Christmas is Coming (the goose is getting fat)

And it begins.  Christmas season has officially begun since the Thanksgiving leftovers are all eaten.  We started our Advent wreath -- well, actually we’re into the second week.  We found our tree and decorated it (see photo at the end).  I’ve taken to humming Christmas carols instead of Uptown Funk or Living on a Prayer while I fold laundry.  We’ve even ordered some presents that have started arriving at the house.  FUN!

But, along with the fun parts, there’s the not-so-fun parts.  Trying to work up Christmas decorations, foods, traditions, all from scratch.  Deciding what parts go into Christmas celebration here and what parts don’t.  Figuring out how to explain to our local friends that Christmas is not a celebration of when a fat angel brings kids toys and everybody gets drunk.  Seeing all the beautiful pictures of celebrations and decorations and foods and traditions on Facebook that everyone is posting and realizing that we won’t be there to see or experience any of it.  Missing our families.  Missing our friends.  Missing our traditions that are too hard to pull off or don’t make sense here.  Missing . . .

So, this post is just going to be a few snapshots of what Christmas is like for our family over here.  Not in any order -- because that would’t be like me.  Just some things that have been popping into my head lately.  I actually owe this post to a high school friend of mine who asked me about what Christmas looks like on this side of the globe for her school paper.  (Thanks, Rose!!!).

So, here it goes, Christmas at our house:

• Last week I put together an Advent Wreath.  Now, I’ve seen Advent Wreaths.  They’re beautiful, have fancy colored candles, real pine or fake pine that looks real, some fancy lighting stick . . . Not ours!  First of all, I was so caught up in everything that I missed the first Sunday of Advent.  No pastor reminding me from the pulpit the week before, you know.  So, we decided that the first Sunday of Advent was going to fall on Tuesday this year.  That actually worked out since it was December 1st anyway.  I made this Advent wreath the first Christmas we lived in this country.  I had gone to a party store (read: guy set up in something like a storage room selling plastic cups to people walking by on the street).  I was looking for anything that would help to make our first Christmas here something special.  I bought sparkly tape, wrapping paper, glitter pens, and then I saw them!  Garlands that look like tinsel with stars coming off them.  I got one in silver and one in green.  The guy really thought I needed a hot pink one, too, but I turned him down.  Then, I went to the corner store (read: another guy set up in something like a storage room selling crackers, bread, soap and stuff).  I saw candles!  I bought the whole box.  So, our Advent wreath continues to be a set of white candles taped onto a stainless steel plate with super-gaudy tinsel garland wrapped around it like a wreath.  We light it with a box of matches that we also use to light the oven and our gas heaters.  My kids love it, and frankly, so do I!

• At the same time, I also put together an Advent Chain.  I’ve done this chain ever since we moved here, too.  It is a chain of 25 pieces of paper that each have a Christmasy activity on them.  We are supposed to do one every day.  This was my idea of trying to keep a mood for my kids and also force myself to do some of the traditions that I really want to do even though they’re more difficult here.  Some of the activities include crafts, baking cookies, decorating the tree, singing a carol, reading a story, watching a movie, etc.  Usually, I start the season with gusto and wonder by about week 3 what I was thinking!  One extra hard part about doing this chain here is that we never know what might happen.  We could be getting ready for our Christmas Movie night and a neighbor needs to be taken to the hospital or Chris might have to go in to the office.  We might be ready to go Christmas shopping and find out that all the shops downtown are on strike.  We might have all the Christmas cookie batter mixed and then the power goes out.  Chris had a great idea that next year we just put numbers on the chain and then we read from the “Master List” and pick whatever activity works best for that day.  Sure am glad I married him, but wish he’d have spoken up 2 weeks ago!

• Today we decorated the Christmas tree.  We went and picked it out 2 days ago from a local plant nursery.  We had to look 3 different places before we found one that was big enough -- don’t be amazed.  “Big enough” is still shorter than Abe.  It’s not exactly fir tree shaped (more like a bush) and it’s not a pine but some other form of evergreen.  Actually, it’s turning brown.  I told the nursery owner that the tree looked sick but he assured me that it just looked that way because winter was coming.  Okay, sure.  There wasn’t any other option, so we took it.  Chris also visited a local electrician and found a couple of strings of lights.  This year they happen to be green (actually it helps camouflage the brown on the tree).  A different year they were white or blue.  You have to get new ones pretty often and you have to take what you can get.  Maybe next year, they’ll be hot pink!  We pulled out our ornaments.  We have a few that were given by Chris’ Aunts, a few we found in one of those “shops”, a few that some friends who were moving gave to us, a few we made out of pine cones from the back yard, and one very special cardinal from my Mom to remind us of my Dad.  It’s just the kind of tree I like.  Mishmosh and memories. . . . and miniscule!  One time someone asked us if we wanted one of those artificial trees.  Apparently you can find them around here now, but we really couldn’t imagine Christmas here without our potted Charlie Brown tree.

• Celebrating with friends.  So far, a few local friends have asked us if they could visit on Christmas.  Now, I love friends visiting as much as the next person -- maybe more -- but I was stumped.  Maybe it’s selfish, but I didn’t want to have to entertain people in a way they feel comfortable instead of how I'd like to entertain for Christmas, try to explain our traditions in their language, feed them a meal that they would enjoy, and all for a holiday that has nothing to do with their culture and isn’t essential to my faith.  Did you hear that?  Not essential to my faith.  Now, in Western Christianity, we love Christmas.  But, is it really the most important thing to remember about who Jesus was?  No.  Easter is.  And all the extra traditions and such have lost their original meanings to most of us.  So, it seems silly for me to focus on trying to teach my local friends about this.  I’d rather be a part of their celebrations and focus more on the center of my faith when they ask -- not try to explain Santa Claus and presents and jingle bells and Rudolf and stuff.  Now, I enjoy it because it’s part of my culture.  I enjoy it because it ties me to my roots.  I enjoy it because it does remind me of my wonderful Savior.  But it isn’t essential.  I’d rather do this with my little family.  So, we invited those friends for chai and Christmas cookies in the week before Christmas.  We can chat with them about why we celebrate and just enjoy their friendship, but we can just be ourselves on that day.

• That brings us to Santa!  We will be hanging stockings in a few days.  Why?  Because I did.  Because Chris did.  Because it’s fun.  Do our kids believe in Santa?  Just ask Uncle Jeffy.  Last year, we were back in the US for Christmas and Chris’ brother asked Abe if he was excited for Santa to come.  Abe (all 3 1/2 years of him) looked back at his beloved Uncle in all seriousness and said, “Santa Claus is dead, Uncle Jeffy.”  I think he was sad to have to inform him of that.  It just so happened that we had been talking about the real man and the legend a few weeks before that and our kids caught on.  Still, they get something in their stocking because it’s a good time (and we tried to make sure they didn’t spill the beans to their cousins who still believed!)

• What to bake!  We’ll make standard sugar cookies with frosting and we even have some cookie cutters and sugar sprinkles that were brought to us from the States!  These we will hopefully share with all our local friends and, I’m not ashamed to say it, eat ourselves.  And, since Santa is dead, we don't have to share any with him! We also will make cinnamon rolls because that’s what we had every Christmas morning when I grew up.  For Christmas dinner, I talked with Chris about doing something different (Chicken nuggets and french fries and onion rings) just because we’d already had a big Thanksgiving feast.  He looked a little sad.  “But I want green bean casserole and mashed potatoes!”  So, I’ve already started freezing carrots, green beans, mushroom soup, chicken broth, peas, and pumpkin.  It’s going to be a feast again!

• What to wear!  As a family who lives in 3 layers of clothes every day and doesn’t get out much, we don’t have much in the way of party attire.  I’ve tried to save back one outfit that the kids haven’t played in the mud in yet and I’ll be wearing a pretty tunic and baggy pants with embroidery (but probably underneath my woolen over-tunic.)  I think Chris still has a sweater.

So, I think those are the highlights.  May your days be merry and bright and may your Christmas be a blessed one.  Ours will be.  But, say a prayer that the power won’t go out while I’m cooking the chicken (like it did at Thanksgiving!)  :)

Here are the kiddos with our Charlie Brown Tree.  Jealous?!