Holiday Traditions

(Cross-posting from S&B today because I liked my post and wanted to share it with folks here, too.)

Everyone has something that's a tradition, right? And many people have holiday-related traditions. Whether it's the family trip to find the right Christmas tree, or making Grandma's "secret recipe" latkes for Hannukah, or going from one friend's home to another delivering Solstice prezzies. Around here, a big tradition is the annual Rankin-Bass Gingerbread party. I posted about it last year, too, so even that's become a tradition. ;) This year's decorating was tamer than most. There was no gay frat house, no gingerbread brothel, no Victorian home that was crashed by a satellite or the object of a drive-by shooting. (Yes, we've made all of those in the past.) Just an Eye of Sauron, a gnome impaled on a tree, and a monkey in a tar pit, among other random things. (What's a Swiss chalet without a giraffe out back, right?) But really, that's not the point but simply the excuse to get together with friends and family. Hanging out, talking, laughing, eating, and being silly. It's been a rough year around here, both in my and my husband's life and around the area generally. Too much death and sadness, you know? So having a tradition like this, which is utterly bizarre and absurd, is a wonderful thing to have. A few hours of fun to remind us that life can be good and that people can be good, too.

So how about you? What traditions do you have that you look forward to each year? They don't have to be Decemeber ones, either, just those things your year wouldn't be complete without.