I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas – I know I did! Here’s a recap of our holiday:
It started with Christmas Eve at my parent’s house where we ate the traditional “Poor Man’s Supper.”
This was a traditional carried on by my grandmother, who passed away about six years ago, and it is one I will always continue. The supper has a lot of significance for my family, as I know it did for her, especially growing up during the Great Depression. It symbolizes that Jesus was born in a manger to a humble mother. He was born human, of all things, and grew up embracing simplicity and sacrifice throughout his life on earth, extending it to all Christians as he lives in heaven at God’s right hand. The poor man’s supper is a Christmas Eve tradition used to symbolize Jesus’ humble beginnings. In addition, the light meal provides a contrast to the next day’s feast. The most important part to the traditional poor man’s supper is that the meal should contain no meat since, typically, the poor could not afford meat at all. My grandmother rarely had meat growing up if it was not farmed firsthand or given as a gift. The meal includes Sauerkraut, pita bread, pinto beans with garlic, and potato cakes. This year my mother also made Haluski (noodles and sweet cabbage, also of Polish and Slovakian origin). When the meal is ready to eat, we say a prayer of thanks. As we partake of the poor man’s supper, we remember all of the things we take for granted that enrich our lives everyday. It is supposed to greatly contrast to the feast – including a turkey or ham – on Christmas Day, when Jesus was born! My favorite part is when the potato cakes float in the oil:
From there, we came home and my husband and I wrapped everyone’s gifts and exchanged each others gifts. I got a video camera! I can’t wait to actually figure out how to use it and post some awesome running videos on my blog! 😉 I also got Inception, one of the few movies I actually liked.
Christmas morning started off with a morning run with MIT. You can read about it and the best gift EVER here. (Oh yeah – the best gift ever, by the way, came from my parents and is an entry into the 2011 Pittsburgh Marathon in May!!). I also got some gift cards, a new vacuum cleaner to take care of the pet hair, a ring inscribed with “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” (um – can we say never coming off my finger?), a purple and gold bracelet from my sister, and some really comfy pj’s of course!
As you can see, we unwrapped a lot of presents (my sister got the Wii!):
And had a lot of puppy-loving time:
We had the Christmas “Feast” (no pictures because I forgot – sorry!), which included a fresh turkey, homemade stuffing cheeses potatoes, candies yams, green beans, Riesling, and corn. It was wonderful, as always, thanks to my mom.
Everyone was pretty tired after that:
Then we went to spend Christmas evening with my husband’s family where there was more food – including little weenies and peanut butter fudge (not together) and even more gifts. I got a very nice sweater:
And the pups got the cutest toys ever:
After that, I pretty much does off on my mother-in-laws couch while everyone else watched then end of Shrek 4 (or 5 or 6 or 7 or whatever number they were on) and then we went home.
It was a loooooooooooooong day, but I would have to say it ranks right up there with one of the best Christmases ever!
I can’t wait to read more about your holiday! What are some of your family traditions? How many stops do you make on Christmas Day?
Goodnight all and happy running-
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What a wonderful Christmas Eve tradition =)
I can’t wait to see your running videos.
Those dog toys are super cute!! My dog got a stuffed duck for Christmas. But apparently he wasn’t satisfied because he stole toys from all the other dogs AND the baby toys for my niece. He is trouble maker…
Ahh love those dog toys! Do you know where they came from?
My mother-in-law said she got them from Meijer – of all places! My dogs love them!!
Looks like a fun day. LOVE the significance of the Christmas Eve dinner.
This is my first time here … looking forward to reading more.
Winks & Smiles,
Wifey
I love the traditional Christmas “poor man’s dinner” that you shared. I’ve never heard of such a tradition but what a special thing to pass along within your family.
Congrats on the entry to the marathon!! Sooooo exciting! 🙂
Wow, great Christmas! And, a race entry, best gift ever (I wanted one!)
I love the traditional Christmas “poor man’s dinner” that you shared. I’ve never heard of such a tradition but what a special thing to pass along within your family.
Congrats on the entry to the marathon!! Sooooo exciting! 🙂
Wow, great Christmas! And, a race entry, best gift ever (I wanted one!)
What a wonderful Christmas Eve tradition =)
I can’t wait to see your running videos.
Those dog toys are super cute!! My dog got a stuffed duck for Christmas. But apparently he wasn’t satisfied because he stole toys from all the other dogs AND the baby toys for my niece. He is trouble maker…