Once back in Nova Scotia we had a night to rest.The next day my sister made a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings, even homemade cranberry sauce. Yummy! She loves to entertain and it shows. That evening my brother-in-law took us to the airport. I had such a great trip and all my family did such a great job taking care of me, I will be forever greatful!
I was happy to retun to Ottawa with my Hunny. All the emotional strain was getting to me.
We had decided to be proactive in fighting this condition, so before going to Cape Breton we had decided on selling the house. Even though we had decided this it was tough coming back and seeing the for sale sign on the lawn. This would be our last Christmas in this house and wanted it to be special, and having MSA I know how fast it can travel, who knew what condtion I would be in next year. I was having a lot of balance issues and the stress of just knowing what was to come was tough. I knew I could not worry about this now as I only had three days to make Christmas.
Luckily we had done all the decorating before going to Cape Breton. Usually my daugher and I decorate the tree while listening to Christmas music. She creates a CD, we sip hot chocolate and decoarte. This felt so good, such fond memories. Each year the kids make two types of goodies themselves. We also make a fruit cake which is an old family recipe, over 100 years old. Christmas is a huge event in my family and all the years we spent in the miltary,(almost all of our married life) we have been away from family. I realized at a young age I would have to make our own traditions to replace the family so far away. I always wanted my kids to want to be home for Christmas and it to be a warm and special feeling for them.
Even though the kids live in the same city they wanted to spend the night and the son-in-law, that way so we all get up together Christmas morning. I thought it was a great idea, most children can't wait to be away from their parents, but ours want to be closer and this makes me very proud.
On Chsistmas Eve my sister and her family come over and we have finger food and then everyone puts on a Santa's hat and we do a gift exchange. The tradition is no gifts under the tree until Christmas Eve, except the gifts from away. We all get new pj's and my kids buy me a pair. Around midnight I say," I am going to bed", and this is Santa's que that he can come. Santa comes and puts all the gifts under the tree for the next morning. The kids do not like to see the tree until Christmas morning so we turn off all the lights and they avoid this room until the next morning. They even put their hand by their eye to block the vision on this side so as to make sure they do not see the tree.
Usually Christmas morning my son is the first one up. He cannot sleep on Christmas Eve. So he usually asks if it is time to get up, no one will go downstairs until eveyone is up. I go down, put the coffee on and turn the lights tree lights and Christmas lights are left on all night from the night before. Then the kids come down and are usally awe struck, it is like entering Santa's workshop. Before the gift opening we put the Baby Jesus in the Manager and say Happy Birthday to him, then we get down to busniess of unwraping. We do one gift at a time so everyone can see what the other person got and from whom. It lasts a couple of hours. Then it is breakfast and then the turkey dinner. We stay in our pj's until the afternoon and there are no visitor's as it is a day, just family.
No comments:
Post a Comment