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Friday, January 16, 2004
Wednesday December 24- Christmas Eve
My family’s Christmas Eve tradition hasn’t changed in at least 20 years:
3:00 p.m. Mom, Dad, Jen (and whoever Jen is dating) leave our house (in separate cars) to arrive at my Grandparent’s house by 3:15.
3:20 p.m. Mom, Dad, Jen, the boyfriend, and my Grandmother leave for the 4:00 Children’s Mass at Immaculate Conception Church (which is less than 5 minutes down the road) in one car.
4:45- I leave the house to meet my Grandfather at the Bratskellar (We used to have Christmas Eve at Asia Restaurant, but the wait got too long).
5:00 p.m.- I arrive at the Bratskeller. Grandpa and I try to figure out exactly how many seats we’ll need for dinner. Usually we’re off by one or two because we never know if a.) all three cousin will show up, or if b.) my oldest cousin will be bringing a girlfriend. While we wait for the rest of the family to show up, we have a drink and Grandpa flirts with the waitresses.
5:10 p.m. Church is just getting out. Dad, Mom and Grandma will drive Jen and the boyfriend back to my Grandparent’s house so that they can take their own car to the restaurant.
5:15 p.m. My aunt and her boyfriend show up at the restaurant. (This time her boyfriend has brought his son, but the two younger cousins are with their dad, so we do have enough seats.)
5:17 p.m. My oldest cousin shows up….with his girlfriend….now we need an extra seat.
5:25 p.m. The churchgoers have finally arrived. Time to eat!
7:00 p.m. We dinner is over. We take forever to say good-bye even though we’re going to see each other less than 24-hours. Mom and Dad drive home in their car, me in mine, and Jen and the boyfriend in theirs.
10:00 p.m. We’re exhausted from too much family already, and hit the hay.
This schedule of events rarely changes. My one note for this year is I ran into someone at the restaurant that also has a “Bratskeller” Christmas Eve family tradition: The 12-year old.
How jolly.
Melissa Friday, January 16, 2004
December 21- Winter Solstice
Heather and I were invited to a semi-formal wine tasting party that our friend Cherry was hosting in Cambridge. Since Heather and I can’t pass up a chance to get dressed up (since it makes for good picture taking for scrapbooking) we thought it would be a fun way to celebrate the start of a long New Hampshire winter. We had a great time getting reacquainted with old friends, learning a bit about wine (while drinking a lot of it!) and of course, we took some awesome pictures.
Melissa Friday, January 16, 2004
December 20- First Day of Hanukkah
Jewish holidays traditionally begin at sundown the evening before the actual holiday. Conveniently Heather and I were at Margaritas the sundown of the start of Hanukkah so we decided to drink a toast, preferably with a drink connected to the holiday or to the Jewish faith. Sadly, we didn?t know of any, but thanks to Jen (our favorite bartender) she made Heather a blue drink with 8 kinds of alcohol- one for each night of Hanukkah.
During the week of Hanukkah, I not only learned how to spell Hanukkah, I learned some Yiddish!! Thanks to a woman I work with and her Jewish husband, I was able add a number of Yiddish words to my vocabulary:
Kosher - Jewish dietary laws based on "cleanliness". Also referring to the legitimacy of a situation. "This plan doesn't seem kosher".
Farklempt - Too emotional to talk. Ready to cry.
Farmisht - Befuddled
Chutzpeh - Brazenness, gall.
Shiva - Mourning period of seven days observed by family and friends of deceased
Shlep - Drag, carry or haul, particularly unnecessary things, parcels or baggage; to go somewhere unwillingly or where you may be unwanted
Shpilkes - Pins and needles
Chazzerei - Swill; pig's feed; anything bad, unpalatable, rotten. In other words, "junk food."
Shandeh - Shame or disgrace
Shaineh maidel - pretty girl
Tchotchkes - Little playthings, ornaments or knick-knacks.
Shalom - Peace (a watchword and a greeting)
Melissa Friday, January 16, 2004
December 7- D-Day
We gathered at our holiday planning coffee shop late in November to open our calendars and figure out what was left to celebrate in the year 2003. It was hard to believe it was almost over; we had faithfully celebrated eleven months of holidays.
Even though D-day wasn’t listed on our calendars we decided it was too important to skip. However, On December 7th a snowstorm prevented us from our plans to rent Pearl Harbor and watch it together at Heather’s place, so we ended up watching it separately.
Melissa Friday, January 16, 2004
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