👟👠 Nothing but Christmas (#38)

Hi !  Welcome back. We’re at the point where everything not fun is a “2025 problem”. This week I am thinking (and writing) about Christmas, rest, more Christmas and then more of the same :-) . If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can join here or by clicking the button below. - Eve D.❣️

WEEK IN REVIEW

It’s Christmas week! On the downside, I only have 5 days of Christmas music left, on the plus side this time next week I will be on the way to the beach. But before any of that happens there’s a lot still to be done and experienced this side of the world. I am loving this December, and want to take this energy of calm and peace all the way into 2025.

🛌 I’m exhausted. I didn’t realise just how exhausted I was, until the holidays came and I could relax. I seem to need to nap about twice a day, and these are not my small 20-minute power naps. These are deep, multiple-hour sleeps. Case in point: Today I woke up at 6am, got up, walked to a market near my house to get 10 pancakes for kids and me, ate said pancakes, went to nap at 10am, woke up at 12:15, realised I have no newsletter written (usually it goes out about this time), and here we are.

🎁 All my Christmas shopping is done, wrapped and under the Christmas tree. This is definitely a win, and almost all the purchases were done online, which is another massive win-win. I don’t know (like, literally do not know) how people find the energy to shop the big malls.

Nevertheless, we did go to one of the biggest malls last night for our Xmas photos (tradition, see below) and my “shopping experience” consisted of moving from one coffee shop to another (I managed to fit in four) while the rest of the party (we went with my sister and partner) shopped. Then we went out to dinner, and honestly this just reinforced what I’ve always known: my love language is food and good company. That’s all I need.

🍦 A couple days ago we went to a fast food place that serves decadent ice cream desserts, and I kid you not but Micole’s dessert was 5,500 kilojoules !!!

♟️ One December tradition is to play a board game every night. We’ve skipped some nights (see above…I’m exhausted!) but when we do play it’s loads of fun. I don’t think I’ve won yet.

🎅 This week will be fun. We’re having our traditional Christmas Eve dinner on the 24th, at my sister’s, which pretty much guarantees us a good meal. After that we come home and open our presents, and then pass out from exhaustion. Christmas Day is going to be quiet, and just the three of us. Then the 26th we go back to my sister and spend the day eating all the leftovers, swimming, watching the soccer, playing games, eating cake and napping (me!). Then on Friday I need to do a massive grocery shop for the kids, pack my bags, and get on a plane on Saturday morning to spend 9 days with G. My kids are staying behind and will be spoiled (and probably fed) by my sister. They can’t wait, and neither can I. I need this me time. It’s the first “just-me-time” that’s non work related in 23 years!

THESE ARE HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Christmas time is a Big Thing in our family. Nothing religious…we focus on our traditions, the decorations and the presents. To be the honest, the reason it’s a Big Thing is because it was a Big Thing for my mother. She lived for Christmas. It was her favourite time of the year, by far.

When I was studying in the States, South Africa was just coming out of the apartheid era and our shopping options were extremely limited. Our Christmas tree was pathetic and sad, and there was no easy way to get a better one. So when I got to Boston and saw that you could easily buy 3m tall Christmas trees I knew I had to do it and bring it home for my mother. Let me tell you…that was a massive box to transport on the plane, and getting it to the airport was no joke. And then my dad picked me up in his sports car, which I think was smaller than all the luggage I brought with me. It was a scene 🤣.

Anyway, my mother loved that Christmas tree. It was her greatest moment to decorate it each year, together with all the other Santa-themed knick knacks that she peppered all over the house. Over the years she collected ornaments, and themed the tree differently according to her whim. December was definitely my mother’s month.

When she passed away unexpectedly in September 2021, we didn’t know how we would ever handle Christmas again. It was gently decided that the tree would never come out again. It was hers. Instead we got a smaller tree…and this is the first year since her death that we have managed to put it up and decorate it. It’s the fourth Christmas without her, and we feel somewhat ready to celebrate it with her in spirit. Before, it just didn’t seem right.

Micole inherited my mother’s Christmas joy, and has been taking it very, very seriously. I think she is doing it to honour my mom…our house is filled with Xmas surprises everywhere you turn, and she even hand-drew all 32 gift tags (she also wrapped all the presents that are not for her). She is revelling in this season, and I can absolutely foretell that once Xmas is over she will be semi-depressed. Zac is also excited, and is counting down the days to presents.

The kids and I also have our own Christmas traditions of course. One of the unshakeable ones is that we go to the same mall every year, and get a Santa photo done. When I first started doing this with just Micole, the Santa was the same person every year, so it made for a great photo series. That’s no longer the case, unfortunately, but come rain or shine we go to Sandton City to take that photo! Even if we are travelling for December, we will also time it so that we can get it done. I think I started in 2004, so now we have a series of 21 year-on-year photos. (This year’s, btw, was most disappointing. The set was uninspiring, and the quality of photos shocking. I’ll have to scan and touch up.)

Like I said, we put up our own Christmas tree this year, and Micole was in charge of the setup. We put it in the TV room, where we either watch Xmas movies, or just play Christmas music via the TV. It’s pretty.

BOOKS

I’m not going to give you my usual collection of links this week (I’ll make up for it next week), but I do want to share a recent discovery of the most wonderful series of small books. They were written by a Vietnamese monk, Thich Nhat Hanh and are a “How to…” series. I think all in all there are about 15 books, and they include titles like “How to Love”, “How to Listen”, “How to Focus” and “How to Relax”. They are small books, filled with wisdom, that you can read in less than an hour, but also over a full lifetime. I am pretty sure that every time you open any of these to a random page, you will find something thought provoking and perhaps even life changing.

Have a wonderful Christmas, if you celebrate, and a fabulous week off, if you are lucky enough to have that. I’ll see you next week, with hopefully a lot of fun links for you to read as you relax.

Thanks for reading!

That’s it for this week. (Want more? You can find past editions here). I hope you have a great weekend and upcoming week. Please keep sharing /forwarding to your friends/groups 😄 . You can also email me privately by hitting reply on this email.

PS

I drink my coffee slowly, and (if I am in a coffee shop) down to the very last drop. Waiters who try to remove my “almost empty” cup regret their life choices. I hope Santa drops this under the Christmas tree: