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Holiday preparations | Pad Patter 11.22

bellbird

bellbird

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This end of the year there are a few big holidays coming up. We don't have Thanksgiving here but I know it's this week. Do you celebrate it where you live? Is it a big event or low key day? Do you have to host and cater? Or are you looking forward more to the big sales that follow it?
 
we don't do Thanks Giving but we have always done Christmas, small, most of the time, when in England, just the two of us, but we have always enjoyed shopping for decorations, putting the tree up, and the past couple of years Shasain , one of Sarita's best friends, came to cook a roast so we had a fabulous Christmas Day with presents and we our first "big" tree (not too big but bigger than the one we had the previous years)
Sarita cooked roast a few years too, and this year Shasain was going to come spend the whole holiday with us as her mum wont be able to come to London to be with her.... not sure it will happen though...
Not having the best of times right now so even though I have thought about doing shopping and start getting organized....is just staying in the thoughts department ....
 
We celebrate Thanksgiving, but very low key and focused on just our family of four. We used to go to my parents' house for Thanksgiving and my husband's for Christmas. But with a short Thanksgiving break and a 9 hour drive each way, we stopped going to my parents' house several years back. Also, since my mom's dinner was for the larger, extended family, she would wait to host it until Saturday which had us driving home all day Sunday and going right straight into the work/school week.

When we bought our place in Michigan, we started going there for the holiday... just the four of us. It was great then, but I especially love it now. With two teens, it's hard to ever corral them into the same place. For a few days over Thanksgiving, they're home with us and we doing things as a family. I pretty much buy our entire Thanksgiving dinner pre-made and have it in our freezer at the moment. We'll pack it all in a cooler tomorrow for the drive and all I have to do is pop everything into the oven on Thursday. We watch movies together, play games and I force them to take our Christmas card photo :-) It's the perfect family weekend! And, no, we don't shop. Everything is too far away and I'm not sure I would go even if things were close. On Friday, the resort where our house is has a Holiday open house with activities, so we'll do that and maybe buy a little thing or two... but nothing crazy.
 
Thanksgiving and Christmas are big for both of our families, and it takes a bit of planning to figure out who's going where and when. :) Darren will be making the 5 hour drive home from school today, so, in the interest of him not having to make more road trips for the few days that he's here, I'm hosting Thanksgiving for everyone at our house! I'm actually about to head out the door to pick up the perishable items from my grocery list, and then I'll be spending most of the rest of the day cleaning (and wishing I knew a good handyman that I could hire to come in and fix a few things!). We'll do dinner around noon or 1 on Thanksgiving Day so we can spend the rest of the time watching movies, playing video games, hanging out, and maybe doing a little shopping.

Some years I'm a Thanksgiving sale shopper and some years I'm not- it just depends on how I feel. :giggle This year it seems that I'm in the mood for it, so I've been scouring the sales and making a list of what I want. Some things have already popped up for sale early online and have been ordered. Hoping that a bunch more pop up on Thanksgiving Day so that I only have to make one trip out on Friday morning (there is one item I want that will absolutely have to be bought in person).

Christmas is easier to plan- his family always does their dinner and gift exchange on Christmas Eve, so we're free to schedule with my family for Christmas day. We rotate each year having it at our house, my brother's house, or my parents' house. This year it's my brother's turn, so after we all have Christmas morning at home with our respective families, we'll drive up there to see everyone.
 
Our Thanksgiving (Canada) was last month and we attended two family dinners which was wonderful especially as I didn't have to cook either one of them. For the American Thanksgiving, we will be at our trailer in WA and I'll be out doing some Xmas shopping for Black Friday (Thursday afternoon throughout the evening until the wee hours). We'll spend Friday relaxing (I'll nap off and on since I won't sleep much Friday night) at the trailer before closing it down for the winter, shutting off the internet and phone, and then will head back home.

Christmas is going to be weird this year. Relationship troubles with some of our family is going to affect everyone. It makes me sad but since I'm not a part of the trouble, I can't do anything to fix it. I wish I could. But I am determined to make it as happy as possible for everyone so am going to not focus on gifts so much but rather focus my thoughts on activities and ways to cheer everyone up. Bailey is coming to stay for a day or two next wkend and we'll pull out the tree and decorate. I'm really looking forward to it. Xmas dinner is still up in the air, no idea what is going to happen but whatever it is, it'll be low key. I'm determined to find the joy, no matter what, though.
 
Being that our son, Jacob, is in the hospitality business, he almost has always had to work both T-giving and Christmas so we haven't spent many holidays together with him and his family since he's been out of college. My immediate family used to get together before each holiday and have a potluck so one person would not have to prepare everything - most of the time we gathered at our house. It's a little different now since it's just my sister and I in my intimidate family. She's healing from a broken knee and not getting around the best, so we didn't even get together this year and honestly, probably won't for Christmas either.
We have always gone to my in-laws for both holidays. My MIL cooks WAY too much food! If the weather is nice we all take a walk down to the river that runs through their farm. It's a very relaxing day.
After not feeling 100% and the crazy work schedule I've had the past 2 days - one more to go - I will be ready for some R&R. I have vacation days on the 28th and 29th too.
 
On Weds, I am helping serve a Thanksgiving meal at the inner city ministry I volunteer at. I just made to large batches of dressing for it. On Thursday, we are traveling about 2.5 hours north to Richmond, Va to eat dinner with my husband's cousins and their families; we only have to take some drinks :). Usually, we spend the rest of the weekend at home or visiting my parents who live near us. This year we are going to Williamsburg, Va for the weekend to do some shopping, eating out, hanging out, etc.

Then more school and getting ready for Christmas. My daughter's Girl Scout Troop is running a gift wrapping station at a mall starting Dec 9 right up to 7pm on Christmas Eve, so we will be working hours doing that. It is a big fund raiser for them.
 
Our celebration is pretty low key. My family is so relaxed with the holidays. We are traveling 2.5 hours to my hometown where my family still lives. We are hanging out at my brother's house for the day...eating, doing crafts with the kids and then heading back home. My mom is coming back with us so hubby and I can do some Black Friday shopping while she stays with the boys. :)
 
We generally alternate going to my mom's or my MIL's for Thanksgiving (we see both of them at Christmas) but this year, it was our year to be at MIL's, and she ended up having Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday to accommodate my SIL and her family's schedule. It worked out well for me, because I get to go to my mom's on Thanksgiving! LOL I don't usually see my dad on Thanksgiving . . . he and my stepmom will go to their house in Alabama . . . but this year my brother came home and so we get to add him to the mix as well!

Our schedule:

Sunday 11/20 @ 1 pm ~ Thanksgiving dinner at Judy's
Wednesday 11/23 @ 10 am - 3:30 pm ~ Thanksgiving prep at my Mama's
Wednesday 11/23 @ 5 pm ~ Dinner at my dad's (thankfully, pizza and salad to break up the turkey rut LOL)
Thursday 11/24 @ noon ~ Thanksgiving dinner at my Mama's

Friday we're supposed to put up our Christmas decorations . . . it will probably bleed over into Saturday and Sunday as well, since I put most of the decorations out (other than the tree) and I have to take frequent breaks.

I don't do Black Friday shopping at the store. I don't have the ability to stand for that long, but before I had that problem, I was never a fan of all the crowds. I do love shopping online though!
 
Our holiday plans have become much easier in recent years, thank goodness, so now I am not nearly as stressed trying to accommodate everyone and everything.

My ILs have started going to Florida over Thanksgiving week (which also includes their anniversary) so we have Thanksgiving with my family at my sister's house. Our holidays are always potluck that are 'assigned' to you by the hostess, and they always start with food ready to eat at noon. I made green bean casserole today, and I've asked to make my mom's famous broccoli-cheese casserole (I could seriously eat the whole thing by myself in one sitting!) for Christmas. We decorate my parents' house for Christmas sometime over Thanksgiving weekend, and my mom and I take the kids to see Santa at the mall, too.

We go to my mom's church as a family on Christmas Eve and then back to their house for snacks. I sneak out to go to the 11 pm service at my church and wrap presents in between times by the glow of the tree & with my Spotify Christmas playlist going. We go back to my parents' house Christmas morning at 10 am for presents & Christmas dinner. Everyone (kids to adults, adults to kids, and adult to adults) exchanges presents, and the kids get gifts from Grandma and Grandpa and 'Santa.' My mom's love language is gifts so there are always lots and lots.

Now that my stepson is too old to believe in Santa, my husband just always takes him after Christmas. With all of his activities and sports, it's difficult to get him for a whole week. This year, it looks like we will just have him over New Year's weekend. We usually celebrate with my ILs the weekend after Christmas but since that's New Year's this year, we'll probably do it the weekend before. Their holidays are always made by MIL who usually pooh-poohs help, and although they start at noon, we don't eat until 2 or 2:30 pm. The ILs have twice as many grandkids as my side does so each kid gets 2 or 3 things, and that's all. The adults don't usually exchange gifts.
 
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