This year has zoomed by, hasn’t it? I can’t believe the year is almost through.

I’m excited that we’ll be at home for Christmas (last year we were in Paris), so that we can enjoy the decorations and treats here. The tree is up and everything’s decorated.

Today I did the bulk of the holiday shopping for friends and family. Thought I got some pretty good deals.’til I realized I forgot Max’s toys! Big Fail.

I hope to wrap up my holiday cards this weekend. I’ll feel pretty much done if I can order what I forgot and wrap everything this weekend!

Photo: Flickr user paparutzi. Creative Commons 2.0.

I was driving my car, windows down, sunroof open. Listening to Christmas songs. Despite having lived in California and before that, Florida, for 7 years, I still can’t get my head around having a sunny, warm Christmas.

To me, the holidays are about wearing hats, scarves and gloves. Stamping the occasional snow out from your shoes. Picking out a Christmas tree from a place where Christmas trees could feasibly grow (I still don’t know where they come from here!). Putting up snowmen decorations because you’ve actually built a snowman.

Here, everyone decorates with reindeer and snowflakes, but kids have no idea what they mean! I’m glad Max has seen snow (though he was terribly unimpressed by it).

I don’t know why I complain. I hate the cold. That’s why I’m here. But growing up in Arkansas, I attached certain weather with the holidays, and I guess I’ve never gotten over that!

Hosting Thanksgiving dinner seems like such a grownup thing to do. I’m not there, and I might never be. It surprises me every time I talk to a friend who is planning the big marathon cooking event. Seems like too much work for me.

Growing up, my mom worked at a hospital, which meant she was either off Thanksgiving or Christmas. Not both. So one or the other, we put off the meal by a few days until she was off. It wasn’t a major holiday for us, as we lived several hours away from our family.

To this day, Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday. Don’t tell my mother-in-law. She lives for making a feast for 100 of her closest relatives. The food’s amazing, but I don’t think I have it in me to carry on the tradition.

When we haven’t visited family, we’ve gone the non-traditional route. Like last year, when we spent the holiday in San Francisco. I gladly traded in turkey and dressing for sushi and cream puffs. We are, you could say, not your traditional family. In more ways than one.

As I get older, I cling to traditions that I once eschewed (look that one up). But I’ve tried to imagine cooking a turkey for grown up Max, and I just can’t see it. But I’ll certainly take him out for sushi to celebrate!

Photo: Flickr user quinn.anya. Creative Commons 2.0.