Easter is a little early this year, but spring is in the air. The flowers are blooming and the wildlife are emerging. Easter and spring always remind of new hope and fresh starts.
I have been busy filling eggs, preparing decorations and stuffing Easter bags (instead of baskets) for the grands this year. I saw these cute little Easter jars on IG, so I created a couple of them to give away as well.
Easter gifts!
We will be hosting our annual family Easter brunch and egg hunt again this year. We have a little smaller crowd this time, with only about 30 people. (Yes, that is small for this extended family.) It has come full circle. My parents started the tradition of the Easter brunch and egg hunt years ago when my kids were little, on this very property. Maybe there will be a few eggs hidden in the lake again this year for some brave finder… just like old times.
My kids and their cousins after an Easter egg hunt years ago at my parents’ house at the lake, where we now live.
We were ruthless in giving away items when we downsized last year. We just did not have the space to keep so much crap. Besides, we don’t want our kids to have to go through all of our stuff when we leave this planet. One of the precious items that survived the cut was the Easter basket from my childhood. I remember the excitement of finding it every Easter morning filled with a large chocolate bunny, real-colored eggs and always a little chick perched on the handle. My oldest son used it for his Easter basket while he was growing up. Now I keep it to decorate with every Easter. It is filled with fond memories and good mojo. Keeping a few sentimental items gives an anchor to our history.
Son #1 (blue jacket) when he was about three years old, hauling around the Easter basket from my childhood while he hunted for eggs out at my parents’ home on the lake (left). I still decorate with that Easter basket every year (right).
I hope that you and your family enjoy a wonderful day and that you find new hope and fresh starts in the joy of spring.
The presents have been bought, wrapped and unfurled. The cookies have been decorated and devoured, and all of the twinkle lights and Christmas decorations stand in salute to the 24 hours of magic. Like most women, “creating” the Christmas experience for those we love is wonderful… and totally exhausting. I am not sure why designing the holiday experience usually falls to women. Mr. U. told me that is because, if it were left up to the men, they would put out some buffalo chicken dip and chips and turn on a football game. Hum.
We hosted the extended family Christmas Eve gathering this year. This party has been a tradition for years. My mom started it when my siblings and I had young families. Now it includes all of our kids and their families (about 35 – 40 people). When my mom was no longer able to host it, my sister took it on. However, my sister recently had some knee surgery, so I hosted this year. Our new home is fairly small but has an open floor plan, so it was tight, but worked. There were only a few bruised toes. 😊
If you get silly clothes at the gift exchange, the group chants “put it on, put it on…” until you have no choice. Hence the reindeer wearing an elf costume and the Grinch sneaking around.
Christmas Eve would not be complete without a visit from Santa himself. Pic is from a previous Christmas when we had snow, unlike this year when all we got was a lot of lousy rain.
If you have been reading my blog very long, you know that I am a big believer in traditions. They are the cement that holds a family together (Benefits of Holiday Traditions Reach Deep | Seniors Guide). Our big extended family Christmas Eve gathering has a rhythm to it that we have maintained for years, no matter where it is held:
Everyone brings a finger food and/or some Christmas cookies to share.
My dad, who is 98, still leads us in prayer before we eat.
Each year, one of the adults is asked to read from the bible about the birth of Christ. My mom started this tradition because she wanted us to honor the reason we are together to celebrate the season.
Then comes the highlight for the littles. Santa makes a visit and brings gifts to all of the kids. (Presents are compliments of each child’s parents.)
Once the kids are busy playing with their new gifts, the adults have a cut-throat gift exchange. It is guaranteed to bring lots of laughter.
Lastly, my SIL leads us in a few off-key Christmas carols. Of course, everyone complains about having to do this. We are not a musical family… to say the least.
The evening is capped off by serving Tom & Jerry’s from my mom’s recipe. If you have never had them, they are a sweet, hot beverage and a perfect way to end the evening.
My mom’s Tom & Jerry Recipe.
Christmas morning was peacefully quiet for us. Mr. U and I still exchange stockings. Later that afternoon we had a small group of immediate family over for dinner. It is pretty calm and low key. By Christmas evening I was ready to put my feet up and watch a Christmas show, exhausted but with a full heart.
In moments when I am tired from all of the preparations, I wonder why. Why do we go to all of this trouble? Christmas is supposed to be about peace and appreciation. Then Mr. U told me about a co-worker that lives alone and does not have family close by. (We would have invited him to join us for dinner on Christmas day, but another co-worker already did.)
It was that stark reminder of how grateful we need to be if we have people to share the holidays with, especially the littles. THAT is the reason we women shop and bake and wrap and decorate every available surface. Because, as I have told Mr. U many times (after I am done complaining about all of the work for the holidays) if we women did not do all of this, it would just feel like another ordinary day. So, this post goes out to all of the exhausted women out there who made Christmas special. I see you.
I hope that each of you had a wonderful Christmas and now you can sit back, enjoy the memories and get some well deserved rest.
It is that time of year that we all scratch our heads and contemplate what to get that special someone. Christmas is just around the corner, and we need to find that perfect gift… fast. I think that most of us are familiar with that panicked feeling. What do you get somebody that deserves a thoughtful gift but already has everything they need? How about an experience instead of a tangible gift?
DIL #1 manages a jewelry store, and she says that the week before Christmas is their busiest time of the year. That and Valentine’s Day. Mostly men coming in to find a “meaningful” last minute gift. After all, what woman doesn’t love diamonds? However, a quick last-minute purchase dilutes the meaning of an expensive gift.
Personally, we are at a point in life where we do not need more Stuff. We don’t have room for it, and I don’t want to keep feeding the consumerism machine unnecessarily. Not to mention that we just did a major household purge when we downsized.
Both Mr. U and I have been guilty of getting each other gifts that have never been used. It creates a nagging sense of guilt while it takes up precious real estate on the shelf. The matting and framing kit that I got Mr. U comes to mind. Never taken out of the package. (Just for the record, he did say he wanted one.) Neither of us want to continue to buy each other unused gifts. Yet, it feels Grinchy, and a little anticlimactic, not to give a gift at all. The gift conundrum is particularly challenging when birthdays and Christmas roll around in the same month.
Experiences instead of more stuff
Another year around the sun. Every year my sister makes a lovely dinner, complete with a gorgeous table setting for my birthday.
I just had a birthday this month. And like most people that have birthdays around the holidays, their family members struggle to come up with both a birthday gift AND a Christmas gift. Poor souls. This struggle caused Mr. U to come up with a great idea for our birthday gifts. There isn’t really anything we need, so why not get each other experiences for our birthdays instead? This year Mr. U got me an overnight stay at a local resort, with dinner in their beautiful dining room. We had a lovely room with a fireplace and view of the lake. The memory of it will last longer than anything he could buy me. Now I am already planning where we will go for his birthday.
The resort in our small town goes all out with lights at Christmas (left). Our room with the lovely lake view (right).
One of my favorite birthday gifts
One of the very first gift experiences I received was from son #3. Several years ago, he gave me a “paint and sip” evening. The best part was that he got it for him too, so that we could do it together. It was such a wonderful evening as we created, laughed and enjoyed each other’s company. Bonus that we got to take our art home. My painting is mediocre at best, but I put it up every year because it reminds me of that thoughtful evening with my son.
Son #3 and I with our masterpieces.
Gift experience ideas
So, as you are desperately trying to figure out last minute gifts, consider giving a Christmas card with an experience tucked into it. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
tickets to a favorite game or show
an overnight get-a-way
dinner and a movie
an afternoon at the spa
a round of golf together
an invitation to a high tea
a hike with a pack lunch
a fishing excursion or lake cruise
an art night
The ideas are endless, and it can be as elaborate or simple as your budget allows. It just needs to be something you can do together. It would be easy to get busy and forget to follow through, so you may want to include a specific date with the gift.
My sister and I have been getting my dad an experience for his Christmas gift for a few years now. We take him to dinner and a wonderful live Christmas musical. It puts you in the spirit of Christmas and at 98 years old, he appreciates it more than anything we could buy him.
So, forget fighting the crowds at the mall or the endless scrolling to find the obligatory gift that will sit in the closet and eventually end up in a landfill. Instead, try gifting an experience that you can do together. Mr. U and I still get each other a small gift and stocking stuffers, because, well… it is Christmas and it is nice to have something to open in the morning. (And the grands still get gifts, of course.) But birthdays are going to be about experiences together.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas from our house to yours! May you enjoy the season with those you love and hold close to your heart. I will see you after the new year.
It is hard to believe that December is already here. It is time to get decorating for Christmas and asking Alexa to play Christmas songs. Or is it? Maybe I am too late. The stores have had their Christmas decorations up and Christmas carols playing for several weeks now. Actually, right after Halloween. I suppose because Halloween and Christmas are the money-making holidays and Thanksgiving is not. The IG content creators tell me that many of the items they were going to share are already sold out. People have sunk into Christmas in October and simply bypassed autumn and Thanksgiving.
We had an interesting conversation at the Thanksgiving table this year. People debated the merits of putting up your tree before or after Thanksgiving. Christmas is probably the biggest, most favored holiday of the year and several people wanted to enjoy the twinkle lights for as long as possible. Others felt like fall and Thanksgiving deserved to be celebrated fully first.
The lovely couple we visited with across the table from us, were on two different sides of the fence. She was ready to put the tree up weeks ago, and he was in the camp that wants to wait until after Thanksgiving. It was a fun conversation, and I am happy to say that no one whipped out their phone to determine the majority of people’s answer to this question.
We had Thanksgiving dinner at son #2’s home. He cooked a turkey on his Traeger and deep fried another one. Both were moist and delicious. I could not decide which one I liked better. My lovely DIL set a gorgeous table, using some of The Wedding China I gave her.
The adult table was full, as well as 10 children at the kid’s table. Mr. U informed me solemnly that he was the second oldest person there.
Which side of the fence are you?
Personally, I am on the side of the fence that believes in waiting until after Thanksgiving. This started out of necessity many years ago when all of the kids were at home. We usually had the three days after Thanksgiving off from work and school, so it was the perfect time to pull out the Christmas boxes and get started. Besides, I love autumn and Thanksgiving and do not want to rush past them. But there is something special about the generosity and spirit of Christmas that pulls me. So, the day after Thanksgiving, watch out! I will be hauling out boxes, lighting candles and singing “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…”
Our little city kicks off the Christmas season with an annual parade, fireworks and a tree lighting ceremony. I am glad they wait until the Friday after Thanksgiving to do this. It is a great way to commence the season. We were fortunate to be invited to our DIL’s mother’s condo to have snacks, sip hot cider and observe the festivities from a bird’s eye view.
The Christmas parade from a bird’s eye view. Standing in awe of the powerful fireworks show.
So, which side of the fence are you on? And since our Canadian neighbors celebrate Thanksgiving in October, how do they decide when to put up their Christmas decorations? It is Monday, December 1st as I write this post and all of my Christmas decorations were put up over the weekend. l am retired now but old habits are hard to break. Besides I like the tradition of putting up the Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving. We don’t have the Christmas tree up yet though. We still need to decide whether we are going real or fake this year. Of course that is a whole other debate for another day.
I hope you enjoy the festivities of preparing for this season of warmth and goodwill, whichever side of the fence you are on.
There are so many things I am thankful for this year. Of course I have the usual items on my list: family, friends and our health. I am grateful that we are nesting in our new home and creating a retirement life there. But also, high on my thanksgiving list is the ability to share my thoughts about retirement life in this blog. But it would not be any fun at all without someone to read it. So mostly, I am thankful for you dear readers. Thank you for taking the time out of your lives to read my string of words and to share your comments.
We are looking forward to going to son #2 and his family’s home for dinner this year. (It still seems strange that my kids are old enough to host a holiday.) They are both wonderful cooks, and we will all pitch in with the side dishes. One of my favorite things about this holiday is that we are not distracted and running around buying gifts or coloring eggs. The focus is on just being appreciative for life and our peeps that we share it with. Well… and the food… and football.
I hope you have a long list of things you are thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving!
Lover of flip flops, waking up without an alarm, fireside chats, street tacos, waves lapping up on shore, creativity, family, the cork and all things garlic.
