Celebrating the holidays Newport-Mesa style

Ah, the joys of the holidays. Right after Thanksgiving, we start

creating our Christmas card. The purpose, according to my children,

is to cause them embarrassment throughout the United States. I just

want something you don’t see at the Hallmark store. This year, both

objectives were met, as my kids grace the front of our card as

sparsely-feathered birds.

The fun doesn’t stop there. We make hundreds of truffles that put

Godiva to shame. This year, my family claimed membership in labor

unions I hadn’t heard of previously. Is it true that members of the

“Spooner’s Union” can’t be made to roll, dip or package truffles?

Once the truffles and cookies are made, it is time for our annual

spaghetti and caroling party. (This year was No. 18). We didn’t

realize that moving the location of the drinks and appetizers would

cause such consternation. Having holiday pasta instead of spaghetti

noodles caused way too much anxiety, as guests kept asking where the

“real noodles” were. Thankfully, we stuck with the traditional red

and green Jell-O blocks.

As our extended families have grown, we have added a round robin

game to our festivities. Most families play it with white elephant

gifts. Our families demand something good. So, the action begins once

the gifts are piled in the middle of the floor.

If you brought last year’s fruitcake as a re-gift, you wrap it in

unrecognizable paper and look shocked when it is opened by poor Uncle

Moe. If your gift contribution contains what you want most, you hide

it under the pile and open it in the back of the room, claiming it is

Aunt Clara’s popcorn balls.

We end our holidays with a trip out of town the week after

Christmas. Last year, we saw adults dress up and sound like gophers

and razorback pigs, smelled the rancid aroma of Jack Daniels’ mash

and searched for food not swimming in grease. This year, we plan to

slip on the sidewalks, be fodder for taxi drivers and freeze our

tushes off in Times Square. That week away in the dead of winter

reminds us of the great weather in Newport-Mesa, and that “there’s no

place like home.”

GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL

Costa Mesa

Thank you for letting us share one of our family’s holiday

traditions.

Every Christmas Eve, my husband, Steve, and I and our two boys,

Reed and Marty, attend the final performance of “A Christmas Carol”

at South Coast Repertory Theatre. It’s so wonderful. We wouldn’t miss

it, and it really puts us in the Christmas spirit. We started

attending when the boys were in elementary school, and they are both

now in college. This will be our 10th straight year.

JANET CALLISTER

Balboa Island