Best Wishes for Happy Holidays and a Fab New Year

Getting ready for the holidays is like going on vacation.

The first few days are leisurely, and you savor the long stretch ahead. Then suddenly, around the midpoint, days speed up faster and faster; and before you know it, vacation (or Christmas) is over. Where did it all go?

Last September, I vowed I’d give myself a good head start by planning and prepping ahead. I hit the ground running, decorating the day after Thanksgiving. Miss T, now 12, came to help, as she has over the past few years.

Ours is a complicated Christmas tree, with hundreds of ornaments. Working together gives Miss T an introduction to all our treasured ornaments and all the stories about the ornaments–memories I hope she will cherish one day.

Since that big push Thanksgiving weekend, the game plan has kind of fallen apart. I know I’ve been busy, yet why is there so much left to do?

Here’s what’s still on my list:

• Prep for the Christmas cookie bake on Friday. I’ll make doughs ahead so the kids can start shaping, baking, and decorating right away.
• Organize our annual gingerbread house party for Saturday night.

• Although running late, write a Christmas letter and send cards.
• Buy family Christmas presents–this one is streamlined, with everyone emailing Christmas lists with where-to-buy links. It may seem mercenary, but honestly, this makes life so much easier and there are no returns.

• Make the Christmas crackers. I can’t seem to find paper I like for my snow tabletop theme, although I have the crowns, gifts, and jokes ready.
• Plan the holiday table decor. I’m using snowmen the kids and I made last year. I try for a different look every year, but I’m too in love with the snowmen to mind a repeat.

• Plan Christmas menus and make grocery shopping lists. Steve will do the shopping.

Post-Christmas Activities

• I’m hoping to host a small, cookie and mulled wine drop-in for the neighbors after Christmas, but before the New Year, while our holiday decorations are still up.
• We follow the Japanese New Year tradition of pounding mochi (rice cakes). When we were kids, our family would get together with friends to actually pound the hot cooked mochi rice with a wooden mallet. It made a smooth mass that could be shaped into patties. Today, we use an electric mochi maker, not unlike a bread machine.

• On New Year’s Day, our family will get together to enjoy some traditional Japanese New Year foods, like sushi and nishime, a vegetable stew, as well as dishes from other Asian countries. Each family member, including 12-year-old Miss T, makes a dish. I used to do all the cooking myself, until Steve hit on this potluck idea so everyone contributes and no one is overworked. I just make the sushi.

Growing up in Hilo, my family always held an open house on New Year’s Day where friends, family, and neighbors were invited. This was a tradition passed down from my grandparents, who emigrated from Japan. My grandparents treasured New Year customs as a touchstone to the homeland they left far behind, across the vast Pacific Ocean. On the Mainland, we keep alive our own version of this heritage.

Wishing you and your the Happiest of Holidays

As you can see, with so much left to do, it’s time to sign off this blog for the year and get going to fulfill as much of the to-do list as I can. I’m at an age where if I run out of time and some holiday tasks aren’t done, I’m okay with it. We can only do what we can do. With our family together, we’ll have great holidays, regardless.

Miss T, N, and my husband Steve wish you and your family happy holidays and a New Year of good health, joy, and peace.

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