Simplifying the Holidays

My word for 2012 was “Simplicity”. Simplicity and the holidays don’t really seem to go together, though. We were forced to simplify some of our routines because my headaches were pretty bad this December, but we also made some decisions to streamline our holidays to reduce stress and spend less money.

• PWM carved a conducting baton for Rosie Girl just like the one in the Zelda Wind Waker video game – and like the one used by the conductor of the Zelda Orchestra that we saw this Fall. For Wild Man, PWM knitted a “sleeve” that goes over Wild man’s guitar strap. It provides some padding as well as looking pretty cool.
• I knitted Wild Man a hat with a guitar motif that he loves and I’m working on a pair of socks. (One is finished, but the other one is about halfway done.)
• I’m still working on the hoodie for Rosie Girl. Several days before Christmas, I was hiding in my room and knitting my fingers off to get the sweater done, but was very stressed out. I finally told her what I am making so that I could knit out in the open. Now I just need to finish the sleeves and duplicate stitching on the back.
• Rosie Girl made earrings and a pendant for me and a keychain for PWM. Wild Man wrote us a song and performed it. The kids did purchase gifts for each other – but they told each other about the gifts long before Christmas, so there was no surprise. Interesting.
• I missed Rosie Girl’s recital and Wild Man’s band concert because of migraines. There’s nothing simple about that except that they’re both used to my headaches interfering with life. And Rosie Girl played her piece for me later that night.
• We didn’t do much baking this year. I made two kinds of cookie doughs. Rosie Girl made chocolate crinkle cookies for the people at work. Wild Man and I made spritz cookies for the Worship Team on Christmas Eve. I wanted to make a Buche de Noel (chocolate yule log cake), but didn’t get a chance before Christmas. Yesterday (12/26), I was feeling really good, so we had some friends over for dessert and I made a Buche de Noel and a pecan pie. And a good time was had by all.
• The kids played on the worship team for Christmas Eve service, so they practiced music a lot. In addition, they learned Christmas carols just for fun. Several times, we did spontaneous Christmas caroling here at home.
• For Christmas dinner, the kids requested roast beef, rice, and gravy. It wasn’t fancy, but it was delicious. And we made it special by having sparkling grape juice with it.

Overall, it was a good Christmas. We spent a lot less money than usual. We were less busy than usual. I think we’re going to continue to do homemade gifts and aim for simple holidays. We liked it.