Merry Hoopla

I was tagged by her to do the "Holiday Hoopla". You asked for it and now you got it.

Holiday Hoopla

here are the rules:
1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas

2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word. I'm assuming she means "magical"

3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done.None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed.

4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it. Got the rules?


Here's my list:

1. As a kid we spent the coveted of all holidays celebrating at my great grandmother's home. You know "the big one". It was truly a fun time and boy does it bring back warm memories. It was by far (back then) my truly favorite of all holidays. My cousins, aunts, and uncles would come from all over the country. I can smell the home made bread whaffing from my grandmother's oven as if it were yesterday. Oh and her beautifully set tables. There were many. It was as if looking at a Norman Rockwell painting. The best of fun times. Sadly when she and my great grandfather passed so did the big family gatherings.

2. I remember so vividly racing around and rushing to get to candle light service. On time. I always had a sense of peace when we lit our candles as we sang "Silent Night". It's been many, many years since I've been to candle light service.....

3. I loved the "cheer" in the air during that "hoopla" time of year! How I wish I could turn the clock back 20+ years! It was such a different time. I hate what it has become...so commercial...

4. As I got older my girl friends would meet Christmas Eve after an exhausting day of shopping. We would exchange gifts and share a bottle of wine. We would laugh and talk for hours. We still get together once a year for our annual girls trip. And boy do we still laugh..topics have changed a bit....

5. Before fh I was married to another. We had a big tree trimming party at our home every year with our back door neighbor's and their kids. T and I would sip on the Bailey's as we decorated the tree and laugh until we cried. She was a southern girl living in the Midwest and finishing her degree and was taking Spanish. Have you had the pleasure of hearing a southern belle speaking Spanish?! Yes, she made me laugh but because she was so sex crazed. Stay on topic, anyway, as the evening ticked by and the more tipsy we got we started throwing the icicles on the tree. Funny how the next morning it didn't look as beautiful as it did the night before!

6. I use to love nothing better than going to my parent's for the holiday. You see my mom was/is related to the Griswold's! Santa didn't need Rudolph to find their home. I could see the "glow" from Atlanta! Ahhh, but it was beautiful. Fh has always said when we had kids he was going to do the same thing......

7. One year my sister Val and I found our gifts and unwrapped them. We some how were discovered and mom threatened to take the gorgeous watches back! We never snooped again. Really.....

8. One of my most special, special years was 1988. We were with my in-laws. (ex). My mil was such a great cook. She made everything with her own hands and grew everything in her back yard. Anyway, she use to get the biggest thrill out of the gifts we would give her. It's not that it was anything flashy, or expensive, but it was always something that reminded me of her. Something I knew she would love. It was a stuffed animal, but not just any stuffed animal. It was a giant chef rat! She laughed so hard it made me smile. I always did the shopping..Still do.

9. Now that we don't live in the same state as our families, we celebrate with friends and their families. Everyone brings a dish and we just mingle and have a good time. My girls love going to P & B's because they have the biggest toy room of all!

10. Watching my dad's face as my mom opened his gift. He would go out every year in the ninth hour to look for the perfect gift for the woman he loved so much. Oh, don't think he was doing this last minute. He always had a mapped out plan and knew what he was searching for. Her most favorite was the crystal nativity scene. She has cherished that the most.

11. When I lived down south we spent the morning of "the big one" at my sister's home. We would crawl out of bed at oh-dark hundred and into the car still in p.j.'s to watch her two boys open their gifts. I can still hear the laughter in the air and the look on my sister's face. Her boys were not the "studs" they are today, but damn were they the cutest little boys I'd ever seen! She would plead with the boys to open all the gifts. After all everyone wanted them to open "their" gift. They were perfectly content with just the one gift. She would make this ginormous delicious breakfast and we would watch as the children played with the one favorite toy of the day...... Funny they're still like that at 16 and 19! They have never wanted for much.

12. Now that we have our own children I wanted to have our own traditions. On the "eve" of the big one we stay up watching animated movies with the girls really, really late. Yes, they get to stay up just this once....and I sooo enjoy the movies. Probably as much as the girls if not more! We stay in our p.j. Christmas day all day... Well until we have to leave the house.

They you have it.... I know it's late but I tag Jewels, and Christine