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August 20, 2011

A Bit Of Me


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Hosted by Danielle at There's A Book From Danielle's blog:
We all leave our “footprint” on the world, in one way or another. We each, individually, do something or are someone that makes the world a little better just by being here. I created this weekly meme to get to know the blogging community I love just a bit better. To know what makes them tick, outside of books, that is. Each week I will post a question to be answered in the following week’s “A Bit of Me(Me)”. Check back each Saturday to get the info for next week’s post and link up with your current post right here.
This week's question:  Do you have a favorite holiday? Which one?Read more: http://www.theresabook.com/category/a-bit-of-meme/#ixzz1VOtjUl8A

For 23 years, my favorite holiday was Christmas Eve.  The Italian custom is to have a 7 fish dish supper and for 23 years, I hosted that.  It became a 4 day tradition with my boys.  The day before school officially let out for Christmas vacation, I would keep my youngest son home from school and we would go grocery shopping for Christmas Eve.  Then come home and clean the house.  The following day, pick up the fish and start cleaning it and preparing the food that was on our menu.  It would take 2 full days of preparation and cooking.  Christmas Eve we would have a sit down dinner with immediate family and close friends, approximately 20 people.  And then around 10pm  we had an "open house" until the wee hours into the morning with family and friends stopping by, eating leftovers, having coffee and, a couple of drinks and enjoying the company.  It became a tradition not only for my boys, but for their friends too.  And as they got older, the longer the night became lol.

Approximately 6 years ago I had to, and it was a disappointment to many including myself, I physically couldn't do it anymore due to my back.  And in those 6 years, Christmas has changed. Now they are bittersweet.  I didn't think being in the tail end of the baby boomers, issues like holidays would also be affected.

What about you?  What is your favorite holiday?



4 comments:

Carol N Wong said...

I used to love getting ready for Christmas too. I am at the first year of the baby boomers. I have a lot of arthritis in my neck and back and several other chronic pain conditions. Also my husband's family didn't celebrate Christmas as he came from Taiwan. About all that I do for Christmas now is send out cards with letters written on the back and my husband puts up the tree.

So, I would say, that my favorite holiday has changed to the Autumn Moon Festival. We buy mooncakes from Chinese pastry shops and enjoy the different fillings like dates and nuts, green tea, black bean paste with hard boiled egg. It is too hot here but when we were in California, we used to sit outside and enjoy watching the moon while eating the cakes. One time, we went to a park in Monterey Park, CA to enjoy performances by singers, acrobats and martial arts performances. The audience all sang along in Mandarian the traditonal autumn moon festivals songs. So now, when enjoy the sweet, chewy cakes, it always brings that great memory of sitting on the ground (can't do that now) with many Chinese Americans and enjoying the show.

Carol Wong

Unknown said...

Christmas is always a pretty magical time :)

http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/08/bit-of-meme_20.html

XmasDolly said...

What can I say, but a repeat of what you said. First my Gram did it & those days were the best. Oh Lord would I love to bring back them & her. I miss her so much! Then my Mon did it, but it wasn't the same (my mom didn't inherit my gram's flare for cooking). So, I started to help her when I could, but that wasn't too often because I would usually be working supporting four kids was a real b---h! But my kids always had what they wanted for Christmas no matter what! I remember one year I even sold my fur coat to get my kids the presents they wanted for Christmas. I didn't care it's the best time of the year! hugzzzz me

The1stdaughter said...

You are the second book blogging friend I've met that celebrates(ed) the Italian celebration of Christmas. I love the sound of it! I think the only time I regret only having two children is during these holidays because your mention of large gatherings at the holidays sounds so wonderful. I can completely understand how you would miss it. Hopefully, one of your kiddos will take up the torch at some point in the future and you'll be able to fall in love with it all over again! Until then, many hugs & much love!