{"id":1083,"date":"2015-12-18T06:22:37","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T14:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/?p=1083"},"modified":"2015-12-18T06:22:37","modified_gmt":"2015-12-18T14:22:37","slug":"let-the-celebrations-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/2015\/12\/18\/let-the-celebrations-begin\/","title":{"rendered":"Let the Celebrations Begin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Christmas<\/a>
\n<\/a>It\u2019s midnight at the oasis.  I\u2019m sitting in a room populated by angels and Santa Clauses and poinsettias and candles.  It\u2019s a lovely room, and right now is the calm before the storm.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Tomorrow is my daughter\u2019s birthday.  The day after that we\u2019ll be attending a Star-wars Preview.  (My grandson, Colt, is ecstatic about that!)  Saturday the clan will gather for our annual family Christmas celebration\u2014Liljulaften, Little Christmas Eve.  It\u2019s an old Scandinavian custom that my mother put to good use when my first husband had to be with his mother every Christmas\u2014NO EXCEPTIONS!!  <\/span><\/p>\n

From the time I could read newspapers, I loved reading the advice columns, most especially Ann Landers and Dear Abby.  At the time, I had no idea that those two very wise columnists were actually sisters with a somewhat prickly sibling relationship.  The thing is, I still read a whole selection of advice columns on a daily basis.  (What better place than those to go looking for motives when it comes time to write my next murder mystery?)  <\/span><\/p>\n

Each year about this time, I read about one or more families who are being pulled this way and that by the old holiday tug-of-war\u2014where do we go for Christmas\u2014my parents or yours?  And each time I read one of those letters, I wish those people had a mother as smart as Evie Busk was, a woman who, when encountering a line in the sand, said \u2026 well \u2026 screw it!  Let’s just celebrate some other time.  <\/span><\/p>\n

She did.  We did.  And we still do.  The big advantage of Liljulaften is that nobody else knows it\u2019s there.  It\u2019s not a national holiday.  If you forgot something you need for dinner or if an unexpected  guest shows up and you need one more present?  No problem.  The stores are all open.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The kids come.  The grandkids come.  They\u2019re welcome to stay on, but if they need to be somewhere else for Christmas itself?  No problem.  Vaya con Dios.  They can be wherever else they need to be whenever they need to be there.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then, once Liljulaften is over?  We\u2019ll be looking after our grandson while school is out.  On Tuesday we celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary.  After that there\u2019s Christmas.  And New Years.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a season of one celebration after another.  My mother used to say, \u201cIt\u2019s a great life if you don\u2019t weaken.\u201d   And I\u2019m trying not to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, December is daunting.  And fun.  And busy.  <\/span><\/p>\n

And, with any kind of luck, the Christmas cards will go out before the end of the week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s midnight at the oasis.  I\u2019m sitting in a room populated by angels and Santa Clauses and poinsettias and candles.  It\u2019s a lovely room, and right now is the calm before the storm.   Tomorrow is my daughter\u2019s birthday.  The day after that we\u2019ll be attending a Star-wars Preview.  (My grandson, Colt, is ecstatic about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-family"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t