Goodbye 2011

Before it gets hectic here again, I wanted to post this. 2011 was a good year even though there were moments, I do not care to repeat. BUT each moment, good or bad, was here for a reason. I learned quite a lot about myself and others who were in my life with negativity.  

I wish for each of you in 2012, a year filled with promises of goodness and if by chance, some moments of sadness, or negativity should arise, I hope for a fast exit. I wish for each of you love, and good health and good friends.

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

I have been a bit silent on here and everywhere else lately. I guess I am going through a bit of a funk. I have been busy of course, with Holiday this and thats but really I have been biting my tongue because some of the statuses I see I just want to smack people for. A friend of mine has a saying, "Stuck on stupid" - well a few are just that and you can't fix stupid. How on earth do you get it into someone's head that what they are doing is wrong and it shouldn't be rocket science. Grrr.

Anyway, I also have a bit of a bone to pick with this whole Happy Holidays thing that people get their panties in a wad about. First of all, I am a Christian, you all know this. I say Merry Christmas because that is how I was raised...if I were Jewish, I would be saying Happy Hanukkah. I am part Ukrainian Orthodox as well and growing up I had two Christmas, if you will. Dec 25 and Jan 6. I was also raised to say Happy Holidays because traditional Christmas had already passed but the "reason for the season" was still going on with the Eastern Orthodox Christmas which is celebrated on Jan 6. What some people don't realize is that the precise date of Jesus' birth is not known, it is argued by several scholars and they gave it a good guess based on the information they have from the Bible. Now i am not an expert on the Bible so I will not try to be.

And you are probably wondering where I am going with this. Well, I guess I am just really naive but if you are Muslim you shouldn't be offended if someone says Merry Christmas to you, if you are living in this country. Same as if they were to say whatever it is they say on their birth of their god's day to us...it is who we are, no matter our race or religion. It's our culture to do as we were raised to do. I think it is a matter of knowing who you are talking to. I have friends of all religions and I mean all religions. I treat them as I would want to be treated. I respect their beliefs and they mine. I learn all I can about their celebrations and culture as it is interesting to me and i want to understand it and them. Not one of them has ever gotten offended when I said Merry Christmas to them, knowing that they do not or may not celebrate Dec 25 the way I do. In fact, they do say it back to me. There's that respect thing!

I think it is narrow minded people not to mention the media making a fuss about them who make this an issue. Think about it...do you really think if you said Happy Holidays or Seasons Greetings you are taking the meaning of the day Jesus was born away? Geez Louise! If you believe in God and all that he said and done, then you know that Jesus is real and you aren't going to be slighting him.

If that were the case, my great uncle who was a Ukrainian Orthodox priest should be in Hell because he rarely said Merry Christmas - it was always, "Happy Holidays, this is the day the world received the greatest gift, Jesus." The birth of Jesus is a Holiday and it is a Happy one, so....yea.

There are a few people on my list (and again it isn't any of you lol) who really get my goat by typing things like Merry CHRISTmas or Don't forget that CHRISTmas is .... etc/ Geez Louise again. I know how to spell and I see that Christ is part of the word. I also know who he is, thankyouverymuch. Sorry, that kinda just came out - off topic.

No matter how you celebrate Christmas or what your greeting is, you know why we are celebrating and the reason for the season...but to be honest, we should be remembering the reason all year long anyway. HE is the reason for all.

Off my soapbox now.

Christmas Traditions

We all have them. Big, small, detailed or not. Growing up my parents and I had a few. Of course there was the tree decorating. Every Christmas Eve we would have snack foods for dinner and open one gift each. Christmas music or show was on in the background. Younger me would set out cookies and milk (and carrots for Rudolph) for Santa and then head to bed. Christmas morning breakfast was cookies and whatever candy I had in my stocking with abundance of batteries for whatever game/gadget needed them and some piece of jewelry. Dad would be cooking Christmas dinner and Mom would be playing Greensleeves on the old electric organ she had. I was just playing with my toys.

When I was younger and my dad's parents were alive, we would head to Delaware to spend Orthodox Christmas with them in January. They were Ukrainian Orthodox and my great uncle was a priest at the church we attended. We would go to mass and I would sit up in the balcony with my great grandmother and sing the holiday hymns. Of course it was in Russian and I had no clue what I was singing but it was wonderful. The smells of the incense and the organ playing. My great uncle giving the sermon in Russian was simply beautiful. There was another mass where he said it in English but we always went to this one. Afterward we would make the rounds visiting the aunts and uncles and cousins. To this day I can feel my Aunt Kate pinch my cheeks, I can feel the warmth of my Aunt Anna's house, hear my Uncle Nicky's laugh as he told some joke, and the arms of my godmother and Aunt Rose. It was a great time and memories I cherish.

Having a family of my own now, we have our own traditions. Girls and I make cut out sugar cookies and decorate them....looking forward to doing that very soon with them in fact. When they were younger they would set out cookies for Santa and reindeer food that glittered so they knew the way to the house. They would leave Santa a letter and get a reply in the morning. We kept the snack food dinner and opening one gift going from when I was young and added watching Annabelle's Wish while eating. Playing board games follows that.

Christmas morning, of course they eat cookies and candy but I also make breakfast. One year we went to Waffle House...nasty...won't do that again LOL. After all the gifts are open, we tend to just relax. As the girls got into their teens, we found they would migrate back to their rooms and I was not liking that. So, we have added going to a movie on Christmas day...it's quite fun and you'd be surprised as how many others are there too.

This year, I am not sure when Jennifer will be home for the Holidays. She has mentioned she would like to work on Christmas (big bucks for Holiday!) and a few other days. It would definitely be odd not to have her here on Christmas Eve and Morning but nothing says we can't do it again when she is here. It was very odd not having her with us in Wisconsin. All part of them growing up and being on their own I guess. I am glad she was with her boyfriend and his family and not alone though.

What are your traditions???? I anxious to hear some of them!