Friday, December 21, 2012

Friday Fricassee

Funny, how I've been pressuring myself this morning to come up with Just The Right Friday Fricassee Post Before Christmas.  Must be my writerly perfectionism rearing its gnarly head.

But really, I've had such a joy-filled month, and I guess I'd just like to spread a little of that.  It's the whole anticipation thing--because I absolutely adore surprising the people I love. 

When Mr. A and I were newly wed, a friend asked me if we did stockings with each other.  I raised an eyebrow at her--because stockings were something from childhood, right?  But after she shared how much fun she and her husband had stuffing each other's stockings, I was converted.  Mr. A and I have been doing stockings for each other ever since.

It's the most romantic part of my Christmas.

I'm up for the challenge every year--finding things that aren't stupid or useless that will fit into a woolen Christmas stocking.  We don't do silly things like tubes of toothpaste or cheap candy.  (Or, like the sign at Walmart touts, bottles of Tums. No, seriously.)  Of course, we don't stuff the stockings with rubies and gold watches, either.  There's a middle ground and there's a budget, and we've both gotten pretty darn good at this.

We wrap each gift, too, which is a throw-back to my own childhood.  I've often scorned Mr. A's upbringing of throw-unwrapped-gifts-into-a-stocking.  I mean, where's the magic in that?  (I know, I know.  Half of you wrap, half don't.  What can I say? I'm loyal to my roots.)  Fortunately, he's found the value in wrapping the stocking gifts, so it's now a firmly entrenched tradition.

The utter dorkness of our Christmas-morning-on-the-sofa-with-stockings is beyond description.  And the anticipation of watching him open the gifts makes me squeal a little whenever I think about it.

And, truly, anticipation is a wonderful thing--not just during holidays, but always.  It's a huge part of the joy of giving, and of the joy of experiencing life.  We anticipate laughter when we share something funny.  We anticipate success when we send our work out there.  We anticipate a wriggly hug from our sweet nephew when he greets us at the door. 

My entire December has been imbued with anticipation.  I love it!

So there you have it.  Whether you are celebrating Christmas or not, may your anticipation of joy and pleasure and success and accomplishment and the sparkle in a child's eyes be fulfilled beyond your expectations.

And thank you ALL for being part of this wonderful community!

10 comments:

  1. Have a wonderful Christmas, Authoress--and enjoy your stocking presents!

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  2. I come from the school of wrapping stocking gifts, too ;) Kids (big and little ;) love tearing off wrapping paper--whether the gift is big or small. Plus, the more wrapping paper littering the floor on Christmas morning, the better! Needless to say, we DO NOT toss the paper into a trash bag as we go along, instead, we spend the morning kicking through it like leaves on the sidewalk :)

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!

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  3. You have to wrap the stocking presents. Otherwise when the kids get up at 3am to check if Santa has been, they see what they got. If you wrap, you keep the suspense until the 5am wake up....

    Have a wonderful Christmas Authoress! And an even better New Year.

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  4. Merry Christmas, Authoress, and to everyone out here. Wishing all of you love, peace and joy. <3

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  5. I love stockings. It's my favorite part. I don't know why. Must be my love of gift baskets.

    Have a merry CHristmas!

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  6. Ohh, now I feel all warm and cozy! Beautiful post. Have a Merry Christmas!

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  7. I love stockings, too. I usually wrap most of the stocking presents, except for the apple or orange in the toe. You have to have that early morning snack handy!

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  8. Oh yes, the stockings are a MUST! At least one pair of socks and undies must be included to be semi-practical (no matter how unpractical the undies,) then comes the fun stuff! We've been doing this since we got together, all those years ago, and it's always my favorite part.

    We even did it that one dark, horrible year, when I had been deathly ill from a mysterious ailment, with no help from the (22)doctors, except for repeated attempts to put me on anti-depressants (that way you don't care if you're sick, I guess; I refused, saying I preferred a CURE!) Our savings account had been sucked dry from the medical mafia, I couldn't work, and while my husband made a decent wage, pulling thousands out per month for bad doctors was killing us. We agreed on no gifts for each other so we could give the kids in our families gifts, but we would do very cheap stockings for each other.

    We cried over those stockings like a Hallmark made-for-TV movie. It was our worst but yet most romantic Christmases ever, and right then, we knew we'd make it.

    And we did!(See? Even a happy Hallmark ending!)

    The cats enjoy the stockings, too- the heck with kitty toys, nothing beats lots of bows and wrapping paper to play with!

    Thank you for everything, dear Authoress! A Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Write!

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