Tell Us About… Celebration

This month’s blogger writing prompt is, appropriately enough for December, CELEBRATION! While we’re hip-deep in All Things Christmas, I thought it would be fun to write about all kinds of things we celebrate.

I’ll start with birthdays. Each year for my birthday, my mother would pick one present and hide it, leaving me a series of clues written on slips of paper, in rhyme, to find it. I would be given the first clue, which might say something like “Your next clue’s not so hard to find, if you think and use your mind. If clean floors you want to keep, you’ll find this when you start to sweep”. And the clue would be tied to the broom handle! The whole family would follow along, with clues read out loud, and much jubilation when the present was discovered at the end. I think my mother had as much fun writing them as I did in the discovery…

I love a good wedding. The first one I was in was my best friend’s from college. It was a “black & white” wedding, in which all the bridesmaids wore white dresses and the men in black tuxedos. I think it looked striking from the congregation, but the bride was not the center of attention!

For my own wedding to The Cutest Boy in the World, we quickly realized that if we went one step beyond our “nuclear” families, we would be looking at a minimum of 200 people…so we opted for a stealth wedding. We got married by a judge at the courthouse, with strangers as witnesses, then invited our close family for “cocktails” at our favorite restaurant. We then announced we’d gotten married an hour before (remember, we had been a couple for 7 years…) and enjoyed the shock before the champagne corks began to pop!

For the last decade or so, we’ve celebrated New Year’s at the farmhouse of a friend, about a 45-minute drive away. We all bring a dish, and arrive at around 7. After we eat, and have some activity like a puppet show or book exchange, at 9 pm we go out on the front porch and our hostess climbs up a 6-foot step ladder with an inflated beach ball. We all “count down to midnight” and the beach ball is dropped. We yell “Happy New Year”, pop open champagne and kiss each other. By 9:30 we’re in our cars headed home across the frozen countryside, and are in our warm beds by 10:30, snug and smug that we’ve rung in the New Year, if only a bit early!

I saved Christmas for last! Our family descends on The Big House on the farm, where we were raised and my sister now lives, after stockings have been opened at home. We’ve moved to a Secret Santa gift exchange in the last few years, with much clandestine inquiry into what someone might like (“asking for a friend who MIGHT have drawn your name”). Opening of the gifts is done while eating Hattie rolls. These are homemade cinnamon rolls first made famous in the family by my great-aunt Hester. My brother and sister couldn’t pronounce “Hester”, so they called her “Aunt Hattie” – and so therefore, they became Hattie Rolls. My mother would mix up the yeast dough, roll them out with butter, sugar and cinnamon to rise on Christmas eve every year (in between midnight service at church and prepping the Christmas dinner). After she passed, my sister took up the responsibility, and has now taught her daughter to make them as well. I’ve only ever been able to eat 3 at one sitting, but always hope for a new personal best each year! Did I mention it’s all washed down with mimosas?

Note: we add a drop of grenadine syrup to ours, to make it the peachy-pink color of our mimosa trees – which it turns out, are actually “silk trees”, native to China and sadly invasive!

We celebrate lots of other things around here too:

See what the other bloggers have to say on the subject – about celebrations, not mimosas…

For this month’s prompt, Leslie is sharing celebrations past and present and the special moments she hopes to celebrate in the very near future.  https://onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com/

Marsha recounts the years leading up to and including her daughter’s wedding…a week before Christmas! https://marshainthemiddle.com/

Suzy shares a glimpse of her world, where celebrations are all about finding joy in everyday moments, from cozy holidays with family to milestone adventures, highlighting the beauty found in life’s simplicity. See the full post at https://www.thegreybrunette.com/tell-us-about-celebration

Gail from Is This Mutton goes back to the 60s to recount a typical birthday and Christmas in her childhood.  Expect lucky bags and a hedgehog made of a potato.  https://www.isthismutton.com

 Sue loves a celebration especially during the Festive Season spending time with family and friends.  For Celebration prompt Sue is taking a different angle and looks at areas in our life that we could celebrate more.Women Over 50 Living Well – Women Living Well After 50

Debbie doesn’t have grand parties or drink to excess, so it’s not the party lifestyle she’s seeking, it’s the joy of celebrating with friends and family, and being in the moment that counts. Debbie looks back at some big celebrations and shares the moments of joy with her readers.
www.debs-world.com

“Penny remembers Christmases past and present and ends with a big shout-out to all low-paid workers in those essential jobs and the many volunteers who give their time to run so many things. Let’s celebrate those wonderful people.” My link is: https://frugalfashionshopper.co.uk/

So let’s hear about YOUR celebrations – quirky traditions or best loved moments! As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to subscribe to not miss a moment of the madness!