Tis the Season

For me the holidays start with Halloween. I love seeing the kids dressed up in their favorite hero’s costume standing on my doorstep calling out “Trick or Treat” when I open the door. After I’ve passed out candies and the children run toward the next house yelling “thank you” as they go, I step out onto the porch in anticipation of seeing the next group of ghosts, goblins, ballerinas and Ninja Turtles making their way down the street. I’m not sure who gets more joy out of it, the kids or me.

November blows in in full force. There are several birthdays to be celebrated before Thanksgiving–one a week for three weeks. The smells of Papa’s home-baked chocolate cake and fresh pizza from our favorite pizzeria fill the air for days. The third birthday, mine, is usually spent at a quiet restaurant somewhere on the peninsula.

We spend Thanksgiving Day at our daughter’s house. Our contributions to the festivities include a tossed green salad, pistachio pudding, and another one of Papa’s chocolate cakes. My daughter and son-in-law take care of everything else. We eat, watch the Macy’s Day Parade and then football games all day. Between the birthdays and Thanksgiving dinner, my elastic waist pants are getting tight around my mid-section.

I’ve never shopped on Black Friday, but this year I did take advantage of some of the online doorbusters. Unfortunately, for my family, most of what I bought was for me.

I love “feel good” holiday movies. They start just before Halloween with Hocus Pocus, and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Next up, The Wizard of Oz, the day after Thanksgiving, and then the hits just keep on coming. Here are some of my can’t miss, gotta watch Christmas classics.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas—Boris Karloff

How the Grinch Stole Christmas—Jim Carrey

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer–Burl Ives

Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol—Jim Backus

Home Alone—Macaulay Culkin

Die Hard—Bruce Willis

So let the good times roll. My son will be home for a visit. That’s sure to include more food, a couple of movies and karaoke night somewhere. Christmas Eve will be a quiet dinner out with my husband. Since I’m hosting the Christmas Day festivities, I’d better start buying food (guess we’re going to need another cake mix for Papa), wrapping gifts, decorating, cleaning, and cooking. (Hmmm, I wonder which closet the leaves for the dining room table are in?)

New Year’s Eve we not only bring in the coming year, but my husband and I also celebrate our many years of blissful married life.

During all the holiday commotion, I’ll be finding time to sequester myself away from the hustle and bustle to glance back at my first year of retirement. Was it all I’d hope it would be? What worked and what didn’t. Should I make any changes? Travel? Volunteer more or maybe work part time?  Spend more time with family and friends? Should I change up my blog? Write more? Sleep in? Take another class? What’ll I plant in my garden? Answers to these and many more questions remain to be seen. Whatever I decide I look forward to 2019 and all of the wonders the new year brings.

Happy Holidaze Everyone

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

Smiles are contagious; let’s start an epidemic     -Laura Smith-

Smiles of the Week

November Birthdays–Photo taken by TB Photography