Countdown to Christmas!

Hope everyone is on schedule with all your Christmas plans and projects.  As I mentioned before, we are going to be away for the holidays so I did not do our usual decorating.  I made a box called "Basic Christmas" and that is all I used to decorate this year.  I suppose I could have not done anything...but that would not be me - need some Christmas in the house!

For example...I have a entire tote filled with my late mother-in-law's Nativity Set.  All the shepherds, the Three Kings, three camels to go with them...several other animals.  It takes up an entire table and we love it.  But when we made the "Basic Christmas" box we put the Holy Family in there and that is the extent of the Nativity Set this year.  

Christmas cards were done last weekend and in the mail.  I had some packages to ship and got them to the Post Office early.  One was within our state and got there ahead of the promised time.  The other package was sent out of state...and I kept tracking it to make sure it was delivered.  It seemed to sit in a "distribution center" for three days...

but it finally arrived.  I was worried it would get lost because it was a gift that has become a holiday tradition.

Have you heard of a Friendship Ball ?

A dear friend gifted me this ball probably over 30 years ago.  The idea is to put a treat or little gift in the ornament and pass it back and forth each year.  I am thrilled that over the years and moving homes for me and my friend a few times, we never lost it! The first year the ornament held bath salts for me...and over the years we have tried to find cute things that will fit inside the ball ( it opens up with a latch).  Each year I polish it early in November and start thinking about what it will hold. Early on we got to see each other in person every holiday...but life changes and holiday visits are not as possible. Since we can't be together we have expanded the gift the last few years...tucking other gifts in the mailing box with the ornament.  Last year when the ornament came to me it was filled with wonderful things.  And as I was getting gifts for other friends last year I found some great gift tags on Pinterest and other blogs...so I kept track of the tags I thought were cute and started to gather gifts to pack the box.

BUT...I did not take photos of the gifts before I wrapped them!  So here is how they looked as I started packing...

This one held a box of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate...

Chapstick...

Some holiday hand soap...

Holiday paper dinner and cocktail napkins and dessert plates...

A package of cookie mix, hot mitts, and a gingerbread man spatula...

And a pair of Christmas socks!

Tucked inside the ornament was a pair of earrings made by a local artist.

A cute friendship holiday card...

All tucked in a mailing box to bring some Christmas Cheer to my friend!

And speaking of packing...we leave soon for a Viking Ocean Cruise in the Caribbean - so I am starting to pack and get things ready.  When we packed away our summer clothes ( we are lucky to have a huge closet so we have clear totes that we use to switch seasons) I did the same thing as I did with the Christmas decorations.  I took one tote and put in shorts, summer slacks, tops, bathing suits...everything I think I want to wear on this trip.  When I started to look through things this week I noticed my bathing suit cover up was not looking too good.  Amazon to the rescue !

Short Sleeve Cover Up

I love the look of this one...and figure it can be worn with shirts or a pair of slacks, too.

I have been following this trip on a Facebook group and read that the weather is hot and be sure to have sunscreen.  Having had a bit of skin cancer years ago I am very careful about protecting my skin.  Both John and I use moisturizer with sunscreen every day, we wear sun hats when we go for a walk, and stay out of the sun as much as we can.  Just in case we can't find a shady spot on the ship or on a beach I ordered this coverup with SPF 50

Long Sleeve SPF 50 Cover Up

I intended to keep just one of these...but you know how that goes.  Both will find their way into my suitcase.

Also ordered some masks for the airport, plane, and just in case for the cruise.

KN 95 Masks

And one more thing will make it's way into our suitcase...

Oplatky

Oplatki are Christmas Wafers, like Communion Bread, but in a wafer shape with scenes from the Nativity on them.  I am from a Slovak nationality, but these are used by lots of Easter European heritage people for the special Christmas Eve dinner called Vilija...or Holy Supper.

A traditional Christmas Eve meal that takes place after the first star appears in the sky. The meal is a time for family to gather and celebrate the birth of Christ, and is marked by a special menu, rituals, and a strict fast.

Many of the traditions that my family observed have been changed over the years, but we have always observed Holy Supper.  The idea for the oplatky is that one wafer is at each place and before you eat dinner you break a piece off of each other's wafer and wish them a Merry Christmas.  All anger or disagreement it to be gone with the breaking of the wafer and a wish for health and happiness.   I have found many explanations for this tradition, but the one I like the best is that in many Eastern European villages in the mountains ( the Tatra Mountains in Slovakia) the churches would give these wafers out early in the season to be used as Holy Communion in case the snow was too deep in the mountain passes to make it to church on Christmas.  We celebrate Holy Supper by making cabbage soup ( that is from John's Ukrainian tradition - his family never did oplatky), fish, pirohy,  - and we always set an extra place at the table for the Baby Jesus to make sure that there is room in "our inn"...in case a stranger should come to call.

So...this year we will be on the Viking Sea...I will make sure we have some kind of fish, no pirohy but some kind of pasta or noodles...and our oplatky.  Christmas Eve is also John's birthday, so we will have much to celebrate.

Please leave a message below and let me know about your holiday traditions.  Do you celebrate at home, or like us - are you traveling?  I love hearing from you!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas with your family and friends...looking forward to 2025!