PATRIZI'S EARTH: A tradition continues...

Tradition what does that mean to you?

Is it a family favorite dish you make each Holiday, or a way you wrap your gifts? Do you always go to a certain place for Midnight Mass, or search for the pickle on the tree? Do you buy your kids Christmas Pajamas and make them open that one gift on Christmas Eve so they look good on Christmas morning, read the Night before Christmas, watch the Charlie Brown special?

Do you go Christmas Caroling on the 23rd? We do! Actually we have sang Christmas Carols on the 23rd for almost 20 years now. See, the 23rd is Ashlynn's Birthday and that is what she always wanted to do on her birthday every year, so we did it over and over again... We have sang Christmas carols on the 23rd in a pick up truck, a trailer filled with Hay, and horse and buggy in Switzerland and froze to death many times. This year we will do it in Doha for her 20th Birthday. I'm pretty excited about that. (They don't know that yet.)

The Patrizi's have many traditions, some from grandparents years past, and some we have created over our own lifetime. We make a Patrizi Chipino Sauce with a million kinds of seafood on Christmas eve. I will never forget when I was married to David and they made it the first year and I was NOT going to eat it because it had squid in it. YUK! That was before I knew SQUID was Calamari!!! Jeff stuck his fork in my plate after I'd been eating it for 5 minutes and pulled out a bunch of tentacles and I about gagged!!! Now it is a race to see where we can get the freshest seafood, Kemah in the Gulf of Mexico, or the seafood market in the Persian Gulf?

Today I had another traditional event. My Christmas gathering. This year for all hot mammas! Twelve wonderful expat friends with the same Christmas champagne punch I have been making for 25 years and sharing our pasts with each other. Reminiscing about dancing with our Grandmothers in Louisiana, when we told our kids the truth about Santa, best Christmas in Africa spending the day at an orphanage, making sure we taught our kids the gift of charity and GIVING!

Every single story told had nothing to do with materialistic gifts, only moments in time that were instilled in our souls of childhood ~ ONLY FEELINGS, not STUFF!!! I like that.

Makes you realize it is not the gift you give that is remembered, but the way in which it is given. It's the hope you have, the faith in the season, glimpse of happiness and Joy, LOVE and how you end up remembering the most unimportant details.

We paused today from the enormous to do lists, and about 40 kids between us and it was nice.

Whatever is on your list this year, make sure "time" makes the top ten. It's free, you can get it anywhere, no standing in lines, no internet or UPS required. Time to do what you love, walking Bella in the mornings with Fiona, time to rearrange my table top one more time, time to entertain friends and family, time to cuddle. Oh BOY, Time to CUDDLE!!! GROUP HUG coming in 3 nights!!!

I have a Christmas Journal to write down memories I want to recall. Things not to forget and things not to do again. Stuff that works and didn't. One regret I've had over and over was not spending enough "time" doing this or that.

That is exactly what I am asking for Christmas this year, TIME!

A wonderful gift ~ I can give to myself.