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
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