Tag: Christmas

Running on Christmas Cheer Fumes

~ SA Otey

Every year we get super excited for Christmas and when December 25th rolls around we are ready for it to be over. One year I started way too early. We visited Disney Theme Parks the week before Thanksgiving and all the decorations were up and the holiday music was blasting. We had our Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. I jumped the gun that year on the Holiday Cheer and ran on fumes.

Next year we will wait until Black Friday to start decorating. That way we don’t get burned out like a Yankee candle on the mantle all night. We are already removing Christmas items from the house and putting them back in storage. We usually wait until January 2nd. I think it makes Christmas gloomy.

Christmas Day Checklist

~ SA Otey
  • Wake up way too early because the kids didn’t sleep at all
  • Open presents, either from Santa or hard-working parents who paid for them
  • Eat breakfast – We make a sausage egg and cheese casserole.
  • Jump in the car, take off (drive about 2 hours with no traffic)
  • Arrive at the first stop
  • Open presents
  • Eat lunch
  • Jump in the car, take off (30-minute drive)
  • Arrive at the second stop
  • Open presents
  • Eat dinner
  • Collapse in exhaustion
  • Wonder how the kids are still going strong.
shallow focus photography of religious figurines
Photo by Jessica Lewis on Pexels.com

This is the shortlist, it used to be much longer and covered a much longer distance. Between the food, fun, family, and yes sometimes fighting, don’t forget about Jesus during this time. It’s the whole point of it all.

Christmas Eve Traditions

~ SA Otey

My Christmas Eve traditions have evolved over the years. Long story, bear with me.

Grandparent Traditions

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We used to wait for my Dad to get off work and ride to my paternal Grandparents’ house. We would usually be one of the last to arrive since my father worked for Federal Express helping Santa’s sleigh finish its route. Upon entering their home, you would be greeted by the warmth of the floor furnace. It was an open grate that continuously pumped heat. I’m not sure how that was safe and that we didn’t get roasted as children. I swear you could smell your shoes melting.

There was plenty of food and it all tasted fantastic. However, you couldn’t smell any of it. All the adults smoked cigarettes which built a nicotine barrier that food aromas couldn’t break through. Christmas Eve always felt like the longest evening. We would stare at the mountain of presents under a 3-foot-tall tall already decorated tree that was erected before the evening and taken down the next day. The grown-ups wanted to sing by the piano but we wanted to see what was under all those wrappings. Once we started opening presents (after a few 10-minute delays) it didn’t take long before the night was over and we were on our way home.

Starting our Own

We live just far enough where we have to do our own thing for Christmas Eve. Otherwise, we would have to spend Christmas morning at someone else’s place. I wanted my kids to wake up in their own house on Christmas morning. We keep it pretty simple. We watch Christmas movies and bake treats. We have a nice steak dinner and then attend a Christmas Eve service at our Church. We then drive around and look at Christmas lights. We come home, open one gift, and then hit the sack. We then watch a few more Christmas movies while we wrap the final gifts.

It’s important to start and keep traditions, but also remain flexible. Someone in your family is always going to be unhappy, don’t let it be you.

Happy Winter Solstice

~ SA Otey
Facebook Winter Wishes

If you still worship Saturn, then I hope you have a happy winter solstice. Many people are complaining that Christmas hijacked Saturnalia. Well, they are partially right. Christmas used to be celebrated in the springtime, but many were feeling left out by not participating in the drunken debauchery fest known as Saturnalia.

The church decided to move Christmas to December as a rival celebration. This would give Christians something else to do rather than eating and drinking until they vomited and other such merrymaking.  Just to be clear, Christmas is not pagan in origin, but some winter celebrations are full-blown pagan. If anything, paganism has crept back into Christmas.

Most Over used Christmas Songs

~ SA Otey

Which song do you get tired of first? Is it Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, Winter Wonderland, Rudy the Red Nosed Reindeer? Technically, these aren’t really Christmas songs. They are more winter songs that don’t have any tethering to Christ. Watch any Hallmark Christmas movie and you will probably hear 700 different versions of Jingle Bells and by the end of the week after Thanksgiving, you are ready to quit Christmas music.

I used to prefer the Christmas “hymns”, songs about the savior which is the whole reason for the season. However, there are very few new songs and they contain terrible theology or Americanized to the point they shouldn’t even be canonized into Christmas. I stick to Christmas instrumentals now so I don’t have to hear some new artist destroy a classic by over-singing through their nostrils.

How to setup your Advent Calendar

~ SA Otey

If you take baby Jesus out of the day 24 box, what do you do about the wise men? They didn’t show up until Jesus was a toddler. Do you just keep the calendar out all year? I try to set my Advent Calendar up as follows.

  1. Stars go on there first were created long before people
  2. Angels to announce John and Jesus are gestating
  3. Shepards and Animals since they own the joint
  4. The innkeeper, even though there was no Hilton Garden Inn back then.
  5. Joseph, since he was supposed to find a place
  6. Mary, since she has a baby Lord inside of her
  7. Jesus, since he is the whole purpose of the Advent
  8. Wise men, since it took several months or maybe years to get there.

Get your calendar

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Holiday Classics the Whole Family will Love

~ SA Otey
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Mr Joshua’s arm roasting on an open fire

Elf – There is a debate if Will Ferrel is funny or not. I think he’s probably the funniest in this movie and peaked here.

Christmas Vacation – Been watching this every year since 1990. I didn’t see it the first year it was out because all my friends went to the movies and didn’t bother inviting me. I am no longer friends with that “ringleader” for several reasons.

Die Hard – Saw this when I was a kid and I still watch it every year. Opening gifts and shouting “Yippee Ki Yay MF’er” makes for an interesting morning.

Lethal Weapon – Another Holiday favorite, who doesn’t enjoy Gary Busey’s wrist roasting on an open fire.

Iron Man 3 – I was pumped when I saw Holiday Trees in this movie. Also lots of roasting on open fire references as well as the secret Santa for the barn lab at the end (spoiler)

Shazam! The gift of superpowers and a new family makes it a holiday hit!

Jurassic World The ultimate Christmas Vacation where the zoo animals feast upon you.

Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, Harry Potter – While not technically Christmas movies they did come out at Christmas time so it counts. The same goes for Star Wars The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker.

The Bourne Identity – Follow Jason as he goes on a quest to remember where he hid the Christmas presents.

What are some of your favorite Holiday movies?

Ask before you wish a happy holiday…

~ SA Otey

For some reason, I started asking people first if they celebrate a holiday before I give them warm wishes. Or I’ll say something like. “Well, if you celebrate Thanksgiving, then have a happy one. Otherwise, enjoy doing whatever you do with the days we mark as a national holiday”. I don’t assume everyone celebrates Thanksgiving or Christmas, to do so would be oppressive right?

It also gives me an out because if I wish someone a specified happy holiday then they have the chance to say. “Oh, I don’t celebrate that particular holiday because it’s racist or hateful towards a certain demographic”. I don’t want to hear any of that garbage. I guess I will just keep my warm wishes to myself until someone tries to offend me with their merrymaking.