boxing day

they say the origin of the boxing day holiday is unknown, but was probably first observed in the middle ages. the Canadian Heritage online site, defines boxing day as: ‘The day after Christmas, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is better known as Boxing Day. The term may come from the opening of church poor boxes that day; maybe from the earthenware boxes with which boy apprentices collected money at the doors of their masters' clients.’

however, has gone from charity, to reduced sales at stores to rid them of excess inventory. too now, where many stores are having the week long sales in the name of boxing day, only to extend the commercialism of it all. for me, i’ve done my part to boost the economy and have had my fill of shopping. i’ll still observe the holiday, but instead of shopping, i’ll be feasting some more. and then promising myself, next week will be the time to reduce my intake of festive treats.

christmas day was good. despite having an almost green christmas, thanks to the pineapple express! the only snow that was left, was the odd partial node remains of shoveled walkways. tho, one child felt almost as if he had been cheated, not to have a white christmas.

exhange of gifts was a delight. always is. the symbolic gesture, of what comes from within the heart. still amazes me, that they always know what to package up. yet, a little disappointed that they never give in to allowing me to unwrap even the odd gift the night before. always next year. i'll have to bribe them with something.

instead of encountering extended family and all the nonsense that can come with it, we opted to stay at home and enjoy a quiet day. we decided after having a pre-christmas dinner with some visiting family, we had our fill of turkey. so, this was our first christmas without turkey. needless to say, i would do it again. no pressure of being organized to prepare a turkey, and not being held hostage in the kitchen.

and, no, our non-traditional dinner did not consist of takeout, order in, or something from the frozen food department. yet, the fine dinner was more than special; and consist of all of the food groups; excluding the eggnog. ah, cheer, the ramblings for another time ... but as one woman said, very amusing to see one take a large sip. the look on their face as it turned almost green; priceless. ... should have stirred it first, instead of watching the tilted glass of liqour floating on top ... . crewl, unwarranted punishment, but as she said, should curb that kid of any later desire to drink rum!