Happy Birthday, Jesus Christ (observed)
Dec. 25th, 2007 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walbournWhile it seems highly unlikely the boy was actually born as late in the year as December 25th, and that the holiday was moved there by the Church to try to co-opt the Winter Solstice pagan celebrations, it is clearly the day that it is observed worldwide. Just one more historical detail one has to ignore in the name of Faith I suppose. Still, if you can manage to ignore the rampant consumerism--trying to link Americans taking out yet more credit they can't really afford to pay back and then spend it on products where the only real profits go to the retailer mark-up and the owner of the factory back in Communist China, all purchased in an environment of maximally induced competition and stress--, it's a pleasant annual oppourtunity to reconnect with family. Jesus was a way cool dude, and I don't doubt the world would be a better place if his teachings were taken to heart. Too bad more people don't read Aramaic.
Christmas at the Walbourn house is fairly traditional: Breakfast, presents, working on a turkey dinner with all the fixings, and then sitting around to watch some movie or another after gorging ourselves. Of course when we were younger, breakfast was after presents, but as we age the morning coffee becomes more important than gifts. Todd and I have been trying to push towards minimal gift-giving for years. We've made some progress, but I still have a small pile of stuff to mail home (I don't like playing the checked-luggage Lotto if I can avoid it), plus of course the new dishwasher back home. One of the gifts I ordered for Mom never arrived at their Post Office in time, but it turns out it's a duplicate gift anyhow. Otherwise, they seemed plenty pleased with my choices.
A few years back I asked Todd for the recipe for the yeast rolls, and now I'm put in charge of making them when I'm here. It's not that much work, and Todd usually takes on the bulk of everything else with the parents doing the chopping, cleaning, prep work, etc. I actually paid attention to what the 'to taste' part of the stuffing is like this year, although I'm still much better working with a recipe.
When I got back from my Houston trip with the Solstice Party, my parents joked with me that they counted the number of chickens and goats. They said they wanted to make sure I wasn't the one bringing the sacrifice. I told them that if I had, they should consider it a good investment. They did want longer days and summer to return, right?
I've confirmed the availability of a vehicle for a trip up to Austin tomorrow. Not sure what other folk's schedules look like, but I plan to get lunch at Trudy's and I'm totally up for another dinner at Chuy's.
Christmas at the Walbourn house is fairly traditional: Breakfast, presents, working on a turkey dinner with all the fixings, and then sitting around to watch some movie or another after gorging ourselves. Of course when we were younger, breakfast was after presents, but as we age the morning coffee becomes more important than gifts. Todd and I have been trying to push towards minimal gift-giving for years. We've made some progress, but I still have a small pile of stuff to mail home (I don't like playing the checked-luggage Lotto if I can avoid it), plus of course the new dishwasher back home. One of the gifts I ordered for Mom never arrived at their Post Office in time, but it turns out it's a duplicate gift anyhow. Otherwise, they seemed plenty pleased with my choices.
A few years back I asked Todd for the recipe for the yeast rolls, and now I'm put in charge of making them when I'm here. It's not that much work, and Todd usually takes on the bulk of everything else with the parents doing the chopping, cleaning, prep work, etc. I actually paid attention to what the 'to taste' part of the stuffing is like this year, although I'm still much better working with a recipe.
When I got back from my Houston trip with the Solstice Party, my parents joked with me that they counted the number of chickens and goats. They said they wanted to make sure I wasn't the one bringing the sacrifice. I told them that if I had, they should consider it a good investment. They did want longer days and summer to return, right?
I've confirmed the availability of a vehicle for a trip up to Austin tomorrow. Not sure what other folk's schedules look like, but I plan to get lunch at Trudy's and I'm totally up for another dinner at Chuy's.
