Advent Ain't What It Used to Be

Between leaving our church a few years ago and the pandemic, our Advent just isn't the same. 

In earlier years, we had many activities, including Hanging of the Greens, the Christmas pageant, lighting of the Advent candle, a visit from Santa's elf, and a beautiful candle-lit Christmas Eve service at church; Santa's Trains (with dinner out afterward) and Caroling on the Green (with horse-drawn wagon) in the community; and Christmas Eve Tater Tot Hotdish with family.

This year, none of that happened. Sarah had her "Advent calendar" of little boxes to open, which she enjoyed except for the days there was something to do for someone else. 😏 We got a tree, of course, but it looked bigger in the field. Oh, well, small house, small tree.

I spent lots of energy planning and negotiating gatherings with family. The omicron variant of the virus popped up right after Thanksgiving, and we decided early-on that the Christmas Eve celebration in our small house was not a good idea. We were still hoping to have dinner at Mom's the day after Christmas for a while, but it eventually became clear (to me, at least) that wasn't wise, either. 

I think this year was worse than last, COVID-wise, because it was hard to tell how careful we should be. At least last year, we knew we couldn't be together--no agonizing involved.

On top of it all, Don had back surgery on the 17th. It was supposed to be in November, but it was postponed. He was looking forward to it because he's been in near-constant pain for the last year, but it's turned out to be an ordeal, made worse by the inability to connect with anyone at the hospital for support once he was back home. Gotta love American healthcare. The pain was excruciating the first week, but it's slowly improving. Abby doesn't mind playing nurse.

The one Christmas constant, good year and bad, is cookies. I didn't grow up making cookies for Christmas, but it's become my favorite part of the holiday. It's one of the few activities Sarah and I both enjoy, and we've even reached a point where we can do it without much frustration. I love watching her master the trickier parts as she grows.

We make five varieties of cookies, baking one or two kinds every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas and freezing them. They're not to be touched before Christmas Eve, when we package them up and deliver them to friends and family--and put out a plate for ourselves. I love everything about it, except the crummy cookie press I bought at a tag sale; I'm buying myself a new one next year!

We opened gifts with the Rodriguezes via Zoom on the 23rd, which was fun. I wonder if we would even be aware of this technology, if not for the pandemic. They gave me a beautiful stoneware mug in shades of blue and brown with an embedded maple leaf design, handmade in Vermont. Such a thoughtful gift!

We had a couple of new decorations this year. Last winter, I finally made a felted wreath from sweaters I'd collected at tag sales years ago.

We always take a picture of Sarah by the tree on Christmas Eve, when she's dressed up for church. The church part hasn't happened the last two years, but we've still done the photos. I make a ceramic ornament of the shot through Shutterfly the following year.

I've long wanted a separate display of the ornaments, and, last summer, I found the perfect tree at a tag sale. I love this addition to our Christmas decor.

Despite the changes to our Advent traditions, I still love this season. We are so fortunate to have each other and a cozy home to celebrate in. We were even surprised to wake up to a white Christmas Eve Day. Life is full of unexpected blessings.