Activity

1) We’re not very traditional as a family. That’s not to say that we’re untraditional, we just don’t stick to many things. My favourite is probably the names of Jesus decorations we have. Currently they’re laminated paper baubles that hang from tinsel. We also have a tendency to decorate in gold and purple as those are especially royal colours.

And we have presents, and share Christmas with one branch of the family or another. Some of the best times are Christmas with cousins where we do a white elephant gift exchange and play Monopoly with too many people.

I often make cookies while listening to music in mid-December. We won’t get into full Christmas mode for a few more days becuase one of my brothers has a birthday. And there’s been years we’ve not decorated. The last few years we’ve been trying to do something with my Mum’s parents as much as we can, because they may not be around much longer.

2) I really, really like Christmas music.  Mostly old songs and I much prefer songs about Christ than songs about the season of Christmas. We have a five disc CD player that usually get filled up sometime early December, and this year I’ve got a Spotify list with 148 songs. I know there’s five versions of Mary Did You Know , and plenty of other duplicates. A lot of it is Irish music, because I’ve currently got a slight obsession. And I’ve also got a YouTube playlist with 63 songs that’s been built up over the last few years.

Some new and old favourites. Christmas 1915. Welcome Inn. Not Far Apart. Oh, Sing a Song of Bethlehem.

3) I really don’t read or watch Christmas stories. I’ve seen a few, but nothing at all recent. There’s one exception: I love to watch the Nativity movie, when we can borrow it from my Grandma. Absolutely love that. And we’ll often watch something that has been given as a present.

@missfaeriekaiti you found a version of Hallelujah with good words!!!  The existence of that song annoys me because it’s musically beautiful, but the words just aren’t. (I mentioned it to my older brother and he told me about another video with those words. Christmas Hallelujah by Living Stones Quartet.)