Have You Ever Fallen in Love With Christmas (or the "Holidays")?

Accompanied by "O Holy Night" by Celtic Women.


Hey All!


IT has been WAY too long since I've written something last so I do apologize. In the spirit of the Christmas holidays which is my absolute FAVOURITE holiday, I thought I'd write about some of my favourite memories. It's been so busy that it hardly feels like Christmas is coming but IT IS!!!! YAY! 


I LOVE Christmas. I love the coziness of this holiday, the scents, the lit-up Christmas trees, the Christmas lights on the houses, the decorations, the Christmas carol "O Holy Night", walking through the mall at night, the feeling of magic that's in the air and of course all the love and the family time. You feel closer to the people you are close with and I personally get all sentimental. It's a time that everyone seems to put their differences aside and actually get along! Our family tradition usually includes a big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve surrounded by family and/or family friends, entering a food coma, fighting over who has to wash and dry the dishes (yes I know we are adults...do not judge...Mom), watching a Christmas movie OR falling asleep at church (my Grandma up in the sky is probably shaking her head at this comment. I can't help it. I become a Narcoleptic person! It's all that scented smokey shit that they wave around!). We receive our one present on the eve as well, which usually consists of new pajamas!!! How exciting. And I actually mean that. The mad scramble to wrap all the gifts and put them under the tree ensues before we go to sleep and I make my parents wait to put our gifts under the tree until AFTER I go to sleep. It's still fun to be surprised when you wake up in the morning damnit! I don't care how old I am! It doesn't feel the same when I know what's under there!!!! Christmas morning we open our stockings first, then have a big breakfast and open up the rest of our gifts *sigh* Oh the times. 


Here are some of my finest memories of Christmas time:

1) Being petrified of Santa Claus to the point that I refused a gift from him at a family Christmas party when I was four...in which he in turn gave to my god damn twin sister. That didn't go over well. I proceeded to pretend that it was mine still. 


2) I remember my sister and I sharing a bedroom in the attic/loft when we were 8 years old in an old house close to the Danforth. I swear we heard someone on the roof on Christmas Eve and of course I freaked out because it was totally Santa Claus. My sister was as cool as a cucumber and wanted to go downstairs to check things out - k Lisa...go ahead. As we went down our attic stairs my knees started to buckle, and my teeth started to chatter and I froze. I didn't freakin want to run into that guy!!!! No way! SO we ran into my parents bedroom and woke up my dad. The end.


3) Waking up really early to find my Mom at the house from being at the hospital with my brother. He was really ill at that time, but she managed to take the time to come back and make Christmas as special as always.


4) Seeing Santa Claus coming out of a house on our way home from my Grandma's house in Toronto when we were three or four. Of course it was perfect for my parents who could use that to get us to bed on time!!!! We had to be asleep before he arrived or else he wasn't coming to our apartment. Not that that pressure helped me at all!! I can barely sleep when I'm exhausted. 


5) Our big family Christmas dinners with my dad's side of the family. There would be at least 15 of us seated at a huge dinner table feasting on a huge turkey dinner, my grandma's pirags (which I just learned was the proper name 30 years later...we just called them "peedogs" - they are bacon and onion filled buns of addictive deliciousness) and dinner rolls,  and probably 30 different kinds of cookies that my Grandma baked herself. Crazy lady. We would sing carols and remain in food comas until we went to sleep then get sent home with tins of those 30 different cookies. Just what we needed. 


6) My grade 2 Christmas recital - my karate pants fell down on the way back from rehearsal and someone's mom laughed at me in the hallway. Whatever lady!!! 


7) Seeing all the cute boys I liked from my grade school at church. Obviously being boy crazy since day care, I loved that part of church. And being able to eat that holy bread.


8) Having a serious debate in grade 4 about how Santa Claus was definitely real. Two of the people didn't believe in him...I proceeded to tell them that I heard him on our roof one year so obviously he was real. Like duh. Seriously. 


9) Finding out that Santa Claus was non-existent when I was...18...or....11 because I found all of our letters that were supposed to go to Santa Claus in a cupboard down in the basement!!!!! I never clued in throughout the years that my dad's handwriting looked pretty simliar to the big S.C's. How traumatic that revelation was. Thanks Mom and Dad. 


10) The Christmas play we would perform at at the Funnell's house. All us kids would dress up and act out some part of the Christmas story in front of our relatives. It's probably the only time I was a Saint in my life.


11) Decorating my apartment with Melissa two years ago. This involved wine so one could only imagine how that went. It kinda didn't go anywhere really. We only put up the Christmas lights and they fell down over night *sigh* 


12) Delivering Christmas hampers to the women's shelter on Christmas Eve. It felt really good to know we were helping mom's and kids experience a bit of joy on Christmas.


13) Driving around our neighbourhood to check out people's Christmas lights while singing loudly in the car. Fairway Hills in Oakville always had the best lights!


14) Of course waking up every year to see what Santa delivered and seeing his response letter in our stocking.


15) Christmas's spent with the Leslie family - our second family :)


Looking back on all the Christmas's I've experienced, I can honestly say that they have been pretty amazing. My parents generally go beyond their means to provide us with a special Christmas each year and I am truly grateful. There are many people out there who aren't as fortunate so I feel pretty lucky.

Enjoy your holidays everyone!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I can't believe it's almost 2012! And that Christmas is here already. Looking forward to it :)

Love,
ME and Maddie!!!!!!
XOXOXOXO