I have been thinking a lot about some traditions that have been going on in my family for years. I wanted to write about this a lot sooner, but you know me and blogging don't coexist well.
1. My dad and I do a yearly Christmas shopping extravaganza. At least once, Dad meets me in Murfreesboro and we either shop there or drive to Cool Springs. This year we stayed in Murfreesboro. We go to whichever stores or malls he wants to go to. I am supposed to help, and I do, but I also spend a lot of time pointing at things and saying, "OOOO I like that" or "That would be perfect in my apartment, you know, above my tv." Anyhow, that was a really long sentence. After we do some shopping, Dad always takes me out to dinner. We usually choose a really nice place. It's kind of like a Daddy/daughter date. We chose Carrabas this year. I wanted Bonefish, but Dad has an aversion to fish since his fish and chips episode...not a fair comparison but it got him out of dinner there. So we ate too much Italian food and then went to get coffee and hot chocolate at JoZoara's. We didn't do too much shopping, but had a nice time. He brought me home, and we hung out with Zach for a bit. It's a yearly tradition that I hope never ends. I ended up shopping with him again the week of Christmas. He's so cute. He needed to get some stocking stuffers at Walgreens. Instead of just saying that though, he asked, "Hey, you want one of those Starbucks canned cappuccino things?" I love him, and Christmas is the one time of the year I get to see my true, happy dad. He really is Father Christmas.
2. Christmas Tree: This tradition got skipped this year. We had a tree, but it wasn't the way it was supposed to be. Usually, Dad, Luke and I will go to pick out a live tree. Dad complains and then sets it up in the living room. We usually have some homemade Christmas candy out and everyone comes up. We play some Christmas music and dim all the lights. One at a time we start putting on the ornaments. We always start with out baby ornaments, and then add from there. Dad always puts on the newest ornament and the star. My dad is rather particular about the placement of ornaments, so he usually yells at one or more of us for not placing them appropriately. We get mad and then just watch Dad decorate. Sounds boring, but it really is a fond memory because we can tease my dad about it after. I was sad that this tradition didn't happen. I feel like my Christmas spirit was sort of not there this year because of it.
3. Christmas Morning: Ok, so lastly I will write about the epic Solimine Christmas. Every Christmas morning we wake up around 7. Used to be 6 when I was little, but now it's 7 sometimes 8. My parents always take their sweet time moving around. We can't open gifts till everyone is up and breakfast is ready. Mom makes cinnamon rolls every year. So once those are done and served we can open gifts. The thing with my family is we open one gift at a time from youngest to oldest. There are now 8 of us with my nephews. Christmas took 3 hours this year. We open our stockings first, one gift at a time. Then Dad passes out the gifts from the tree, again, opening one by one. I love every minute of it.
4. Oops forgot something: This isn't a tradition anymore, but it was always important to me. We used to write letters to Santa. We would leave out some chocolate chip cookies, milk, and carrots for the reindeer of course. On Christmas morning ,we would find some crumbs and carrots that had been nibbled on. My dad, Santa, would always write us back. I thought it was odd that his writing was so familiar, but I loved hearing from Santa. He always told me that I was a beautiful young lady and to keep Christ first. He constantly talked me about having faith. My dad was sure to let me know that I was special. It makes me sad that I don't hear that as often anymore from him, but I will forever cherish those letters.
