**This was a post I did 24 Dec 2018 on FB. I like some of the Xmas memories it had.
Feels much later then it is. We both have that “tickle” in our throats that tells us that something icky is trying to get a hold of us. Going to be a nyquil kind of night.
Not celebrating the holidays these year. Way too much going on, plus we already got our presents…..couch, coffee table and my bday present has been getting highend makeup on really great sales….lol
Missing my family something terrible. If that was the one thing I could change, that would be it….get my family out here. No, I do not want to go back to the midwest…..I just want my family out here with me. 
That is the only thing that I really, really miss from Indiana….family. Everything else, I can easily do without.
But this time of year, makes me miss my family even more. It was the one or two days of the year that my sister and I didn’t fight…..we actually got sneaky together trying to peak at presents….LOL
And the best times I remember have nothing to do with what we got, it was the time spent together. Heck, the stockings were sometimes the most fun with all the change, candy and little things that were in it.
I remember how much money we didn’t have when living in Germany….didn’t stop mom & dad from making it special.
Making refrigerated cookies with mom from the Betty Crocker cook book. Dying them red or green.
Loved how we would go driving around to the nicer neighborhoods and look at all the nights. Germans really knew how to decorate for the holiday. It seemed magically.
Which is why I spent years before the internet to find me the tree topper I wanted that was based off the ones I grew up on in Germany. (Army movers broke them all….eye roll) Blown glass with 2-3 bulbs in it. I now have one, it is burgundy.
Mom reading us the Xmas story every Xmas eve, just before we headed up to bed and just after we put the milk and cookies out.
My first Xmas eve in my apartment at Purdue, mom did it over the phone
Remember all the practicing in orchestra for the holiday concerts. Mr Olsen at Tanana Jr HS & while at Lathrop HS would have us practicing so much and then we would go the malls in Fairbanks and do holiday concerts on the weekend. He always had us doing more then just the school performances.
This year with everything, I didn’t even put up a tree….only the 2nd yr in my life I’ve been without one.
Next year, I’ll get my 5 big boxes of tree decoration out storage and have my tree. Just hope we are in a bigger place, storage wise…those are big boxes…lol
It’ll take me 3-5hrs to get it all up…..but I’ll have my tree.
This year, just going to put the ham in, make some sides and chill with my hubby on our new couch.Have a great holiday everyone!
Enjoy the time spent with family and loved ones.