TheApple

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with hope, joy, friendship, and peace. 

I've always been partial to Festivus:

Festivus is an annual holiday created by writer Dan O'Keefe and introduced into popular culture by his son Daniel, a scriptwriter for the TV show Seinfeld.Although the original Festivus took place in February 1966 as a celebration of O'Keefe's first date with his wife, Deborah,many people now celebrate the holiday on December 23, as depicted on the December 18, 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike".According to O'Keefe, the name Festivus "just popped into his head."^[2] The holiday includes novel practices such as the "Airing of Grievances", in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. Also, after the Festivus meal, the "Feats of Strength" are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, with the holiday ending only if the head of the household is actually pinned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus

Aha - independent invention. This shows that Festivus is deep-rooted in the human psyche, part of the "collective unconscious" as Jung called it.

Christmas and Hanukkah.

Christmas Eve, Christmas day, boxing day :) 

Boxing Day! Boxing Day is a holiday of British origination. Traditionally, Christmas is spent with family and Boxing Day is spent with freiends, neighbors and others in one's life. It dates back a few hundred years. Servants who always worked on Christmas Day would have Boxing Day as a holiday,

The British pub I used to run in NYC had an annual Boxing Day party. A Lutheran priest friend of mine would hold St. Stephen's Day mass using the bar as an altar, then we would give away bangers & mash to anyone who brought in clothes for distribution to the homeless and other needy people. Most years we collected almost a ton of clothes.

You can read about our first celebration of Boxing Day here:http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html  and a subsequent one here: query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html

At my church, we have a Bible School Appreciation day, which is held on the last sunday of the montth of December. 

Joel,

You are right.  I was thinking the same thing the other day.  However, it was simply my way of saying to all of you in The Apple community that I hope your coming year is filled with hope, joy, friendship, and peace - not simply one time out of the year, but year-round.

I have a family friend whom I have known since the age of eight.  She is my mother's best friend, she is Russian Orthodox Jewish, and her family celebrates Hanukkah as well.  It has been many years since I joined Leslie, David, Ross, and the rest of her family on the last day of Hanukkah, however, I'm glad that she was willing to share this with me when I was young.  It made a lasting impression on a very young girl. 

To all of you....have a wonderful holiday season!  May you all have peace and joy in your life! 

Kim

joelheffner says ...

In a strange way, I'm always disappointed when I see comments like this because it implies that we should only think about hope, joy, friendship and peace for a few weeks each year. 

My family celebrates Hanukkah. For those who may want to find out more about Hanukkah click here.

kschase86 says ...

I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with hope, joy, friendship, and peace. 

Deven,

When I was first married and living in the seacoast area of Portsmouth, NH (and home to Pease AFB at the time), I worked with a woman who was originally from Canada.  She informed me that she could not work the day after Christmas since it would be Boxing Day.  I had never heard of it!  That was my introduction to a new holiday aside from Christmas and Hanukkah that I had not considered during the holiday season.

As for collecting clothes on that day for homeless and needy people - I applaud you!  What a great idea! 

Bangers and Mash - haven't had that since I lived in New Hampshire either!

Kim

Deven says ...

Boxing Day! Boxing Day is a holiday of British origination. Traditionally, Christmas is spent with family and Boxing Day is spent with freiends, neighbors and others in one's life. It dates back a few hundred years. Servants who always worked on Christmas Day would have Boxing Day as a holiday,

 

The British pub I used to run in NYC had an annual Boxing Day party. A Lutheran priest friend of mine would hold St. Stephen's Day mass using the bar as an altar, then we would give away bangers & mash to anyone who brought in clothes for distribution to the homeless and other needy people. Most years we collected almost a ton of clothes.

 

You can read about our first celebration of Boxing Day here:http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html  and a subsequent one here: query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html

Deven says ...

Boxing Day! Boxing Day is a holiday of British origination. Traditionally, Christmas is spent with family and Boxing Day is spent with freiends, neighbors and others in one's life. It dates back a few hundred years. Servants who always worked on Christmas Day would have Boxing Day as a holiday,

 

The British pub I used to run in NYC had an annual Boxing Day party. A Lutheran priest friend of mine would hold St. Stephen's Day mass using the bar as an altar, then we would give away bangers & mash to anyone who brought in clothes for distribution to the homeless and other needy people. Most years we collected almost a ton of clothes

 

 

Thanks, Deven!  I learned something new!  I don't know what planet I have lived on, but I honestly never heard of it.  While asking my fellow Albuquerq-ian friends, they also hadn't heard of it.  (not sure if the last sentence is correct grammar).  Many of them celebrate Las Posadas, though!

Happy Holidays to all! 

I celebrate Christmas Eve, Christmas, my brother's birthday, my grandfather's  birthday, my cousins birthday, and New Years Eve!  :)

 Dear Deborah,

"I'm embarrassed though because I'm really not at a tender age! "

Don't be - you're a lot "tenderer" than I am, but the image won't go away.