Snow not Sweat!

Every year I have the same dilemma - what will we do for Christmas? While every year brings about some version of this question (i.e. will it be at your parents or mine?... will we eat turkey or ham?...) being a "northerner" in the south opens a whole new box of issues -

Will I cook? - this was a non negosh in Oregon, OF COURSE I would cook! I loved putting on the old apron, putting on the Christmas tunes - pouring a glass of eggnog and whipping up a very nice meal that took the entire day to prepare. But NOW... we've got 90+ degree temps...and I'm really tired from work... and really everyone, except for our nearest and dearest, are on holiday. Cooking? That isn't really so appealing. Year #2 in SA, we accepted an invite from David's sister and d/h to eat with them out - so, on Christmas day, smack in the middle of a blistering hot and humid day, we sank our buns onto the seats in a restaurant - really it was more of a pub... and we ate buffet style. They had turkey! and we had the Jones gang all there - it was very very different, and not at all Christmas-y (other than the guy behind the roast who had on a big old red santa hat!)

What traditions will we remember? - Our first year in SA was my attempt at replicating our Christmas traditions from home. Gingerbread house, baked and decorated ended up collapsing from the humidity, and when the kids tried to eat it, it was spit out with much disgust, because the sea air had made it salty. The Christmas lights were strung around our little apartment, and had to all be plugged into the same outlet. Nightmares of tripped switches and electrical fires danced through my head, instead of sugar plums.

What will we do? - Year three was a compromise - I cooked a big old meal, we invited all the family around over - I decorated the table... and we stuffed ourselves. Then we went for a swim afterward to cool off :).

Who will we spend it with? - Year four was our first "inland" Christmas. Gone was the humidity, and added was extended family and new friends. We had a lovely outdoor early dinner under the shade of some white sheets I had strung under an existing framework. Dinner table was decked out, dinner was au gratin potatoes and ham..and for dessert we ate ice cold icecream!

That was in my pre and early working days.

Now I'm an exhausted working mom...

And I lack the time to plan, and the energy to prepare... so, in a last minute effort to save the Christmas spirit, I frantically called every hotel in a 20 km radius to book a holiday lunch buffet table for the family and d/h parents and sister in law and clan. But, as usual, I was too late.

However! Not all is lost! I have a frozen Jenny-O turkey in the freezer (thank you to whatever company decided NOT to carry only the salty brazillian turkeys that lurk in freezer sections everywhere), and we have now closed the office for 2 weeks. 2 frantic days of last minute Christmas shopping has nearly completed that chore...and now I have time to rescue that special atmosphere that Christmas holds.

I guess it doesn't really matter if snowflakes aren't falling from the sky, and if I'm dressed in a tank top and flip flops....

I'm cracking out the cookie cutters, putting on my ancient Amy Grant Christmas CD and spending some time with my kids...doing things that we can only do at this time of the year...and remembering just how special this time of the year is - not just family and traditions, but heart-felt gratitude for the precious gift of life that God has given us through the birth of his Son Christ. This is the spirit of Christmas aroudn the world, even if the temperatures aren't the same.

Christmas Bright

When you think of what defines Christmas, what do you think of?
Is it the smell of evergreen? Mittens, scarves and snow? Or maybe a turkey roasting in the oven all day, filling the house with delightful smells and warmth?

The Christmas season for our family has always involved a myriad of traditions, from the annual early morning Christmas shopping on the morning after Thanksgiving, to hunting for the perfect tree out in the hills of Oregon, to assembling gingerbread houses, and eventually selecting the perfect ornament for each of the kids for the year.

It also meant being chilled in the morning, wearing long sleeved sweaters, and baking all day.

Now that we are living south of the equator, it means all kinds of new things. Now it means planning a fun, but light Christmas meal.. swimming in the afternoon to cool off...buying small but more meaningful gifts...planning our once a year vacation..and sweating :). We still try to keep some of our old traditions, but Christmas looks much different now.

One of the new traditions we have now is a church service on Christmas morning - 9 am sharp.
This changes alot of the old traditions we had - the special early morning baked french toast after an even earlier morning of unwrapping presents...the lounging in p.j.s until late in the morning..playing with the kids on the floor amidst the wrapping paper and bows.... Now we open presents Christmas eve (some days I really miss the Christmas eve service at Harvest!), then up early in the morning on Christmas day to dress and go to church. After this, we hurry home to have a light lunch, and prepare the Christmas dinner.

It's different...but not bad.

The true meaning of Christmas, at least is not lost. Back home, it was a battle to keep the commercial Christmas from invading the importance of the holiday. It seemed to take extra effort and focus. Now, with the lesser focus on the gifts, and more focus on why we celebrate Christmas in the first place, the results are much more meaningful.

Of course, there are the moments when I miss the sounds of Bing Crosby crooning "White Christmas" and the all day baking sprees with my sister..but I guess that the new memories and traditions we are building now will one day be as warm and fuzzy feeling as the ones from the years gone by. It will just take some time.