Wednesday, December 2, 2015

A new kind of Christmas tradition

One evening a few years back my husband and I were gleefully stuffing our Christmas cards with our annual letter and listening to Bing Crosby music and getting our holly jolly on..  and...it was December 1st! Many of you know Christmas is on it's way when the Bridges family picture and family quotes arrive in your mailbox early in the Christmas month. That year some fun local friends (smile...yes I'm naming them...Larry and Melissa Walker) called us that December night years ago and said, "Hey Bridges, it's December 1st and we haven't got your Christmas card yet!" We cracked up laughing and said we were actually stuffing envelopes as we spoke. We poked and teased each other and caught up a bit on life details and said we needed to see each other more . We both vowed to make it happen soon. You would think that would have been the end of it...but no it wasn't. We hung up the phone and my adventuresome husband suggested we go right then in our pajamas and take the Christmas card right over to them and sing a carol at the door and wear Santa hats too. Maybe they would have cookies, snacks, or a lovely glass of wine to share too!? A memorable evening of laughter, love and fun ensued.

Spontaneous is so good.

We keep this little tradition going now each year. They tried to surprise us one year, but we weren't home. Then there was the year Melissa's book club was showing up any minute at her house. That was a quick song and dance at their door. One year Larry wasn't home. Two years ago they wrote us a song to the tune of "O Christmas Tree" O Bridges family O Bridges family...(you get the idea there) and sang it on our answering machine. Last night was December 1, 2015 and we were armed and ready to surprise our friends. We weren't disappointed as we donned our Santa hats and sang a happy carol and caught them both at home. For two hours (seemed like 30 minutes) we all talked fast and furious catching up on our lives this past year. How can we live in the same town and not see one another!?  Their youngest daughter is getting married? Didn't she just hang on her mom's waist and wear pig tails last year? The guys had to talk about their cars too! Again we vowed to not let time slip past us and get together more often. It tickles my heart to have this "fun" little game going with them. It really kicks you into the holiday with a smile on your face. Share some fun with somebody this season and rock their world a bit would you please? Be sure and tell me what you do too. Maybe I can use it on the Walkers next year! I think they should just put us on the calendar for December 1, 2016  next year don't you think?