While it’s been rare for me to live somewhere that it snows so it’s not a big deal that we don’t have white holidays here in Tucson, Arizona, however it is odd to have it be 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit, put on my sunglasses, and turn the fan on in the afternoon and be trying to remember that it’s almost Christmas. I had a hard time getting into the spirit this year because it still feels like summer to me. Since I’ve only rarely lived in the snow, though, I’m not sure what usually gets me into the mood.
Somehow, in the middle of spending lots of quality time with the husband and snuggling up reading books, it happened. I’m not even sure how, but my somewhat unstable holiday mania kicked in, and I got in the mood to start putting on the necessary movies. I know a lot of people don’t like them, but I love all the cheesy holiday movies I can get, like Look Who’s Talking Now (the one with the dogs!) and Home Alone, Muppets Christmas Carol, and for the first time ever I plan on watching the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and Scrooged.
I’m glad I finally got my Christmas Hat on, it would be weird to never have gotten into the zone. Desert sun or not, I’ve gotta get the Christmas Cheer together! It made me wonder, though, what usually helps you get your holiday eyes set? Is it the snow (if you live somewhere with snow) or all the mania at the malls or? How do you get into the holiday spirit?
I love a good list! On that note, these are positive things I’ve been doing lately.
+ Cooked a TON of new recipes! I’ve taken a lot of omni recipes, particularly Rachel Ray ones lately, and been changing the things I don’t like and making them vegan. I have made a series of amazing meals. Every time we sit down to dinner for the past two weeks or so it seems we’re eating some new and exciting meal! I’m getting really good at stepping out of my comfort zone with food.
+ And, while I have your attention, these garlicky fries will become your new addiction as soon as you make them, I promise.
+ I’ve been writing a bunch of short stories and flash fiction, and the ideas never seem to end! It’s always good to be writing. Well, it can be hard, and I can want to pull my hair out for hours on end… but it’s always better than NOT writing. How bizarre is that?
+ Listened to The New Pornographers song Moves on repeat, for hours. This is not a very uncommon thing for me to do—I usually have a “song of the moment” that I play until anyone around me can’t take it any more.
+ I’ve been enjoying a nice semi-nightly ritual of hot chocolate, blackberries, and reading.
+ Had a birthday! I went to see The Muppets (which was just as great as everyone keeps saying!) and The Husband made me lots of delicious food, including homemade hash browns (which, in case you’ve never made them yourself, take forever!) that were amazing.
+ I’ve been wearing my fancy new knee high Sock It To Me socks that a best friend sent for my birthday! I always appreciate socks.
+ Have been getting better at time management throughout my day, and working on not beating myself up so much-which is always a good thing!
What have you been doing, lately?
I’ve recently been reading a lot of things that I meant to read a long time ago and never seemed to get around to. Luckily, they were all things I really enjoyed!
The Guild by Felicia Day Jim Rugg and Dan Jackson – I was so impressed with this. It really kept the feel of the series, both in terms of the voices of the characters and the flow of the show. And the artwork was really gorgeous-I kept pausing and staring at it. If you don’t know, this was a prequel to the series, telling the story of Cyd getting into the game. You also get a look at what the other characters were up to before they became a guild. I can’t wait to check out the one shots they’ve done for the characters. This is safe to read if you’ve seen the show or not, but I’m sure it’s more fun if you’re familiar with the show.
The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – Yes, I read all three of these in under a week. I know there are a lot of “I told you sos!” owed to me out there on this one, I don’t know why I put off reading it for so long, but I’m so glad that I’ve read it now. I’m obsessed.
Each book in this series had such a different feel to it. The books get compared to Harry Potter and Twilight (even though those two series are very different themselves) and The Hunger Games is again, very different. This series is about war and the effects war has on children. It takes place in the future, which helps it also make a lot of comments on society today. It’s fast paced, exciting, interesting, and really sucked me in quickly.
Stone of Tears (Sword of Truth #2) by Terry Goodkind – I stopped halfway through this book back in January, and I just came back to it. Little did I know what I had stopped before that I was just a few minutes of reading away from where this book got good! There was still a LOT of rambling and I kept wanting to pull out a red pen and fix the writing in this book. Despite the repetive speeches, the second half of this book got really exciting and I’m looking forward to diving into the third one. Where hopefully there will be a lot more Gratch! Also, I feel obligated to tell you that Richard does not look anything in my mind like he does on this book cover.
Going Bovine by Libba Bray – I had no idea what this book was about when I started reading, which was for the best. It made it an even stranger read, if that’s possible. This book is not going to be for everyone, simply because it is such a strange ride, but I really loved it for that exact reason. Somehow, it manages to put you in these most ridiculous situations, which you’d think would make for fluffly light reading, but then it all has all this depth and things to think about mixed in. It’s a hard one to recommend to people because I’d hate to spoil it for you, but I will say it’s a journey about learning to live.
What have you read lately?
There aren’t really pictures of my husband and I together, even though we’ve been together for eight years. This summer I thought I was determined to change that-but then never really did much about it. EXCEPT for these gems, taken on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. I think they’re more awesome than anything else we’d take, anyhow.
I always find it so fascinating from November through New Years, all the little traditions that have to be observed for the holiday to really count. Thanksgiving just isn’t Thanskgiving without ______-and everyone fills in that blank differently. I remember the year my mother wanted us all to eat a ham on Thanksgiving and throughout the whole day everyone made jokes about how bizarre it was that our Turkey used to oink. “Usually on Thanksgiving we gobble our dinner, but I guess this year we oink?”
What you eat, when you eat, how you decorate, where you gather—all of these things are largely determined by how you were taught to celebrate the holidays. When you get together with someone new for a holiday you have to ask dozens of questions about what they do on their day so you can try to combine the two, hopefully creating new traditions.
My husband and I have created a lot of these over the years, for instance, we always watch the Snoopy holiday specials on Thanksgiving and Christmas. On Christmas Eve we watch Love Actually. We open one present on Christmas Eve and first thing Christmas morning we eat something small and turn on the tree lights before we open any presents. Stockings can be dumped on the floor whenever though—no restraint necessary!
What are your traditions? Does everyone say what they’re thankful for at your table? Do you open presents one at a time, or does everyone just dive in? Do you have necessary foods? Movies that you always watch? Songs that must be heard?
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