You know it is kind of funny if you think about your fondest memories of Christmas and how funny they would sound to other people. Then on the other hand the elements that are similar and cross generations due to traditions. In the last couple of days I have really been setting and thinking a lot about my Christmas memories and the sorrows that have occurred in my life on December 25th. As years pass my ability to deal with Christmas has really dwindled to the point I find myself bursting into tears for no apparent reason. Not healthy I know.
So here are some of my fondest memories as a child.................
... Mom never forgetting to get me an advent calendar so I could count down the days. I am so thankful she continues even now to send me.
... Spending countless nights with mom in the kitchen getting all the Christmas Cookies and Candies ready. What I wouldn't do for some Mamie Eisenhower Million Dollar Fudge, Jets (funny the first link on Google is for the Roanoke Magazine), or what the family called T's cookies.
... Waking up on Christmas morning and having to wait for Granddaddy to put on his green Sansabelt pants and his red alpaca golf sweater.
... Knowing that there would be something maple sugar in my stocking and those little bottles of liquor filled chocolates.
... That Santa Elf T, would have all of Santa's gifts displayed like a fantasy store window.
... The dear stocking that Santa Elf L made when I was a child and then updated it to Calla Lilies when I was older. I always treasured them and I doubt she knew how much they meant to me.
... Putting the tree up on Christmas Eve and watching Granddaddy put one light on every branch and making sure it is perfectly balanced. And I do mean perfect, Granddaddy was a perfectionist in all he did.
... Grandma's stuffing balls and gravy
... Or how magical the table was always set with more food than anyone should eat, date nut bread, and all the Christmas cookies/candies.
As an adult my fondest memories would have to be...........
So now you are probably wondering why I have made you read through my Christmas memories. It is so exciting that MG and I are getting to celebrate another Christmas with our blog friends this year. I am very thankful for all your kind words of encouragement and support over the past year. I thought really hard about what I could make to give your all as little Christmas presents. The first year I came up with the needle chart to keep in your purse. This year I really couldn't come up with a good idea to make something to post. So I decided on the First Knitbuddies Contest.... My first Christmas with M and his insane obsession with Christmas music.
... The year the servers went down for one of our clients and we had to drive to the ISP to reset the servers at 1:am Christmas morning in the snow. The realization that the sacrifices we make are important for our employees and clients over the holidays.
... M surprising me that he tried to buy me a spinning wheel and called dealers that we had seen at MS&W. Unfortunately he didn't know the difference between a loom or a wheel. :) You don't know how touched I was that he was doing this all as a surprise. This years surprise that he is going to buy me a loom.
... Different International Cuisine for dinner during the holiday.
So What is this about a Contest???????
I would love to hear your favorite holiday memory. They don’t have to be about crafting, knitting, spinning, or weaving… we’re talking about your fondest memory of the holiday new and old! Leave your memories in the comments by Friday, January 5 at midnight EST. (Don't forget to include some way to find you, blog url or email) There will be one or two winners depending on the number of comments we receive. the winner will be picked randomly. The person who wins, will receive a $30.00 gift certificate from either my favorite online yarn store or a bookseller and another surprise depending on whether it is crafty or literary. It will be your choice.
Just a little thank you for being our net friends and being their for support over the previous year. Have a warm and happy crafty holiday..... back to work for me time waits for no one....
Kitty Kitty
Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite childhood memories is listening to the John Denver/Muppet christmas album with my parents on Christmas Eve. It became a joke because the album is absolutely horrible.. but it always made us laugh together.
(www.knottymouse.com)
The Christmas memory that I remember the clearest is the year my dad thought it would be great to buy us kids a go-cart for x-mas. Being the shy, bookish, kid that I was, I was a little intimidate by it, so Dad took me out for a practice run on the school's football field (right behind our house.) Needless to say, I managed to run the thing into a telephone pole the first lap around the field, and had to tromp up the steep hill between house and school bruised and battered and wishing Santa had brought me a game boy. That was the last time my parents got us kids a joint gift!
ReplyDeleteMy parents don't celebrate Xmas and everyone had migrated to Melb except for my family so we were alone in Singapore. I always wondered how it would be like celebrating. So my most memorable Xmas had to be the time I visit my grandparents in Melbourne when I was 12. It was school hols and my very 1st Xmas spent with family. My very 1st Xmas Tree, my very 1st Xmas gift shopping, my very 1st Xmas present, very 1st Xmas Tree decorating and the whole bunch of cousins(me included) running amok. Hehehe! Xmas was magical that year. Most imptly, I was with family. :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your Christmases so much. Thank you for taking the time to share that with us.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the needle inventory....good going.
My favorite childhood Christmas memory was from 1974. We had next to nothing and yet there were piles of presents under the tree. On Christmas Eve my Dad started passing them out to us kids, but only one at a time and in a certain order. When I tore into the first one I was surprized to see not a present, but a note that said, "Wait for the next package." My following present also said had a note telling me to "be patient". This went on for several trips around until finally one of my presents had a note that said, "Go to the garage." When I went to the garage there was an old Schwinn bicycle waiting for me. My parents had purchased it from a second hand store and they gave me a can of Turtle wax to use to polish the rust off of the fenders, wheels and spokes. I loved that old blue bike. And to this day, when I see one of those classic Schwinn's with the big, wide seat I get all misty. My favorite adult Christmas was in 1996 after having my first daughter. Having children makes Christmas take on an entirely new dimension. Thank you for such a fun and nostalgic contest!
ReplyDeletewhat wonderful memories! thanks for sharing them. I think that I'm going to write mine down, too. Some of my favourite times at Christmas were curling up with my "Christmas" books (my mom would get me one sort of trashy/fun book along with the more literary ones) and digging into a bag of chocolate covered gummy bears, and a plate of chocolate-covered potato chips, and just relaxing with the family...My parents succuming to the "tell us about the olden days when you were little" pleas...Jamaican feasts at my grandparents' house...Music, music, music...Coaxing out some smiles the first Christmas after my mom died by getting a truly 'Charlie Brown' tree and dressing the cat in a sweater and pearls...This year, watching my daughter dance and sing, and dance and sing, and dance and sing, was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI have several childhood memories that are really good. The first time I saw snow is one that I will always treasure. When you grow up in warmer climates, the first time you see snow tends to stick out. We were living in Naples and it snowed somewhere in the mountains and my parents drove my brother and I up there to see it.
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Spain, the parades for the the Magi on the night of January 5 was something that was really important. Since we celebrated both an American style Christmas and the Spanish one, the fact that the 3 Kings were coming meant that more presents were on their way and that the holiday season was almost over.
And as an adult, being involved with the fire company's Santa parade. The look of delight on the kids' faces when they see Santa is something that makes you feel good inside.
Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteMy family don't celebrate Christmas since we are Chinese. However, this Christmas has been most memorable to me for several reasons:
1. Going Christmas tree decorations shopping -- I never knew it was so much fun just planning the themes and picking out tree decos to match.
2. Getting invited to a BBQ in a farm!
Our friend lives on a fish farm and the barbeque right at the doorstep is quite an experience (and believe me, it may be the norm for most living in houses but in Singapore, most of us live in flats!)
3. Celebrating Christmas Eve at a friend's with potluck, games, gift exchanges and a Christmas tree to boot!