Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose…
...or a sun-drenched beach house with cold drinks on the patio?
A real tree, green or flocked, or an artificial tree? Tinsel or garland? A Christmas goose, turkey or ham? Opening presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Do you send Christmas cards, or Christmas letters?

Or not Christmas at all? What holiday do you celebrate, and how?

*for our British Isle friends, what is Boxing Day, anyway?

Everyone’s Christmas (or other winter holiday) tradition is different. I thought it would be fun to exchange stories about how each of us celebrates the holidays then and/or now.

MY CHRISTMAS STORY

My parents, though they hated each other for many of the years of my childhood, always went all out for Christmas. We had to have a real tree (green, no flocking), and us kids always picked out one that was just a smidgen - or a whole lot - too tall, and my dad always grumbled and cussed under his breath as he trimmed and cut and tried to make it fit, and then the whole family decorated it with multi-colored lights, beautiful glass ornaments and tinsel.

Absolutely NO gifts were opened on Christmas Eve, no matter how much my little brother and I begged and pleaded. We put cookies and milk out for Santa , and were sent to bed. In our house, there was a hall door separating my brother’s and my bedrooms from the living room, and my parents would close it firmly to keep curious eyes from prying. More than once we were hollered at to get back in bed as we crept up to the door, trying to hear what was going on in there (and we thought we were so stealthy).

On Christmas morning, they would open that door to reveal a wonderful tableau of wrapped gifts, and some special ones from Santa, unwrapped and on display – train sets or Barbie houses, bikes, etc. The fragrance of warm cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa greeted us as we bounced around excitedly, looking at our new toys. Then Dad would pass out the gifts. It wasn’t the frenzied paper flying, gift-tossing to get at the next one I see with today’s kids. We savored each gift slowly, not wanting it to end.

After gifts were opened and we were bathed and dressed in our holiday best (for me, that meant frou-frou velvet dresses with stiff petticoats, white gloves and mary janes), it was off to Grandma’s for Christmas dinner (and more presents!). Dinner was completely American traditional: roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and giblet gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green beans, cranberry relish, homemade dinner rolls and various other goodies, completed with pumpkin or mince (yuck) pie. Each of us kids got a drumstick to gnaw on. After dinner, we got to sit with Grandma and Grandpa while we opened more gifts. Sitting on Grandpa’s lap while he watched football, sleepy from excitement and too much food - those are my favorite Christmas memories.

Today is much more modest, though I still have to have a real tree, or it just doesn’t feel like Christmas. This year, it is my mom and me, and we’ll open gifts on Christmas morning and have a fairly traditional holiday dinner (though we add wine, now ), nap and watch some holiday movies…or football.

***I wish everyone at AD a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa or whatever winter holiday you choose to celebrate. May you be surrounded by friends and loved ones, love and laughter this holiday season. Peace.***

Ahh, Christmas traditions/stories from my family... pardon the fragmentary nature of this post, but they're all rather memorable.

My grandmother bought my first Christmas tree in December of 1983 when I was barely three months old. It's a small, artificial tree only a foot or so high with a little bit of tinsel. She kept it near my crib and as I got older kept it and put it out every Christmas. She still has it after 21 years and when she passes it will go to me.

One year, after watching Bill Murray get to open gifts with his girlfriend on Christmas Eve in the movie Scrooged, my sister and I decided that we had case precident to go to our parents with and see if we couldn't do the same... that still sort of lasts until today.

Speaking of films, there are three that are required by law in my family to watch during the holidays. The first...

A Christmas Story.

Every year we'd watch it and nearly die laughing as my dad would quote in a goofy voice, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" The image of that damn lamp will forever be ingrained in my head.

The second film is A Christmas Carol...but the version with The Muppets. My mom still to this day will cry when Tiny Tim starts singing "It feels like Christmas", and when we look at her funny, she'll tell us to shut up.

The third and final film is an unofficial homage to our family, a bit toned up[I], but in many ways, our familes are similar. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation[I]. I could go on forever with this, but I won't. Just rent the damn thing. It's friggin hilarious.

We ususally get the tree mid December, cause they usually dry out if you buy em too early. And once we get the tree in, my mother takes control... you had better not be in her way when she's decorating the tree!

Christmas dinner is a ham, usually with an apricot glaze that I love...and I dont like apricots. I usually steal a few pieces before dinner. Then we just proceed to watch TV with relatives or talk somewhere around the house.

I have other goofy stories, but I'll save those for next year.

BTW, I believe Boxing Day has to deal with boxing things up. I swear.

The part of India we lived in when I was a child (the foothills of the Himalayan mountains) suffered from many years of badly managed land-use policy. By the 1970s, the area was heavily deforested, and the Indian government began a reforestation project. It became illegal to cut down trees. So the first Christmases I can remember, we had this green felt tree my mom cut out, taped or pinned to the wall.

One year, my dad snuck out at midnight, and cut down a very small fir tree. That was exciting. I think my mom was worried he might get arrested.

This year, we did most of our shopping online, which was very nice. No crazy trips to the store. Thankfully, the nearest mall is about three hours from here, so we never go there. I've been getting to know the UPS guy pretty well, though, as he stops here almost every day!

As for traditions, we don't really have anything significant. Sometimes I will cook a turkey with stuffing, sometimes I'll make a fancy Indian meal. This year for Thanksgiving I made mattar paneer, puris, dal, and chicken tikka masala. So for Christmas, I bought a turkey. Next year it'll probably switch around.

One thing nice about living out here in the northwest, is that we have access to cheap, large, and beautiful fir trees! I generally pay around 20 bucks here for a gorgeous 6 or 7 foot tree.

When I lived in Virginia, a friend of mine had an interesting Christmas tradition. He would sneak out to the countryside around Charlottesville, with some friends, and chop down a big tree. These would be 14 to 18 feet tall - he had a vaulted ceiling. There were times we almost got caught, and times we had to slog through two or more feet of snow, lugging our saws.

I too would like to wish everyone a Happy RamaHunaKwanSolMas!!!! And a happy New Year, which applies to any calender and is not restricted to just those who rightly or wrongly consider December 31st to be the last day of the year or even to exist. I would also like to point out that I also wish happiness to all those who do not believe in anything, unless of course they do not believe in happiness in which case I could wave, but will not because I wish not to offend anyone who might think waving with one hand or the other or simply waving at all is wrong. So in the case of those that do not believe in anything I will do my best no to believe in you to honor your tradition, or lack there of. I hope I got that right, the PC police are becoming tiresome.

My family had all sorts of traditions at one time.

Prior to Christmas my Mom would decorate. She would always have to beg for my father and I to participate, we eventually would only do so grudgingly. It was something of a family tradition. Dad would go up into the attic, bang his head, curse, finally find the boxes of Christmas stuff and drag them back, bang his head, curse, and then bring them to my Mom. Mom had certain ornaments that were special. Some, she would wait for Dad to be around to put up. Others I had to put up, etc. However, comentary, of a differing opinion was simply not an option when it came to the decorations in general, it was Mom's way, or it was Mom's way, or if you really put up a fight it was Mom's way. In the end we would all gather up to put the Angel or Star on the top of the tree. And there really was a simple feeling of joy just in doing that.

My Dad didn't put lights on the house, he didn't like them, but they would put other decorations out, like plastic garland on the porch handrail, electric candles in the windows, etc.

Christmas Eve was at my parents house and all my uncles, aunts, and grandparents would come. I became smaller as they all had kids, so for most of my memories it was just me and my folks, both sets of grandparents and my aunt and uncle on my father's side.

My Mother's Mother had her roll. A roll of film that is (more like 100) . She was also the baker of the family. She made "Jesus' Birthday Cake" which was in the form of a Christmas Tree.

We would have a family dinner. At the start my father would say grace. There was always something special about that. Dinner was always waaaaay too much food I would always overstuff myself. When desert came around all of the men would have eaten too much for it, so they would head downstairs to the pool table in the basement (and beer) While the women stayed at the table for coffee and desert and family talk.

We would gather together again to exchange family presents. The youngest person there would pass out all the family presents one at a time (All the ones that they brought marked "Santa" had already been hidden for there miraculous appearance on Christmas morn).

It was such a wonderful time.

My Father's Father would have a special toast, just before bed. It was always something new, and thoughtful regarding best wishes for the coming year.

Every year around this time I think back to those times. We have new traditions now, usually spending Christmas at my In-Laws house with my Mom visiting. But I think we ned our own. I would like to bring some of those traditions from my youth back to my family. Now, that I am the eldest male in my family in a way, it feels like it is my job. But the time seems to disappear each year before you can even consider what you want to do.

So, it will likely be another year without the start of a new, or return of an old tradition or two. But who knows, and there is always next year.

These last few years this holiday has been pretty hard on me. The loss of my Father was really tough, but his absence on Christmas, more then anything, really hits home.

So this year, I will take the step to try to introduce my new family to the tradition of the toast. Next year, I think I will take on the job of REALLY (in a Tim Taylor sort of way) Light the house, and who knows what will come next.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!! errr.....oopps, please refer to above disclaimer.

Titus, I am embarrassed to admit that I have never seen A Christmas Story. I know the line only because the movie was (and is still) so popular. I think I'm going to have to put that on my holiday "must see" list this year.

Quarkhead, what a cute Christmas tree story! And online shopping rules! I, too, am good friends with UPS and the postman (though he doesn't ring twice).

OverlandSailor, sure PC-ness has gotten out of hand, but it's still nice to recognize other people's holidays. Even though the show "The OC" is a cheesy teenage soap opera, they came up with the coolest name for a mixed Jewish/Christian family celebration - Chrismukkah. And I think it would be really special for you to continue your father's Christmas toast tradition. And I hear ya on the mom thing-moms rule on Christmas.

Hey Quark. Your tale of tree napping brought back a fond memory.
When I was 16 our family was facing a Christmas with nothing to spare. Living in CT heating oil gets very expensive so we lived in several layers of clothing during the winters. A bad year left my Mother with nothing left and we did our best to assure my Mother that at our advanced age (12-14-16) we really were "past" the whole Christmas thing anyways.
My Mom however was very depressed anyways because things were looking pretty grim. Not just Christmas but could she hold on to her house.
My brother and I decided that we would at the very least get my mom a tree. So at 2 in the A.M. we went sneaking up the road a few miles with a broken peice of saw and jumped the fence into a section of woods that held the wilder overgrown section of a Christmas Tree farm. We found a good sized one and eventually cut it down.

Ever try to inconspicuously run down the street with a giant snow covered pine tree?

We got the tree inside and set her up and decorated the tree. My Mom is an emotional type of person. When she is happy She is HAPPY
She kind of bounces around like a ferret that wants to play. So we woke to the sound of my Mom dancing in the living room. Thats all we could do for Christmas--I don't know if anyone is familiar with the dreaded Yorkshire pudding. A giant doughy pie full of peas and carrots with tiny traces of beef--completely drowned in gravy to make the dough swell in your stomach so you feel full, but that was dinner.
Didn't matter though. In typical Northeastern New England fashion we argued and told outrageous stories and made fun of each other at a level of volume that resembles more the floor of a stock exchange than a family get together--which is the normal method of expressing emotion for each other in that area. Good Times.

With my family just starting to build itself My wife and I are starting to build our personal holiday quirks. We want a BIG BIG family--with enough kids i should retire in style-- and enjoy having big get togethers with family and friends. We someday hope to have the kind of room in our home to just invite lots of people from all over to come for a huge holliday blowout. lots of Food--drink and of course LOUD fun.
I may need to somehow buy an apartment complex just for such events.

my wife has our tree up before Thanksgiving
and my home looks like Santa puked everywhere. We've got Christmas doilies and towels and paper towels and napkins and knickknacks strewn about. Favorite Christmas cards and pictures are tacked up wherever there is space.
Pure kitcsh folks.
She tries to keep a permanent stream of Christmas music playing but eventually my eye begins to twitch and for my sanity, I get a few moments of blessed silence.
we go tho more Light displays and events than any sane person really should and have already started to acquire technolgy to take our future light displays into the realm of Science fiction and Toolman Taylor insanity--Rolling Blackouts anyone.
Food will be plentiful and the total amount of cookies that are produced probably falls into the tonnage category.

Good Times

When I was younger, I remember spending most Christmases at my paternal grandparents house. Most of our traditions I picked up from them, with some variations.

For one, my grandparents had one of those artificial silver trees, with the colored light wheel. Yeah. That's out. We do have an artificial tree, but it's green, and looks real from anywhere outside of a foot away.

My wife does all the ornaments on the tree, and I do all the lights, because she says she just can't get them level and "layered" right. I say it's because the tree is twelve feet tall and she's only 5'2", I get hit for my short joke, and finish the lighting with an angel topper.

I haven't been able to get out and light up the house like I used to since my heart surgery, mostly because the wife thinks I shouldn't. But next year I'm gonna get all the lights up again, if I have to hire someone to do it.

Myt wife also paints plaster and/or resin Christmas ornaments and houses throughout the year, and we have a place set up for the houses now, that makes a nice little "village". I've managed to get them lit from ther inside, and it makes for a nice little tableau.

My brother and sister generally come up here for christmas now. Both of our parents are dead, and my siblings both live in warmer climates (Florida and Texas). This gives them and their kids a chance to experience the cold and snow, and not have to put up with it all winter.

We open most of the presents on Christmas eve. We have a variety of snack platters that I make, consisting of various cheeses, veggies, meats, three or four dips, a couple of different breads, and a variety of crackers. I also make a large pot of chili. Everyone can make a soup and sandwich or just have some chips and dip, whatever suits them. After dinner, about 8:00, we gather around the tree, and open all of the "family" gifts. Once the kids are in bed, we haul out the "Santa" presents, load those under the tree, fill the stockings up, and hit the sack.

Christmas morning, then, we come downstairs to find that Santa has been here, and after some orange-glaze or cinnamon sweet rolls and coffee or hot chocolate, every finds out what Santa brought. My sister has the youngest kids, 9 and 7, and my brother's kids and my daughter still play along so as not to spoil it for them.

Christmas dinner (actually at about 3pm) each year is the traditional turkey and all the trimmings. Afterwards, we'll head down to the media room and watch a couple of Christmas and/or family movies, with more hot chocolate and home made Christmas cookies for the kids and wine for the parents.

What? Nobody celebrates Festivus?

My christmas tradition is very simple. I go to a movie on CHristmas eve with either my sister, or one of my jewish friends. The theatre is usually packed with people that one of us either knows or recognizes. Go figure...

Mr P's parents went all-out every Christmas. Mine didn't like celebrating any holidays. I never believed in Santa Claus, because my parents told me he wasn't real when I was old enough to ask (about 4 or 5). My husband's parents kept him believing in Santa until he was 10. They even had the tradition of leaving a lollipop under his pillow, every Christmas night. Each year he'd try to come up with creative ways to catch Santa, since he couldn't stay awake long enough. He'd set up systems of pulleys and try to have light weights drop on his chest when the door opened and Santa came to leave the lollipop.

Our home traditions are sort of a cross between the Hernandez family (Mr P) and the Aebersold family (mine). We don't do the lollipop under the pillow thing, but we do decorate the house and tell the kids about Santa. It's fun.

We have one "tradition", which is rather weird. Our Christmas dinner is always Kentucky fried chicken (it was Popeyes at the base when we lived overseas). I don't know why...Maybe a throw back from our college days together. We've spent several Christmases away from each other when he has been deployed, but I still get KFC for me and the kiddos. It's the only day of the whole year that I go to KFC.

Only a few hours to kill and I'm off for a few days' worth of Christmas break...

I'm not religious and neither is my family but we've always managed to celebrate the getting together, gift-exchange portion of Christmas. There are bits and pieces in your posts that bring back fond memories of my Christmases as a child.

We celebrated Christmas eve with my dad's side of the family. At one point in the evening, an aunt or my older cousins would round up us Santa-believing kids into an upstairs bedroom, force us to look out the window for a glimpse of Rudolph, and sing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs. I SOOO hated the singing part. But I knew that doing so meant Santa would hear us and stop by Grandma & Grandpa's house. Eventually, we would hear sleigh bells outside and Santa would come in (usually my grandpa, dad, or one of my uncles) and hand out gifts. After Santa left and my grandpa/dad/uncle 'got back from the store', the whole family would settle in and exchange gifts. That night we would get home from Grandma & Grandpa's to find that Santa had stopped by our house while we were gone. We would stay up late into the night opening presents. The next day my dad often worked and my mom would take us all over to see her side of the family, where we had more gifts lavished upon us. I was an extremely fortunate child and am thankful for all the love that was showered upon me.

I hit an ugly period late in high school/college where I came to hate Christmas and took on the stresses that came with the loss of the illusions of the the holiday and family changes. It's been years since I looked forward to Christmas. Thankfully, due to our relocation well away from most of our family and lots of caring cajoling by Mike, I am actually excited about Christmas this year. We managed to make some nice gifts for our family (but I can't say what they are because mom posts here!). I think the fact that we were able to create gifts for everyone rather than have to buy any really made a difference in my attitude as well.

This is Mike's and my 4th Christmas in Savannah. Mike's technical genius has made it possible for my mom, siblings and I to exchange gifts by net conferencing. Obviously, it's not a substitute for them being here with us, but it sure beats having to brave the cold back in Illinois!

Merry Christmas and may we all continue to share in great debates in the New Year!

I may have been the original “Grinch that Stole Christmas.” When I was in 1st grade in 1948, the Jewel Tea Company operated a home delivery truck (abolut the size of one of those brown jobs UPS uses) that included more than tea. The man that delivered our route knew which homes had kids and which parents were tolerant enough to allow him to bring his toys into the house for display. That year a gun that shot a ping pong ball attracted my attention. I wanted it immediately, but I remember my mom telling me that Santa “might” bring it to me. A few days later I was standing on a chair looking on the top shelf of my parents’ closet. I don’t remember why I was looking on the shelf, but I discovered the gun that shot ping pong balls. I asked Mom about it and she confessed that she and Daddy were Santa Clause and that Daddy had eaten all those cookie and drank all that milk we left out on Christmas Eve.

The story doesn’t end here though. The next morning I announced to my entire first grade class that there was no Santa Clause. This upset my teacher and she quickly contradicted me. That didn’t matter. The “dreadful” truth was out and spread quickly.

As a teacher for many years, I always looked forward to the season as some down time. I’ve never had any trouble finding things to do with free time. I’m very comfortable around people, but just as comfortable with solitude. The Fort Worth Independent School district has long called the period a “winter break” rather than Christmas. That’s fine, because it accommodates a culturally diverse population and allows me to think of the season as the winter solstice, which I’ve done for a number of years.



This brings back a fond memory. My mom, who died 11 years ago this month after struggling with Alzheimer’s disease for about a decade, was a fine seamstress. One Christmas she made by hand stockings for each of my students (mentally and physically disabled kids and young adults) with their names embroidered on the top. The next year she made mufflers from Scotch plaid material with fringy ends. There is something classy about gifts someone makes.

In recent years, I’ve tried to disengage from gift giving entirely. I have a friend in TDC custody, who has an 11 year old daughter living with her grandparents in another state. I have dinner with the Grandfather and Grandmother every time they come here for a visit. The daughter is making straight As in school. She’s had to grow up fast and cope with more than most of us. Although it might sound cold and impersonal, I sent the kid a Wal*Mart gift card. Other than that, I haven’t given or received anything and I kind of like it that way. Fortunately, her Mom will be out this spring.

Too busy, Too Busy, Too Busy.

No time to shop, no time for errands, no time for family, home repairs, my animals or even posting on AD lately (as a matter of fact, I started this post hours ago and had to rush off away from it ).

This is one holiday season that could easily destroy my holiday spirit. Every Year at ADT, Thanksgiving hits and there is a massive slow down in work until late January. Being that I work piece work, I hated the fact that when most of the money had to go out in presents, and the like, I was barely working, or making anything.

Well folks, be careful what you wish for. I have had more work then I can handle this year (so much for a slow economy) and have been working more jobs per week then I EVER have in this job, especially at the holiday time.

I have been working 12+ hour days, near constantly. Combined with Christmas shopping, Christmas Recitals, early holiday gatherings, etc, it has be a roller coaster.

It's hard to complain about having the opportunity to make more money. However, I have always tried ( but rarely succeed at) to balance time between my work, my family and my interests. And lately, work is all I have been doing.

Last year, I was still deployed until just a week before Christmas. As a result, my wife was stuck with all of the shopping, all of the holiday decorations, etc. This year, I was sent to the Bronx, but got home before thanksgiving. Yet work had become so busy and rushed that she still got stuck with the bulk of it all. I have no idea what I would do without her, but she deserves better.

But yesterday was the worst. Do to some luck, I managed to finish my work day a little before 3PM. There has been A ladder I ordered for my personal use sitting at the electrical supply house for a month. So I rushed home, dropped off the company ladder, picked up mine, drove it home, put it on my personal truck, put the company ladder back and then I was off again. With still some time to spare I rushed off to home depo to finally buy a snow blower (this is a NEED Item as I take care of several elderly ladies on my block which translates into 7 sidewalks and 5 driveways every time it snows ). Worked it out with the sales person, packed it up, rushed home and got it into the garage. Whew, day over? wrong answer. The oven was on the fritz again. My wife needed to bake all day today for the holidays, so this had to be fixed. I got it working again (with no idea how). Whew, nope, don't sit. Mom is visiting, and shopping for a house to eventually move into and wants me to check it out. Off we go. A freezing hour later I am home, and completely rearranged the back porch where we spend so much time. When that was done, It was 11ish, I headed to bed, but don't remember my head hitting the pillow.

Today, I was scheduled for a half day (7am-2pm is a "half" day). I run home early, looking forward to a relaxing day before all the holiday shuffles begin. Wrong answer again, the oven is down again. This is a strange thing. The oven has been in the kitchen for 4 years. It is NEVER a problem, accept it went on the blink 2 of the past 4 Christmas seasons, and one of the Easter seasons! (I think it might be agnostic ). Enough is enough, off to best buy to drop all the extra earnings I made since the Bronx trip on a new oven/range.

As much as I want to get some traditions going, I decided the "Busted oven" tradition had to stop.

So it's 10PM, the oven is up and running, the old one is out the door and the house is a disaster. Tomorrow will be cleaning and baby sitting day for me while my amazing wife and others rush off to their hair appointments. The night will be the traditional family dinner with the side of my wife's family that I know near no one, and have no interaction with outside of Christmas Eve. Oh well, the food is good, and Christmas day with the In-Laws and My Mom is always a hoot.

Always got to take the good with the bad. There is a clear "No Returns" policy on life.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Being something of a cynic, nothing makes me laugh harder than listening to Stan Freberg's Green Christmas.

Stan Freberg's Green Christmas Transcription

For a detailed account blow by blow click http://www.puertoricowow.com/html/xmas/traditions.html

Living in Puerto Rico one will experience many unique ways of celebrations for many occasions. Most celebrations include a party in the town square followed by fireworks and the sound and light show doesn’t end there. Similar to New Years Eve the neighbors have fireworks and due to the warm weather many families have carport parties late into the evening.

With Christmas past the New Year is similarly celebrated more sound and light shows, WE LIKE IT LOUD! On New Years Day convoys of hundreds of hung over celebrators drive through the neighborhoods sitting in car windows and in the backs of pickup trucks, many in costumes of the dieing old year and the baby new year along with large paper figures of the same. These convoys are similar to the method of the campaign season and are accompanied with large, lets say six foot diameter speakers mounted on trucks with music or wishes being heard three or four miles away. At times I think half of all vehicles here are equipped with police federal system sirens. Did I mention WE LIKE IT LOUD?

Just when you thought you couldn’t take another line in the mall comes the traditional celebration of the season “Three Kings Day” on Jan. 6th. On the evening of the 5th the young children cut grass and put it in a shoe box for the camels while being kept awake by, you guessed it WE LIKE IT LOUD!

Totally exhausted on Jan. 11th the parents celebrate the kids going back to school after a 5-½ week break.
Feliz Navidad, un prospero ano Nuevo!

Well it is finally over. Only a brunch where I make the Bacon Egg (cooked in bacon grease) and cheese sandwiches "of death" (according to the health nazis in my family ) and my mother-in-law makes waffles remains.

This was a hard season, so little time, so many things went wrong. It felt more like a battle then a holiday. However, seeing family, watching the kids, and the whole wonderful togetherness element won out as always.

Another Christmas season has come to an end. I of course ate too much, talked to much and laughed too loud. It was great. Nothing Brightens a room like the wonder in a child's eyes on Christmas Morning.

The new oven is a gem, so many wonderful features to make things easier that I even managed to make some cookies when my wife was getting behind in time (without setting off the smoke detectors).

Happy Holidays Everyone!! I wish you all joy and wonder for what is left of your holiday break.

May the wind always be at your back,
may your sails always be full,
and may your waters always be calm
in the coming new year.