Buon Natale

The holiday season is upon us....one of my favorite times of the year!  My dream job would be Santa's personal assistant!  I love shopping, picking out the "perfect" present, wrapping, decorating, cooking....I love holiday cheer.  I watched the West Jet holiday Santa video and was moved to tears....I would love to be a part of something like that.  I love holiday TV, The Grinch, Charlie Brown, Frosty, Rudolph, It's a Wonderful Life....the list goes on!

Christmas to me is not about presents, it is about giving and sharing time with family and friends.  My immediate family can attest to the fact that I can be somewhat obnoxious about it.  I love giving presents, even if they are silly little things.  I love planning and plotting about what to get for who. Wrapping them so they are beautiful and fun and may even win the award for Best Dressed Presents! But mostly I love that it is the time of year where we share our time.

My fondest Christmas memories are not of the presents that I received, they are moments that we have shared.  I remember as a child, going to St. Mark's Church with my parents for Christmas Eve services.  How pretty the church was, the advent calendar, the candlelighting, the hymns (mostly because it was about the only time I knew the words).  I remember rushing home and my dad telling me I had to hurry to bed because the red light up in the sky was Rudoph's nose and Santa would be landing on our roof soon. (Really the red light was the radio tower at WEMD, but I believed and I still look at it every Christmas Eve)  I remember one year it snowed and we couldn't go to church so we lit candles and a fire and read the Chrismas story from Bible, each taking turns reading a passage.

I remember the event of decorating our tree.  It was almost like a party.  There were beautiful glass ornaments, garland and tinsel.  I loved tossing the tinsel in the air and having it land on the branches (I don't think Mom was that thrilled).  The tree always looked beautiful to me in those moments (even if the pictures captured a scraggly looking tree). We would invite our friends, the Foxes, over to participate in the decorating. They would reciprocate by inviting us over for candle lighting at Hanukkah....ahh, the memories!

Time shared, is the best Christmas present of all.  As I approach middle age (yes, I plan on reaching 100) I realize that time is the only gift we can't exchange for a larger size or more gigabytes.  I would love to have more time with loved ones that are no longer with us. Christmas makes me a bit sad in that regard, but it reinforces the desire to make more, long lasting memories and to experience the joy of now.

We have had many wonderful adult Christmases as well.  I love a tradition and our family gift auction has been one of my favorites.  Each person brings a wrapped gift with a value of $5.  We play a game to see what order you get to pick gifts and then the unwrapping and gift stealing begins.  One year the game was musical chairs and we were rolling on the floor watching as the chairs dwindled and the battle for the remaining chairs ensued.  I was seriously afraid that Mom was going to get knocked down for a chair, but she held her own to the finals.  One year the game was Mad Gabs and I thought I was going to need oxygen from laughing so hard (not to mention, new pants....Sorry Pat!)

Another tradition we started was a Christmas Eve open house for family, friends and neighbors.  We started this to bring festivities to my brother-in-law who was too ill to travel.  Oh, the Christmas hats, Holiday massages, smiles and great cheer!  What great fun....and food (even when the oven was broken).....and cocktails!! It has always been an adventure and a wonderful time!

This Christmas will be my first in Italy.  We have loved exploring the Christmas markets in the area. Most towns have them in their central area.  They put up wooden sheds and decorations and local vendors sell a variety of items and there is always a Vin Brulee booth. The Italian nativity scenes, Il Presepe are absolutely stunning and a focus of their holiday decorations  It will truly put you in the Christmas spirit.

We went to our local market yesterday at the Villa Caldogno.  The dogs were dressed in their Christmas attire and they were a huge hit. It was the first time we were able to go inside the Villa and we were in awe of the beauty.  We met several local vendors, and Dario, our "wine guy" greeted us as soon as we got there.  Everyone was friendly and welcoming and it was a great part of celebrating Craig's birthday. Coincidentally, it was also Dario's birthday.....I knew I liked him for some reason....maybe the wine!  

We finished up by bringing our tree inside (it is a potted tree that has been in our yard since we moved here) and decorating it.  It is reminiscent of Charlie Brown's tree, but as his was; ours isn't such a bad little tree!  I had Christmas carols playing and we had a ball!

While gathering presents to ship back home to everyone, something occurred to me.  This will be the first Christmas in my 49 years of life that I have not been "home" with my family and friends.  I will miss being the "caterer" for Christmas Eve and concocting the holiday cocktail.  I will miss being an elf and handing out presents (hmmmm what order will they go in this year?) Christmas day.  I will miss the present auction and the stealing of gifts.  I will miss my family and friends and the moments we share.  I am lucky that we have Skype and the gift of technology and I plan to utilize them to the fullest this Christmas!

My wish for the holiday season is that everyone shares the gift of time, make the most of it and most of all make wonderful memories!

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!

Ciao for Now!