Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Wednesday, and it’s time for another post in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews. If you’d like to participate in the challenge, you can find the list of topics for 2023 here. If you’re interested in reading other people’s responses to this week’s topic, you can do that here.

My Winter Holiday Traditions

Well… growing up, my parents used to put our decorations up on December 1st; when we were young, it was all done for us coming home from school. As we grew up, we’d all participate in decking the halls.

Since I’ve had my own place, I’ve always liked to have my tree up early, and it usually went up around the middle of November. That is until 2020.

See, during COVID and all those lockdowns, my husband and I planned to get married on Christmas Eve. It was all set. We thought coming home from the Register Office and stepping into our home, decked in tinsel and Christmas lights, would be a magical way to start married life.

But then the bloody rules changed, and we got a call from the registrar saying that because of some upcoming restrictions, December wasn’t looking good. She did say we could move it forward two months, and she would marry us on October 24th instead… but we would only be allowed 2 witnesses.

I was disappointed that we couldn’t get married at Christmas, but my (now) husband and our nephew, who has lived with us since he was about 13, suggested we put our decorations up anyway.

So… we got dressed up on October 24th, and my sister and her best friend were our witnesses while our two nephews waited outside (in the drizzle). We took pictures in the Register Office garden, and then my husband, my nephew, and I went home and decorated our house for Christmas. It was magical.

Now we make every October 24th Christmas. It’s such a lovely tradition, and, at first, I was a little opposed to it; as I said, I love decorating early, but I thought October was pushing it a little, even for me. But once we did it, I was all in. It’s our family tradition now, and we buy a new ornament for the tree every year.

On a sadder note, this will be the first Christmas without my nanna, who regular readers will know passed away in May. Since long before I was born, our family tradition was to go to my nannas for Christmas dinner. We couldn’t go last year because she was in hospital with sepsis and COVID. She didn’t come home until halfway through January, but I still got to talk to her on the phone on Christmas Day and then visit her on Boxing Day. This year will be the first time in my life I won’t speak to her on Christmas Day, so I’m unsure how I’ll feel.

I’ll see my two brothers, my sister and her son on Christmas Eve, so we’ll all still see one another… it just won’t be the same.
But… luckily, I married someone who loves to cook, especially at Christmas, so, like last year, my husband, my nephew, and I will have our small family Christmas at home, and this will be the first Christmas in five years I’ll be able to actually sit with my family and eat Christmas dinner. I’ve tried and worked very hard to focus on my anorexia recovery this year, so there have definitely been some upsides to 2023.

Wow, well, that’s post 49 done! I’m very much looking forward to reading about all your holiday traditions. As I think I’ve mentioned half a million times, I love the holiday season!

As always, thank you for spending some time with me today. It means the world.

Until next time,

George

© 2023 GLT

Categories: life, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

Tags: challenge, Christmas, festive, Holiday Traditions, Wednesday, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, winter