Every family has its own holiday traditions. In the Soapbox house on Christmas Eve we play Rummicub and eat ourselves silly (I don’t know what they put in caramel popcorn but I can’t get enough). On Christmas morning we get up early to open presents and enjoy Mr Soapbox’s outstanding Frittata and tonight we’ll have a traditional turkey dinner complete with Christmas crackers and silly paper hats.
In keeping with tradition here’s Rudy the rescue dog to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.
We’ll talk again in 2024. In the meantime feel free to share your traditions for this special time of year.
Susan
Susan on the Soapbox 
Hello Susan and fellow commenters,
I hope everyone has a nice Christmas. Rudy is adorable.
Thanks Christina, we hope you had a lovely Christmas too.
And yes Rudy is adorable, but quite a feisty little guy, probably because he’s a street dog. 🙂
Merry Christmas to all the Soapboxes, Rudy too, and all the best in 2024.
Thanks Minnie, we wish the same to you and yours. 🙂
I love your traditions & your fur baby! We too love to play games, watch movies & eat snack food Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we open gifts. Every yr those get less because we all are adults & have everything we need. Then coffee & brunch. Later in the day our meal. I’m not a fan of Turkey so every year the menu varies. This year in fact it was pizza as I’ve had bacterial pneumonia for the past several weeks. It has knocked me off my feet. The only decorating was putting up the tree with lights. With all that said… it was one of our best Christmases. Because we find joy & fun in each other!! As I always say…. Christmas doesn’t have to be a “Norman Rockwell painting” to make it special. It’s spending time with one another.
Wishing Merry Christmas to everyone. Thank You susanonthesoapbox for your thoughtful writing.
Lynnette,
It sounds like you had a lovely Christmas indeed. As you said, it’s not about the presents and the food, it’s about spending time with those you love. Best wishes for a happy and successful 2024.
Merry Christmas. This year we r in Australia for our niece’s wedding. We participated in thie Christmas tradition of an early morning 🏊♀️ 7 30 am swim..The beach ⛱️ was crowded and beautiful.
Lindamcfarlane: that sounds glorious. What I love about your comment is it’s a reminder of how celebrations can be so different and yet so much the same regardless of where you are on the planet. I’m glad you guys are having a good time.
Merry Christmas to you and yours and especially Rudy as usual.
Rose, thank you and the same to you and yours as well. I’ll bet your turkey dinner was lovely. 🙂
The chocolate pecan pie and the coconut whipped cream topped it off beautifully. My daughter in law finds the greatest desserts each year.
Rose: I LOVE pecan pie and I LOVE chocolate. That dessert sounds fantastic!
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I know that includes Rudy.
He is looking well. So cute.
Thank you Carlos. You’re right about Rudy, that goofy dog got as much joy out of opening presents as the rest of us did.
Hope your Christmas was joyful as well.
Rudy almost out shines the tree! 😍 Happy Christmas and Happy New Year! 🥳
Thanks Linda…you know how it is with pets, they capture the spot light simply by being there.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Merry Christmas Susan and Roy! Please keep up the blogs – they are one of my best sources for keeping up with Alberta news – I really appreciate them.
Best wishes for good health and happiness in 2024!
Susan P
Sent from my iPhone
Thank you Susan, Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Hopefully one day (soon) the blogs won’t be full of “I can’t believe they did that!” stories here in our beautiful province.
A tradition that we have held in our household for many years now is that on Christmas Eve we watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special and How the Grinch Stole Christmas back-to-back. I started this for a couple of reasons. One, even though I’m not big on nostalgia it brings back good childhood memories for me and two, I think there are some positive messages there that I try to internalize. It’s a way for me to refuel a tiny bit once a year and I always hoped that my kids would absorb some of the good stuff for themselves. After so many years though I’m beginning to wonder if they are now thinking that I’m simply senile. “Sure Dad, we can watch the cartoons again,” they say and they sit politely for an hour trying not to fidget, sometimes pouring more eggnog. For all I know they may be right about me but I don’t care. I still like the shows.
Merry Christmas to Susan and her family and to everyone who reads and contributes here. All the best for 2024!
Guy,
What a sweet tradition. I’m sure that one day when we’re long gone our kids will say “Remember how at Christmas [Dad/Mom] insisted on {watching cartoons/playing Rummicub] and we’d laugh and laugh. Those were wonderful times.”
You’re absolutely right, we need a little down time, to recharge for the year ahead.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the Soapbox family and Rudy.
Thank you Public Servant, and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
A belated Merry Christmas, and a Happy Boxing Day to you & your family. All the best for a truly excellent 2024 also. I look forward to when you resume your usual blogging — it’s always informed, informative and insightful.
Thank you jerrymacgp–as Guy said, we all need a little respite before we gird our loins and jump back into the fray. In keeping with these hackneyed clichés I hope to be back in the saddle on Jan 6, the first Sunday in 2024.
PS I just looked up clichés and learned there are 681 that one should avoid. God.
https://www.be-a-better-writer.com/cliches.html
Thank you for all you do for Albertans
Thank you Keith for your support. Hopefully you had a great Christmas and are all set for the New Year.
Susan: By the looks of it, your Christmas was great. I do appreciate your great blogs. I’ll share some more great music. This is a Warren Haynes composition, Soulshine. He did this song when he was in The Allman Brothers Band. He is also a founding member of the band, Government Mule. I did see Government Mule live, with the Canadian blues/rock/reggae band, Big Sugar, 25 years ago. This is Playing For Change, with various artists from around the world.
Dwayne, that was breathtaking. I loved it all the way through, especially at the very end where the voices just hung in the air for a beat before ending. And then the musicians smiled. Very nice. Thank you!
Susan: This particular song shows Warren’s appreciation for gospel music. A very strong message, fitting for these times.
Susan: Here is my next song pick. This is Sing My Way Home, from Delaney and Bonnie and Friends. Bonnie Bramlett wrote it. It was recorded and released in 1971. Duane Allman, who was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, is on slide guitar here. He passed away in 1971. Delaney and Bonnie combine elements, of blues, country, gospel and rock in their music. They are in my music collection. This is a very happy song.
Dwayne: I loved this one too. The way they combined blues, country, gospel and rock. That guitar at the very end was marvelous too. Thanks.
Susan: Here is my final song pick. This is a Bob Dylan composition, called Winterlude. It was recorded and released in 1970. Bob Dylan is an amazing songwriter, and the imagery in this song is so powerful. This is some of Bob Dylan’s foray into country music, which started on his 1967 album, John Wesley Harding, and continued on his successive albums, Nashville Skyline, from 1969, and Self Portrait, from 1970. This is perfect for this time of year.
Dwayne: what an interesting little song. The beat and the references to “my little apple” and “my little daisy” and the beat gave me a hint of the Oom-Pah Pa bands. A friend of mine who plays for the Calgary Philharmonic used to augment his income when he just started out by playing percussion (drums) at Oktoberfest. Maybe that’s why it came to mind. Anyway, it once again shows just how versatile and free thinking Dylan was. Thanks!
Susan: I thought I’d share some uplifting music. Winterlude is like an audio version of a Christmas card. Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are on top when it comes to songwriting brilliance. I’m glad I saw both artists live.
Homemade turkey dinners, cooked in advance and frozen individually, packed in a cooler for travel and reheated in the host’s oven on Christmas Day, eaten around a campfire. That and homemade sticky toffee puddings and caramel sauce for dessert. Best of all, no cleanup. All the better to take a walk to look at Christmas light displays. Perfect weather for it, so why not?
Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!