Category: holidays and parties

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Shopping for Roses and Chocolates for Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, so I need to get out of the house and go shopping for roses and chocolates for tomorrow. I don’t usually buy roses for anyone on Valentine’s Day, but my sister and I thought it would be a nice thing to do for our mom, since our dad passed away last summer. Mom had a hard time with the first Christmas without him, and he used to always give her a dozen yellow roses on Valentine’s Day.

The color of roses and types of flowers that you give to people are supposed to have certain meanings, like the color red for roses means love. So we had asked Dad why he gave our mom yellow roses instead of red ones. He said that because she was born in Dallas, TX, that the two of them had always had a private joke about her being his “Yellow Rose of Texas.” So he always gave her yellow roses whenever there was an occasion for flowers.

My sister and I agreed to go in together and split the cost of the roses, and I will take them to her in the morning on my way to work. We could have them delivered, but we want her to get them first thing in the morning, so her entire day is brightened and she doesn’t have to spend all morning being sad, missing him.

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Chinese New Year Starts Next Week

Next week is the Chinese New Year. It is the biggest holiday for people in China and many Asian countries, and also for people who live in many big U.S. cities that have their own Chinatown districts. I have been to Chinatown in San Francisco, Oakland and Washington, DC. Each one is a treasure trove of great food at authentic Chinese restaurants, natural medicine shops and imported gift items.

The cities have big parades, firecrackers, and many traditions and superstitions that everyone must honor and observe. The one that I like is you cannot sweep your house on New Year’s Day or you will be sweeping all the good fortune for the coming year out of your door and you will not have good fortune.

Next year will be the Chinese Year of the Water Snake. I don’t know very much about what birth years are included in the Year of the Snake, but I will try to look them up and see what calendar sign is related to my own birthday. You should do the same!

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Our First Snow is Here!

Most of the country seemed to enjoy a white Christmas, but we only had rain here in Nashville. It was cold and windy and dark, but most people were focused on being inside exchanging gifts and feasting on traditional Christmas dinner foods. Some guys were all about watching football and there were some great children’s movies on cable to keep the kids occupied.

But when I woke up this morning, there were huge snow flakes swirling around in the air. It is just about 32 degrees outside, so I wonder if any of it will stick to the ground and give us a snow day today? We don’t get very much snow here anyway, so when it snows around Christmas that makes it special – even if it is the day after.

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Only One Week To Christmas

Wow! Did you realize that Christmas is only one week away? I think this is about the right time to start to panic. Do I have all the gifts bought? Do I have plenty of wrapping paper and ribbons? Where are the gift tags that I bought on sale last year for 80% off? I know I put them someplace safe so I could use them this year and not have to spend top dollar on gift tags.

The dinner menu is starting to worry me. Do I have all the things I need in my pantry other than the turkey? Do I even want a turkey this year? I have been thinking about getting a Honeybaked ham instead. But it has always been a tradition at my house to have turkey on Thanksgiving and again on Christmas. Of course, that much turkey makes everyone pretty much sick of turkey and we don’t even think about having turkey again for several months – it’s just too much. So maybe it makes more sense to get a ham this year and start a new tradition?

Thankfully I got all the Christmas cards written and mailed last weekend. I don’t have that hanging over my head any longer. This year was tough to send cards – I have not been good about keeping up with everyone’s address changes. One card to my niece already came back as undeliverable because she moved and I forgot about it. So I have to call her and get her new address tonight, then find a new envelope to get that last card mailed out to her.

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Too Dry for Fireworks?

We have been in a terrible drought this summer and several places are having a lot of wildfires. The one in Colorado is really scary – I have friends that live in Colorado Springs and that is where my brother lived for 2 years while he was in school. It makes me very sad to see the thousands of acres of mountains and all those beautiful homes being burned. And all those poor animals – it is a real tragedy!

It is also a problem for a lot people who have big plans for this weekend and for the Fourth of July. I have heard rumors that the police and fire departments are canceling their community fireworks shows and not allowing private citizens to shoot off any fireworks in their yards or neighborhoods, either. What a shame, but I totally support them in being careful about not wanting any wildfires here. We can celebrate in other ways and maybe next year we won’t have to worry about a drought.

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Cinco De Mayo

Have you ever noticed how Americans celebrate every holiday, even those that don’t belong to us?  Take for example Cinco De Mayo.  We go out and drink as much alcohol as possible and eat in local Mexican restaurants to celebrate this holiday that originated in South America.  It is crazy how much we like to celebrate.  I wonder if part of that has to do with the long hours and hard labor we put in all week long. Our work schedules; especially in busy metropolitan areas; can include work weeks made up of 50 or 60 hours. Not including commuting to and from work and going home to a family of kids to feed and bath.

In other parts of the world I’ve heard that certain countries will stop all labor from about 2:00-4:00 P.M. in the afternoons to rest. Life is made up of more leisure and a little work. Where as in the states it is made up of a lot of work and a little bit of leisure. We are definitely a country made up of workaholics and alcoholics when there is a reason to celebrate.

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Easter Weekend

Why is it that some holidays seem to be more popular than others? Some are talked about for months or weeks before actually arriving and others are not talked about as much until the actual day arrives. It seems strange to me that holidays such as Halloween and Valentine’s Day make headlines in the news and others such as Easter and Good Friday are kept secret.

That is why I feel so blessed to have been brought up in a Catholic Church. Where all of the Christian holidays were celebrated and made into a big deal. As I was sitting in church listening to the sermon I realized how lucky I was to be brought up with the parents I had and the religious upbringing that has been part of my life ever since. My family had planted the seed and my faith and devotion has grown ever since. What a blessing it is to be part of a Christian community.

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Peppermint Bark

Santa brought me some Godiva peppermint bark candy for Christmas. I found a big bar of it in my Christmas stocking! I have never had it before and figured that if it is Godiva, then it HAS to be good. And it WAS! I love this stuff – I hope to find some on clearance at Target or KMart so I can stock up!

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Starting to Freak Out

So here it is the 14th of December and I’m still trying to figure out what to buy some people as gifts. My two brothers are the hardest to buy anything for. They both make really good money and can afford to go buy anything they like on impulse. So how do you buys something for a guy who already has everything? I’m running out of time and ideas, but I have less than 2 weeks left so I need to get this done!