The holi-daze are coming...joy

[bt03]

This past weekend while picking things up at various stores in town I noticed everyone is getting ready for Christmas. I always hate that Halloween and Thanksgiving are skipped over and everyone goes straight to Christmas. So I always over decorate for both and leave the last to my husband. Poor Halloween and Thanksgiving

They get almost no love from people

While waiting for our friend to get off work a couple weeks ago (she lives with us till she gets back on her feet) my husband made a comment. "This year why don't we just refuse to go anywhere and have just us together? That way we don't spend a ton of money and no one spends on us, since we don't have a lot and can't really afford anything this year. Then we can just relax and be a family at the holidays since we are constantly having to divy up time between all of our families."


So why don't we just stay home this year? Take time and actually be a family. That is what holidays are about right? Being happy and making great memories together. I can' remember the last time I didn't have to travel to see family. It is always filled with one sort of drama or another, a pity party, a screaming match, uncomfortable silences and glares. This year I want my daughter to open her presents and enjoy them, not just grab what fits in the car because we have to be at point A in _ hours then we have _ amount of time there then we have to travel _ more hours to point B the we can stay up till _ but we have to wake up at _ then go to point C then after spending _ hours there we can come home in time to sleep and get ready for work tomorrow.

I can cook pretty good, so I think I will make a ham for Thanksgiving and I can make a mean pumpkin pie.

Christmas will be trickier but I have time to figure that one out later (depending on how the ham turns out

)

So I guess the point of this whole ramble is what does everyone else do for the holidays? Do you travel, split time, stay home, not celebrate at all? Ah, the holi-daze... It really is a daze

 

[speckledhen]

I pretty much hate from Oct 1 through Jan 1. I'd like to skip the entire thing.

 

[PotterWatch]

We don't celebrate Christmas, so I don't have to deal with decorations for that. I LOVE decorating for Halloween though! It's one of my favorite holidays. We don't decorate for Thanksgiving, but we always either have it at home or drive to visit my parents in Arizona. It is always a pretty laid back holiday for us, as it should be!

 

[teeville5]

We're lucky enough to be just out of reach so we only have to go to 1 get together during Christmas. We stay home for Halloween and Thanksgiving.
The most stressful thing for me during this time is shopping because I never have time as it is my busy season at work. And unfortunately this year I get the added bonus of a bridal shower, fittings, and a wedding a week before Christmas because DH's brother is getting married. There is so much I have to do to get prepared for this oh so wonderful event

and I SO do not have time for this.

Really not looking forward to the next few months.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
x2.

 

[HHandbasket]

I guess I am a little bit of an oddball in that this is my absolute FAVORITE time of year! This is Baking Season! Cookies, pies, cakes... it's that time of year! Apples are ripe, harvest is in full swing, and pumpkins are fresh and yummy and ready to be made into pies and empanadas and soups!

One of the reason I like this season, though, is that I stopped doing the "have to go to every family get-together" thing a LONG time ago. Sometimes we'll drive the 2 hours to my sister's house for a get-together on Christmas Eve, sometimes we don't. Our family has gotten used to hearing from us, "We're staying home this year." We send out cards so our families know they are in our hearts (usually hand-made... so they know we are really thinking of them, not just sending them some odd card out of a stack we got at the dollar store). Sometimes my kids come, sometimes they don't. We usually get together the weekend before or weekend after Christmas so my grown kids can spend the holiday with their families without stressing. My family is also used to getting homemade gifts from me because even when we weren't broke, I still made a good percentage of gifts for family and friends. Now it's a necessity, but they're none the wiser!

We had too many of those holidays with the uncomfortable glances, the arguments, the whiners, the kids that ate way too much sugar and stayed up way too late because they're so excited and they're running and screaming and breaking stuff because they're so exhausted... so we just get together during the season when we can, if we can.

I am, in fact, getting started with my Christmas crafts now. I have the supplies for making soy wax candles (bought the stuff little by little over the course of the last year), as well as melt-and-pour soaps (have had that stuff a while now), hand-dipped incense sticks, and as always, plenty of jewelry.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Bt03,

That is exactly what my family does for pretty much every holiday, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love spending time with my immediate family, but some of my extended family...not so much. So it's usually just me, my mom, my dad, and my brother. We make a meal for ourselves and hang out by the fire and maybe watch a movie or even old home movies. So much better than a stressful day running from one place to another.

I actually think I enjoy Thanksgiving more than Christmas. We always make our turkey dance before sticking in the oven, and I always look forward to what crazy things my dad will make the turkey do. One year he cut out a picture of my mom and taped it to a wooden spoon and stuck it in the turkey. We also spend the morning watching the parade on TV. PLUS, it's a four day weekend for me! Those are rare in my college semester!

The month of October is my absolute favorite though. I love the colors of the trees and the pumpkins and the scary stories! I also LOVE all the decorations. My family was always very big into Halloween, and it is definitely one of my favorite times of year. I keep saying I would love to get married in October and my wedding could be a masquerade! I would love to have pumpkin flower arrangements on all the tables!

 

[punk-a-doodle]

When I first read the title I thought, "YAY! Holi"...and then realized it was the wrong time of year.

My husband and I celebrate different parts of the year in different ways each year it seems. We don't usually do gifts, but sometimes do. Depends how we feel that year. XD

 

[spiritdance]

My husband flatly refuses to travel anywhere during the holidays (and I love him for it!) He says we spent years raising the grown kids, making the holidays all about them, and now it's our and our youngest daughter's turn. If anyone wants to spend time with us for the holidays, they are always welcome and we have plenty of room HERE, in OUR HOME. We make the holidays about extra time together. We do crafts, cook together, take extra walks, make holiday gifts for the animals and extended family, etc. I have to say, ever since DH put his foot down about this I no longer dread the appearance of holiday merchandise in the stores. That used to be my signal that it was time to brace for too much to do, too much to spend, and too little sleep in too little time. Now, it's my signal to slow down and enjoy the gifts God has given me and seriously contemplate what the season is truly about. So speaking from experience, your husband is a wise man! The only down side is that once you do this, you will never want to go back to the way things were before.

 

[bt03]

I think I have met my people and I am happy now

Speckled- If a president can change when the time changes then a president should be able to add an extra month between November and December to keep people sane

Potter- I think we could be very good friends

Halloween is me favorite holiday! I decorate in the soft warm colors of fall not the scary stuff because it seems like the only time I have all year to relax.

tee- I believe there should be no birthdays, anniversaries or weddings allowed in December

It is a crazy enough month as it is! My sister-in-law insists on having my niece's birthday part a week before Christmas and it has to be lavish affair because she is the baby, the only girl, and she can't be cheated out of more gifts

(I do love them both dearly but, really, right before Christmas?)

HHandbasket- (I still love that name lol) If I could bake and cook and not have to worry about everything else that comes with holidays and family I would love it! I do think my husband is a very smart man and I am really relieved that he suggested that we stop making ourselves crazy for our families. I have wanted to do this for years but I knew if I waited for the right time he would figure it out, so I waited patiently like a good wife does

I told him if we do decide to at least visit after that I just want to do a family basket. Something that the whole family can do together like a game or a movie with little snacks, nothing to expensive. His family especially never does anything together and their kids always want to come with us because we take our daughter with us and like to go on outings that are tailored to her.

doodle- I got married in October and it was AMAZING! We had more days of good weather to choose from and the colors we so soft and romantic and inviting.