>Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat.
Please put a penny in the old man’s hat.
If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’penny will do.
And if you haven’t got a ha’penny, God bless you!
–English traditional
It’s that time of year. My mom is the family hostess and now she is planning menus for the holidays. I was looking through Mom’s book o’holiday prep a few days ago and found that we are having goose! She was feeling nostalgic, I think, for past Christmases, because we haven’t had goose in a long time. Not, I think, since I was a child and my parents were throwing Christmas parties.
These parties were spectacular. I remember lots of people, cocktails, my mother in a long, shiny, plaid skirt- something you’d find in the Lord&Taylor’s holiday section. She and Dad really enjoyed those parties with all of their friends and co-workers gathered in our little house, warm and cozy and full to the brim with eggnog and good food. I remember the sweets. There were marzipan rounds dipped in dark chocolate, dates stuffed with peanut butter, and Claxton fruitcake. We joke about using those for doorstops but back in the day we actually enjoyed eating them. Shocker, hunh?
We kids would run around or sit as quietly as we could with our Shirley Temples and watch a holiday show on tv (no vcrs or DVDs back in the mid-70’s my children!). It seems that being surrounded by people, good food, and music is especially great fun at Christmas.
Now I’m home for a long weekend, using up my paid leave. My shopping done, and I’m finishing my dad’s slipper socks and hoping the 3rd time is the charm. I bought the wool at the Sheep & Wool Show months ago, and now I am having a little trouble because when I try to put patterns in I pull the secondary color too tight, or something, and he can’t get his foot in the sock! It’s a shame too, I was just getting the hang of some really cool stars and such.
This morning was decadence. I was supposed to go to NYC for the weekend, but the threat of a transit strike in the city made me nervous and I wasn’t packed and hadn’t slept well two nights ago, so I decided to stay home. This will make it a little tough to get the chenille for my mother’s gloves, but where there’s a will, there’s a website! Check this out.
Nathan Lane was on Good Morning America and he made Katie Couric laugh so hard- I can’t watch this stuff usually because I’m at work and it’s such fun to eat breakfast in my bathrobe and relax. I have cards to write, gifts to wrap and some packages to send. We will decorate the tree this weekend, and I will definitely see “Goblet of Fire”- Harry Potter movies are a holiday tradition, it seems.
So now the real project is enjoying the season. Not letting the hustle and bustle frustrate or annoy. Listening to carols with fresh ears. Picking gifts with meaning, rather than buying any old thing to get out of the mall quicker.
Happy Holidays!
Good Stuff 