Traditions Old and New

With the holidays fast approaching (I know it's only August, but you just wait, it will be here before you know it!) I've been finding myself thinking a lot about traditions. They can be as big as who hosts the holiday shindig and as small as the summer reading program you participated in every year at the local library. Some are really special and some you would rather do without. For example, in my own family, I always cherished the tradition of putting baby Jesus in the manger after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Mom's green jello salad at Thanksgiving dinner however, not so much. Funny thing though, it wouldn't have been Thanksgiving without it. So no matter good or bad...I think you cling to tradition.

As my own little family was growing up, we created new traditions along the way. A blending, if you will, between his traditions and mine. And sometimes, you have to create new traditions when you don't really want to: as we did when our parents passed away. I'm coming to one of those crossroads now. As my little family is all but grown up now, I'm faced with the reality that, eventually, they will be blending their traditions with someone else's. And with Sarah so far from home, she has been creating some new traditions of her own. She has spent the last two Thanksgivings back east with friends. This year, Beth will join her there. I'm sad that both my girls will be gone for the holiday, but I'm also so very happy that they have each other and that Beth will provide a little bit of "home" for Sarah.

I'm not sure I like how these new traditions affect me. Since I don't really have a say in the matter, I'm trying my best to forge forward and find joy in the fact that I raised happy, healthy adults who love their family but are independent enough to be able to create their own traditions. It's the age old conundrum of being a parent. You raise them up with all the love in your heart, only to have them leave you. And here's the conundrum part - that's what you want to happen, even though it hurts you beyond anything you ever imagined.

So here we are at the dawn of another holiday season full of traditions and I'm thinking I might just have to create a new one of my own. Not sure what it will be yet but I'll keep you posted.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and an even better week. Talk to you next Friday!

Quote of the Week:

Men can know more than their ancestors did if they start with a knowledge of what their ancestors had already learned....That is why a society can be progressive only if it conserves its traditions.
~Walter Lippmann (1889 - 1974) ~

Let's Try This Again, Shall We?

It has been three months since I wrote a post. Needless to say, I'm a blogger slacker. I have several excuses, none which you would be sympathetic to, because lets face it, we're all busy, we all have work or home or kid issues. I have tried to keep up with my favorite bloggers but have failed to comment because, honestly, I didn't want anyone coming to my blog and actually realizing how much of a slacker I am. So, here I am, back after three months with one lesson learned. I am not an everyday blogger...I will not post everyday. My goal now is to try and write a post once a week and I have chosen Friday as my posting day. Let's see how this plan works.....

For my first post back I think I'll just do some random thoughts about things that have been happening lately.

1. I have decided that the car companies are in cahoots with the mechanics of the world and they now make crappy vehicles on purpose so you will have nothing better to do than pour money into them, spend your time in rental cars (they're probably in on it too) and never feel completely confident about said vehicle whenever you drive it. Or maybe it's just that Jeep makes crappy cars....there I said it. I think we have spent almost as much money in repairs as we paid for the thing. I would love to trade it in but can't at the moment. Anyway, I really just wanted to say how much I HATE Jeeps and hope no one ever buys one of their vehicles again. Oh, and they have the WORST customer service ever....on the face of the earth. Ok, now i feel better about that.

2a. My Droid is my new best friend. I can't go anywhere without it and it has caused me to become a Facebook addict. I'm constantly checking the phone for updates. I think I need help.

2b. My husband now has a Droid. Which I find totally hilarious since the man still doesn't know how to use his email and his idea of high technology is a remote control that works the TV, cable box and DVD player all in one. Hearing him talking about the apps he has downloaded just makes me feel like I'm living in an alternate universe. His favorite is the weather app. He now gets continuous weather updates on his phone. He's so proud of this. Really honey? Because we live in Arizona...you don't need a weather app to tell you it's hot outside! Although, it was quite humorous the other night as we were sitting watching TV while the monsoon was rolling in. He says to me, "I got a weather update, storm warnings in our area." My reply, "I heard the thunder, saw the lightening...don't need an app for that." I've lived with this man for almost 30 years and never knew how important the weather was to him. In other weather related news....

3. I'm tired of the heat and ready for fall...which by the way doesn't get here until December.....

4. Every summer I watch Big Brother. Sometimes I'm embarrassed to admit this. It's my guilty pleasure. I don't really care for most reality shows but for some reason I love this one. It got me to thinking....can you have standards for your reality TV? For instance, I would never, ever watch the show about the 3 year old pageant queens but I'll watch a bunch of adults go crazy stuck in a house together for an entire summer. All the while lying, backstabbing, scheming and treating each other terribly and then complaining because people are lying, backstabbing, scheming and treating each other terribly. I think it's a sickness. Big Brotheritis...oh well, it's free, unlike my other sickness, which brings me to.....

5. My obsession with Hallmark ornaments, also known as Hallmarkitis. You can read more about it here. In July I attended the Hallmark ornament premier. I bought lots of ornaments, but was very proud of myself as I did buy less than last year. I made myself feel better about it by telling myself that I was helping to stimulate the economy. I think you have to do whatever you can. ;-) Now the dilemma is to figure out where I can fit that fourth Christmas tree.....

6. We have our 30th anniversary coming up next month. Sarah is planning a party for us. We are having it at our house. I'm feeling very overwhelmed about the whole thing. We were suppose to get some improvements done around the house but the King of Procrastination struck once again, nothing has gotten done, and now it's softball season again, so there goes that..... Oh well, thank goodness all the invitees love us and they all understand the King, so I'm sure it will bother me way more than it will bother them.

7. Last but certainly not least: My poor D-Backs suck big time. I'm very disappointed in this season but have high hopes for next season. Things seem to be moving in a positive direction. I had to take down the baseball theme from the blog....just don't have my heart in it at this point. Thank goodness hockey season is around the corner...something to take my mind off of it.

Alright, I guess I better stop boring you. I promise next weeks blog....oh, whose kidding who, I can't promise anything. I'll be around to reintroduce myself and hopefully you'll remember me. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and an even better week.

Quote for the Week:

"Ever tried? Ever failed? No Matter, try again, fail again, Fail better."
Samuel Beckett (1906 - 1989)