Our family is pretty traditional (ie. BORING!)
We start the festivities on the day after Thanksgiving, when we inject the soon-to-be-harvested Christmas trees with invisible mold.
Then two weeks before Christmas (NO SOONER PLEASE!) we begin fattening the Xmas Cats. Lots of organ meat and bacon grease, supplemented with catnip to make it palatable. As the Xmas Cats are being readied for the traditional Christmas feast we all exchange the Christmas beanies (I said we were traditionalist, didn't I? I know some people don't bother with these details, but we find it comforting to do it RIGHT!) I always hate the day I have to wear the Three Wise Men beanie, but I am always uplifted and pretty much strut like a prize winning Xmas Cat all day when it is my turn to wear the Little Drummer Boy beanie. It is these little things that make for a happy Christmas memory
Now, three days before Christmas, we begin weighing the Xmas Cats, and releasing the ones that are not meeting traditional expectations.
The night before Christmas, we go trick-or-treating. Oddly enough, this rarely ends well. Traditionalists like us, are far and few between. Most people stare at our bunny suits and laugh, until we inform them that unless they give us candy we will TP their house. Sometimes the Police get involved. I think we will skip this tradition this year, although it breaks my heart to do so. <sigh> Oh well, one must learn to get along in a multicultural world.
But all this painstaking preparation is worth it when we see the joy in the Xmas Cats eyes on Christmas day when we release the Xmas mice, and gather the children around to watch them being chased around the miniature manger.
You just cannot manufacture that kind of joy in China and buy it at Wal-Mart.
I just love Christmas!