Christmas Past and Present

Another week has come and gone, time is flying by isn't it?  I've been comfortably busy with preparations for my holiday week.  Can you believe it will all commence next Saturday?  Eep!  Fall and winter months speed by and yet late summer months go at a snail's pace.  I wish I could reverse the perception.  

I've been at the gym five times this week slowly building back up what I momentarily lost while being under the weather.  Let's hope I don't catch anything else!  If only there was a discrete way of spraying Lysol around everyone I meet.  

Grant's biography is my company on the treadmill and never fails being a faithful companion while I walk.  

For now the cat/dog antics have quieted down.  Every day earlier in the week, Holly would come out to our family room while Frodo was unaware, then he would spy her and the barking would start up.  Holly hates the barking.  I've been trying to train him and there is improvement but I've yet to convince Holly.  All I know is that it will only get better! 

I started wrapping the gifts and today will probably finish the wrapping of what has already been delivered.  I am done with brick and mortar store shopping.  From here on out I avoid shopping on the weekends due to the crowds and traffic. 

Next week I'll be baking and on Wednesday our new fridge and dishwasher arrive.  (yay!).  The dishwasher is almost 20 years old and I'm NOT convinced it is cleaning dishes based on how filthy it looks around the seals.  I've been hand washing for quite some time.

The fridge is 14 years old and I wanted a new one because some of the shelves are broken enough to be wiggly.

My husband's Christmas break will be starting soon, so it'll be nice to have him around before all kids arrive next weekend.

I've been thinking about my mom and grandmothers a lot as I prepare for the celebrations.  As a young child we would go to my gram's house until early evening, then go to the other grandmother's house until Midnight Mass.  I would try my best to stay awake for Mass but sleep would overcome eventually.  Once Mass was over, we'd go back to the first Gram's house for more celebrations. 

There was so much food!  Desserts!  Candy!  Presents!

On Christmas day (will an enormous lack of sleep hangover) my sister and I would wake up early to open our gifts.  Then we would tumble back into the car and visit both grandparent houses yet again. 

My mom hated all the running around and as I grew up the traditions changed.  When we moved from the city of Pittsburgh to the suburbs we stopped the visiting all together.  We went to 6:30 evening Mass and did our own thing.  We would see the grandmothers at our house instead.

When my husband and I were first married, we would drive do crazy driving from Ohio to Pennsylvania then off to London Ontario during the Christmas week.  We kept that up even when we were living in Michigan.  Driving to my family was 14 hours and driving to his family was 10 hours.

When our second child was born, we stopped the Christmas week visiting.  Our new son would scream bloody murder in a moving car.  He hated the car (and was colicky so he hated everything).
Our Christmas was quiet and calm, starting new traditions.

Are you traveling?  Are you staying put?  Who will you be seeing during the holidays?