We Need What?
| Your Christmas is Most Like: The Muppet Christmas Carol |
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So I couldn’t sleep and went blogging. Found this at Kathy’s site: What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?
My maternal grandmother went blind a bit early in life. Diabetes-related. So every Christmas for years, my gift to her was to take her to a movie. She couldn’t see the television well, but Mama could easily hear and see what was on the screen in a big theater, so we took in the likes of Nine To Five, Tootsie, something humorous but not too raunchy. My son picked up the tradition when he was about six years old, taking me to movies using his own Christmas money, movies like Beverly Hills Cop. To this day (he’s almost thirty now), he still treats me to a movie or two for Christmas. Sometimes, the movies last a bit longer, because we watch them at home. The year before last, he bought me season one of Six Feet Under. Last year it was the DVD collection of Dead Like Me. (Okay, so our themes are a tad more in keeping with my personality than Mama’s.)
I would generally start “my” season by putting on some music, specifically “We Need A Little Christmas”, as a background for my decorating. I loved volunteering for Meals On Wheels, to take lunches or dinners to shut-ins. Then one year, I became the shut-in, as I recuperated from an accident. That’s really the year that I began seriously pursuing writing. I’d belonged to online writers’ groups for several months by then, and I had the “tools” – sometimes I just needed some incentive. My son had been invited to his girlfriend’s house, to spend time with her family. A couple of friends heard about this (and don’t get me wrong – I had encouraged him to go do this), and they put their heads together. On the 23rd of December, gifts started arriving from around the world. Phone calls from Australia and Sweden, flowers and gift certificates, spa baskets, afghans, Godiva chocolates, DVDs, CDs, books from published authors, you name it. So, yeah, I think The Muppet Christmas Carol pretty much fits my mood any more during the season. It’s when I spend time reflecting more than anything else.
My first “career”, for lack of a better word, was in music. As a performer, there were tons of parties. One year, my vocal coach’s wife gave me a recipe for eggnog that I still make every year.
Fran Michel’s Eggnog Recipe
2 jiggers of rum per quart
4 eggs
8 Tablespoons of sugar
4 cups of milk
Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, remove from heat. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of vanilla (or to taste). Add ½ pint of whipping cream and beat a couple of minutes. Let thicken a few minutes, then serve hot, or chill in refrigerator a couple of hours and serve cold. (A Cajun friend told me stir in a pinch of ground hot chili pepper if you like spicy drinks, but I’m a woosie and like my eggnog simple.)
I still partake of whatever is going on—the occasional party or dinner with friends, gift exchanges, etc, but the highlight of the season for me is the movie with #1 Son.
How about you? Any holiday traditions you'd like to share?
Don't forget to stop over at the recipes blog to pick up this week's recipes. http://authorlyncashrecipes.blogspot.com/
posted by Bobbie (Sunny) Cole @ 4:03 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
You're a Dead Like Me fan, too? That has been my favorite made-for-TV drama for ... well, forever. It still bugs the crap out of me that they cancelled it.
We always take one evening and go around our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. Naturally, we have to comment on flair, originality, tackiness, and what-were-they-thinking??? And of course, we've never decorated outside so have no real idea what it entails except it looks like a lot of work!
Thanks for the egg nog. YUM! :-) BTW, DH is a rabid Dead Like Me fan.
Tanya
We used to do the Christmas light tour back when I drove. Seems I was the only one interested, though, because it stopped after I quit driving.
And, yeah, BIG TIME Dead Like Me fan here. I thought it some of the best writing ever. I was hooked from show # 1 when she got killed by the flying toilet. (Now if THAT doesn't intrigue those who aren't familiar with the series, nothing will.)
My quiz answer said: “Your Christmas is most like A Charlie Brown Christmas. Each year, you really get into the spirit of Christmas. Which is much more important to you than nifty presents.” And I’d have to say that’s true! :-D
As for holiday traditions, my husband, daughter and I share a warm festive Christmas together, with a sampling of traditional homemade foods harkening from our mixed family heritages of Greek, Irish, English and Saxon. Since moving to Oregon from Chicago, we also add in all the favorite foods that we miss from Chicago that aren’t available out here (we have them mailed). I imagine that you can tell from this that I’m a major foodie. LOL
Our Christmas tree is filled with memorable ornaments, mostly handcrafted ones that we’ve made over the years, and little pieces of memorabilia from our travels and special occasions that we later converted into ornaments. Our daughter’s tree holds ornaments we’ve all made and also includes wonderful items her friends have crafted. They exchange handmade ornaments each year.
All in all, I love Christmas and everything that goes along with it, from the music, to favorite movies and books, the festive spirit, and, of course, the warm friendly smiles and hellos from random passersby. If it could only be like that all year!
Dead Like Me had wonderful writing. There aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary. That show managed to choke me up nearly every blessed week.
I miss George.
Oh, Daisy, what KEWL traditions! Thanks for sharing. Tanya, you are quite welcome. That was one of my first "newlywed" recipes - ha ha.
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