with the gifts.  I have never been more excited about a holiday surprise than I am now!!


Now, I am asking for a favor.  If you or someone you know uses Avon or if your looking for some good holiday gifts this year go to Linda's Avon page and help spread some extra cheer by simply making a purchase from her.  All purchases go directly through Avon - she will just get credit for it.  It may seem like such a small gesture, but it will go a long way.

Books for Bloggers

I just had to write a quick post about being picked as a TOMS shoes Books for Bloggers winner!  TOMS shoes are not only amazingly comfortable, but their One for One mission is something that is truly near and dear to my heart.

I will be receiving 2 copies of Blake Mycoskie's book, Start Something That Matters.  One is for me to read, keep, and review.  I will be holding a contest for the 2nd book.  I'm not sure what I am going to do yet, but I can't wait to share this with all of you!!

Coupon Clean Up

I buy the Sunday paper every week, but sadly I admit my main interest isn't the stories, it's the ads and coupons!!  I do take a quick glance over all the sections to see if there is anything that I am really interested in, but then I dedicate my real attention to those glossy ads.

I am not a person who has a problem spending money, but I enjoy getting to save money on the things that I buy.  For this reason I am a coupon cutter and have been for as long as I can remember.  I don't seem to be as good at in the summer, but with the colder months here my Sunday now consist of football, glossy ads and my trusty scissors.

I had an old coupon organizer that just wasn't doing the trick anymore so yesterday I decided to make finding/using my coupons way more convenient.  

I'm quite certain that this bad boy has probably been around for 20+ years - hence why I got it for 10 cents at a rummage sale.  It served it's purpose, but I knew there had to be a better way

 I didn't like the categories and it seemed like there were some that were completely missing.

 I made quite the mess while reorganizing the coupons, but it was so worth it!!

The end result: A 3-ring binder with trading card sheet protectors.  All coupons are visible and categorized in a way that I prefer.

People may laugh at me when they see me looking through my coupon book at the store, but I know that I'm always going to be getting the best deal!!

My Halloween Idol

I know that I already posted about a past Halloween, but I saw a picture of Heidi Klum and needed to give much credit to my Halloween idol!!!  Her & Seal throw a party every year and she has the most AMAZING costumes ever!  If I could even come close to one of her costumes just one year I would be so proud of myself

All you have to do is google Heidi Klum Halloween and you'll find plenty of awesome pictures, but here are a few of my favorites:

A Vintage Halloween

I have always loved Halloween, but when I think back to my childhood I can only remember a few costumes.  When I was younger my mom used to travel for work every once in awhile and she would always come back with memorable gifts.  When she went to San Francisco she brought back a Chinese mask painted black, white, red, and green.  That year she made me a costume to go with that mask.  Although the ankles were sewn a little tight it was a wonderful costume.

From looking at old photos I think that I remember seeing a Care Bear costume from when I was really young and I'm quite certain that I was a witch another year, but the costume that will go down in Halloween history happened to fall on the year of the Halloween blizzard (aka mega storm) that happened 20 years ago.  Even without the memory of all that snow the costume still would've been very memorable.

I loved vintage things at an early age - hence why at 9 years old I was so in love with my costume!  My mom had brought me to St. Vincent de Paul thrift store which used to be on Central Ave in West Duluth.  We found a magnificent  old prom (assuming) dress, long white gloves, and an old wedding hat.  I was in love!!! During the Halloween parade in the gymnasium at school I remember how proudly I showed off my costume that year.

When I got home from school that I day I was so excited to continue showing off my amazing costume while trick or treating, but the snow (and my mom) had different plans.  I protested and told her I was wearing my costume - which I did, but with a turtleneck, jacket, hat, boots, and mittens.  Looking back now, I'm sure wearing that dress only made my trek through the snow that more difficult.


I was so thankful for my dad because so many houses we stopped at said they barely had seen any kids which meant their parents told them no to trick or treating.  I hit the jackpot that year.  People didn't want all the candy in their houses and would give me a handful at a time!


Looking back at that year, it was probably the best Halloween I had as a child.  I got loads of candy and since the city got piled on with snow school was closed for a few days.  I hung out with friends (who lived within walking distance), ate candy,  and rode the snowmobile around our neighborhood with my dad.  I'm quite certain this was a gift that had been given to me by the Great Pumpkin (Charlie Brown).  


Side note: If this happened now I would feel the complete opposite!  One Halloween Blizzard wikipedia page is enough for me.

What are your favorite childhood costumes or memories from the storm (if you witnessed it)?


I will have to ask my mom if she has any pictures of me from that year, but for now here is one from the Duluth News Tribune (1991).