Tag: Christmas traditions

These are a few of my favorite (Christmas) things

This month I’m joining Kim and Tanya of Girlxoxo.com for their annual event A Month of Faves, at least for a few topics. Earlier this month, I posted “My End of Year Bookish Plans.” Earlier this week, I posted “These are a few of my favorite moments in 2020“ and “These are a few of my favorite things (at home) in 2020.” To learn more about the event, visit Kim and Tanya’s introductory post on the event.

Today’s topic is “Favorite Things [Holiday Edition]⁠
(Treats, Traditions, Books, Movies, Songs, Decorations, Activities, etc).” No treats really or decorations either for my wife Kim and me, thanks to one old cat, but we have got movies!

Our Christmas will begin this year on the eve of Christmas Eve after I get off work at the library at 6 p.m. We plan on watching two of our favorite Christmas movies, Christmas Vacation and Elf. We own both after discovering a few years ago streaming services never have Christmas movies available around Christmas.

We decided this past weekend that this year we’re having our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Here’s what is planned so far:

That way, we can have leftovers Christmas Day.

On Christmas Eve, we’ll watch my favorite Christmas movie Diehard, which yes is a Christmas movie as science proves it.

Then sometime on Christmas Day, we’ll watch my wife’s favorite Christmas movie, and also my favorite version of A Christmas Carol too, the 1951 version with Alistair Sim.

I also have a Christmas tradition of listening to A Child’s Christmas in Wales as read by its author Dylan Thomas. So I’m sure I’ll do that again on Christmas itself too.

While we are not getting together with family in person, we are planning to get together with each side of our families virtually in one fashion or another. For my wife’s side of the family, that probably will entail Zoom; for my side of the family, Google Hangouts.

Last year on Christmas via Hangouts, Kim and I were able to hear my mother read the story of the birth of Jesus as recounted in the Book of Luke, Chapter 2. It is a tradition for one of my parents to read it every year before Christmas gift-giving for us to remember “the reason for the season” and we will look forward to hearing it again this year as read by one of them.

What are some of your favorite holiday treats, traditions, books, movies, songs, decorations, and/or activities?

#AMonthofFaves: I Love…December

a-month-of-faves.jpgI’m joining hosts Girlxoxo, Traveling with T, and Estella’s Revenge for their 4th annual #AMonthofFaves blog event – “a fun way to recap the year that was” – during the month of December. Today’s topic is “I Love … December.”

My wife and I don’t do much decorations because of…well…a small house and cats, really, one cat, Seamus, who is about 11 years old.  However, we still love decorations, especially at my parents, where we just happened to go yesterday to get together with them, my aunt, my sister and her family, because my wife works Christmas Day.

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Family Christmas today.

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Besides getting together with family, we do have a few Christmas traditions that include, but aren’t limited to the following:

  • drinking egg nog, mixed only with Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum, Private Edition.
  • watching Christmas movies, especially Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and the only version of A Christmas Carol (in my wife’s opinion, and now in my opinion too), the 1951 version which was called Scrooge when it was released in Great Britain and which starred Alastair Sim.
  • listening to “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” as read by its author Dylan Thomas.

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?