Hi everyone. Hope you all are enjoying the festive time of year. Christmas has wonderful memories for me. As a child, I swear my grandmothers were elves. If we weren’t at my Schertz grandparents by 6am, Grandma was on the phone demanding we get going. She was always excited for us to arrive. My Grandpa Schertz just about drove us crazy. He had a video camera and had made a board with lights. We would be just starting open a present a one of the bulbs would go out, so we had to wait while Grandpa to get the light bulb replaced. Do you know how hard it is as a 5 year old to have to wait?
Grandma always had a fabulous breakfast. Sweet rolls, ham, and so much more. Either Christmas Eve or Christmas afternoon we would go to my Grandma Young’s house. Have I said both of my grandmothers were fabulous cooks and bakers? They both made homemade caramels, several types of cookies, Grandma Schertz had a huge marble slab for when she made peanut brittle. She also made peanut butter balls that were covered in chocolate. Talk about a sugar coma after nibble all day on all of that.
Lunch and dinners almost always included sweet potatoes (not just for Thanksgiving), almond green beans (green bean casserole with Schertz differences). Homemade dinner rolls, jello salad, my dad’s favorite cranberry slaw. Ok, I’m hungry now. When we got older and my Grandparents were gone, we moved towards the next generation. My parents were the grandparents, with my nieces and nephews, followed by my daughter for Grandma and Grandpa to drive crazy. I still haven’t found one of the stuffed animals I bought and asked my mom to hide for me to give Cate. She did a fabulous job hiding things.
When Cate was born in 1990, her great great grandmother on her dad’s side was still with us. We had 5 generation photos for her first Christmas. Usually I would either take Cate to her father’s party on Christmas Eve or dropped her off. The next day was my family. Usually I would make coffee cake for breakfast.
These days, it is not a big deal in our house. There is only my younger brother and Cate and I here, and she usually has to work. It is a busy time of year for her, as she is an animal care person. She picks up dogs for group hikes or private walks, does check ins if people are away to make sure the pets are fine. Many times she has done housesitting. So we keep everything small. We tend to give each other gifts as the come in.
Usually, a day or two after Christmas, we go shopping at pet places such as Petco or Petsmart and a couple other places where we get great discounts. The furbabies don’t care when it gets to them or what sort of character is on it. It is also a good time to stock up on things in gift boxes of nuts and teas and more. Yes, I am big on stocking up on things when they are on sale. I observe Yule which is the 21st. It represents the winter festival historically from the Germanic people. It is the shortest day, longest night of the year, giving birth to the beginning of a new year (think the baby new year).
What are some of your holiday traditions? I love learning about other people’s traditions.
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