Day: December 24, 2016

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Anticipating Christmas

I love waking up on Christmas Eve day, and experiencing the thrill of anticipation. As a child I looked forward to opening gifts and playing with new toys. Now, I lie in bed and savor the delicious anticipation of opening a new day and letting it unfold as it will. And play, of the creative sort, is still an important and meaningful part of my day.  

It has been a full day…full of activities, full of fun, full of preparation, full of joy. Because I still have cooking to do, and it is 10:43 pm, I am sharing the unfolding of my day via photos. 

Beginning the day with fresh celery juice, followed by a breakfast smoothie. It has been vital, during this busy season, to continue to take exceptional care of myself. I am excited to be finishing the year strong, healthy and fit. 

Banana, peach, pineapple, blueberry smoothie. 

After completing grocery and gift shopping today, I worked upstairs gathering up photo albums and boxes of artwork created by my children when they were young. Tomorrow we will enjoy looking through these moments from the past. Above is one of my favorite old family photos, Greg’s great-great grandfather Tuck, in the civil war uniform, and Tuck’s sons Quincy and Roy. 

I finished wrapping the last of the gifts. 

And after delivering gifts to my younger daughter Adriel and son-in-law Nate, the three of us watched A Christmas Carol. This is a yearly Christmas Eve tradition for Adriel and me. The George C Scott version released in 1984, the year Adriel was born, and we’ve watched it together every year since, with the exception of last year, due to Adriel working Christmas Eve at the hospital. We love this classic story! 

Back home, candles were lit to welcome Christmas and send out Light into the mild night. 

I am creating in the kitchen, while Christmas songs play on my phone. I succesfully made pomegranate bark tonight. I have several more plant based dishes to prepare for tomorrow’s family gathering and smorgasbord at Adriel and Nate’s house. 

Interspersed throughout the day, Christmas messages and texts have flowed in, literally from around the world, warming my heart and amplifying my joy. That tingle of anticipation I awoke with has been the constant undercurrent during my day, as I look forward to spending time with my family tomorrow and sending Christmas greetings to friends and more family. 

There is a musical meaning for the word anticipation, that I love. It is the introduction in a composition of part of a chord that is about to follow in full. What a perfect definition for today…Christmas Eve…as I am experiencing in part what I will fully enjoy tomorrow. 

Happy Christmas Eve…and happy anticipation. 

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Christmas Gift Making with Dayan

I finished up the Yaya and grandchild Christmas tradition today with my oldest grandson, Dayan. However, we broke the new tradition of sharing a meal and shopping for family, reverting back to a tradition that Dayan and I practiced for years when he was younger…making Christmas gifts. 


I love that my 17 year old grandson, a senior in high school, asked if instead of shopping we could be creative. Of course, I said yes! Dayan was my only grandchild for years. When he was four, he made the connection between other people having birthdays and celebrating holidays, and giving them gifts. He embraced this idea with the whole of his big little heart, discovering it was as fun to give as to receive, and I began taking him shopping to buy gifts for his family. As our family grew, it became more economical to make gifts together, rather than purchase them. 

Dayan and I have been very creative over the years, and the time spent together making gifts was precious to me. Returning to this practice, after shopping for gifts last year, felt nostalgic and right and brought joy to my heart. 


Today we took a simple idea and duplicated it to create cookie wreaths for his family members. The results were wonderful, and we were quite pleased. We played Christmas songs by Pentatonix as we worked, as we both love this a cappella group. And we had fun as we made batches of cookies, laughing and chatting. 


Our conversations today were quite different from those we had when Dayan was a little boy. This intelligent young man discussed world events with knowledge and competence, sharing with me about recent occurrences around the globe. I appreciated that I could ask him about the refugee crises in Syria and get an in depth answer that helped me to better understand what’s happening in another country. Dayan’s compassion for others and his desire to make a difference in the world were very evident as he spoke. 


I am well aware that Dayan will be headed to college next fall. Knowing he will be venturing out and embarking on his own journey soon creates deep love and pride for my grandson, and a sense that such times together, making things, is coming to an end. 

Or are they?

As if reading my mind, Dayan said he would come home from the university next Christmas, and we would make gifts together to give to family. Yes, I agreed…yes we will. My heart sang!