Tag: gifts

Filling the Advent Calendar

Dear Liza,

You’ve seen the advent calendar that Auntie Bridgett made years ago. It is adorably decorated paper sacks that we hang on a ribbon. We’ve now used it in three different houses!

We re-use the bags every year by filling them with sweet things, which become evening surprises as we approach the holiday.

But candy every evening isn’t so good for our house of grown-ups, so I need to get more creative. Our staircase lends itself to tossing games. This year I will employ my folding top hat and some soft balls and set up a challenge. Toss the ball towards the hat and if you get it into the hat two out of three times, you get a treat. Treats can include snacks, a glass of wine, or getting to choose the movie of the evening.

If you don’t make your shots, you have to do a trick. Those can include fetching treats for a spouse, naming four of Santa’s reindeer, or other silly thing.

We also have bits of trivia about the creators of some of our favorite Christmas stories… Jim Henson, Dr. Seuss, and Charles Dickens.

I like being the Advent Queen! It is as close as I ever want to get to doing lesson plans again.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Happy Hanukkah!

Dear Liza,

Our household celebrates both Christian and Jewish holidays, so this time of year is extra festive. We have our Christmas tree up and the menorah on the table. We have delivered small gifts across town to Auntie Katie and the cousins and wrapped presents for each other in red and green paper.

Our brass menorah, bought from the now-closed Do Re Me Music in Carmel about 38 years ago, was the first piece of Judaica we owned. We love it because it is an abstraction of the word “Hanukkah”, which means dedication, and is different from any menorah we have ever seen. We keep it on the piano all year ‘round, as a piece of art.

The only problem with it is that when the lower candles are all lit, the upper one tends to ….. well….. melt. A slight design flaw. But a small price to pay.

This year we are not making latkes. They are traditional and I love eating them, but for just Auntie Bridgett and me (Grandpa Nelson doesn’t like them) it is a lot of grating and frying mess. Also, we have an extremely nervous smoke detector. So we will pass for now and hope for better things next year.

Because it usually happens so close to Christmas, people sometimes try to make Hanukah an equivalent holiday, but it just isn’t. It is not nearly as important to Judaism as Passover, Rose Hosannah, or Yom Kippur.

But in the middle of a cold dark season, candles are always good.

Love,

Grandma Judy