Another Holiday Tradition

When my children were small I used to put the tree up 12 days before Christmas and keep it up until 12 days after Christmas.  I would wait until they went to bed and have it up by the time they woke up the next morning.  I would tell them that the fairies must have came in the night and put the tree up.  I know that was lying but it got the kids all excited and ready for the Holidays.  I could also tell them that the fairies were watching them so they had to be on their best behavior.

Over the years I have had to start decorating earlier and earlier (I now start early November) for two reasons.

The first reason is because I keep adding trees.  I have 9 trees but before anyone says anything, they are not all big trees.  There are small, medium and large and not all are decorated. 

I have a little house village and of course my wreaths that I hang in my windows outside.  The wreaths use to have the traditional red ribbons on them.  After the war started I changed them all since my husband, three children, daughter-in-law and my oldest grandson's father are all in the military and at least one of them has been deployed during the Holiday Season.  The wreaths don yellow ribbons to honor my family and all our troops serving and the wreaths will stay that way each year until the war is over.  

None of our kids will be visiting this year but I am thankful it is not because they are deployed but because they are starting their own Christmas traditions with their spouses and children.

Now my second reason is because I like to have my trees up before Thanksgiving because I am one of the crazy shoppers who loves to go out on Black Friday.  When most folks are pulling out the decorations after their big Thanksgiving dinner, I am lying relaxing on the couch stuffed.  I am too busy the day after Thanksgiving when the other half of folks are spending the day decorating since I have been up since 3 am and out shopping.  I like to be a bit like Macy's and flip a switch the night after Thanksgiving and the trees are lit and I can sit back and enjoy.  If you haven't figured it out, Christmas is my favorite time of the year..LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT....  

What are you Thankful for this Holiday Season ?

My friend Kim inspired me to write this.  She had posted a web site on her Facebook showing random people in New York saying what they are grateful for.  She asked her friends to post something everyday, that they are grateful for, during the month of November..
So what are you grateful for? 
I am grateful for my wonderful parents, husband, children, family and friends who are walking with me along this journey, we call life. 
I am grateful to wake up everyday and be able to do all the things I love because there are men and women all over the world fighting for Freedom on our behalf. 
I am grateful to their families who support them and for all the sacrifices they make, including having to celebrate the Holidays without their loved ones.
That leads me to my next question.  What Thanksgiving traditions do you have?
I have to say I am not an American and didn't grow up celebrating this Holiday even though over the years many people have asked me "What do they do in Scotland for Thanksgiving ?" I have to say once and for all, we did not have American Indians in Scotland who came to our rescue and shared their food when our crops died.
With that said our family does have traditions.  As you know we are a Military Family, so on Thanksgiving Day we go to the DFAC (Dining Facility) to eat.  My husband along with many of the other senior (old) Folks, put on their Dress Blues, adorn a chef hat and serve our Soldiers and Families their Dinner (This is an old Army Tradition).  The cooks go all out and prepare all the traditional meats, trimmings and desserts that you can possibly think of and it is all delicious....
It is nice to get to talk and share a meal with soldiers who otherwise would be alone for the Thanksgiving Holiday.
When our kids lived at home, I still had to cook a turkey and stuffing because they wanted to eat leftovers.  Now it is just my husband and myself, I don't cook anything because we would be eating the Turkey until Christmas.
I am very Blessed in life and could go on and on about everything I am grateful for but what about the people who are not that fortunate. 
It saddens me to think of anyone being alone especially during the Holiday Season. 
If you have older neighbours who don't have any family, invite them over for dinner or maybe just pop in to see them with a dessert. 
Maybe you are single and don't want to be alone, think about volunteering at a local Homeless Shelter and help serve Thanksgiving dinner.  You could also visit some patients at a local hospital or help out at a retirement home. 
Don't be alone this Thanksgiving, you could share some of your time and become a Blessing to others.
Aloha till next time...