Mid-Channukah, Post-Thanksgiving Thoughts

[gnomi]

The holiday season is upon us. I don't just mean Thanksgiving (which, for MAB and me, meant lots of family togetherness) but also Channukah and the rest-of-the-universe shopping frenzy that comes before Christmas. With Channukah being so early this year, I actually managed to do the majority of my shopping before the stores got really crowded (I did a last shopping push the Tuesday night before Thankgsgiving, in preparation for this past Sunday's family Channukah gathering, and the stores were almost empty).

Last night we lit the 4th Channukah candle, marking the midpoint of the holiday. And - unlike some years - people have actually been wishing me happy Channukah during the holiday. This is odd for a year when Channukah and Christmas fall so far apart; I've found that no matter when Channukah falls, most non-Jews I know wish me a happy Channukah during the week before Christmas.

Anyway, the convergence of Channukah and Thanksgiving this year meant that my sister and brother-in-law and nephew, who had come up for Thanksgiving, were around for the annual family Channukah party on Sunday. This was a good thing - I always enjoy getting extra bonus time with them.

And on Sunday I discovered that - for the first time in our lives, I believe - I currently have longer hair than my sister. Not that it's such a big deal, but my sister has almost always had very long hair (the last time I remember her having short hair was in the mid-80s, right before and right after her year in Israel), and it was odd to see her with short hair. Not that anyone actually ever sees my hair, but this was a family gathering, and I don't cover my hair in front of family ("family" is an odd category in my universe: the category of people who have seen my hair in the years since I started covering it include family - my blood relatives, relatives by marriage, and their offspring - and people who have seen me in my pajamas. The second category includes such people as mattlistener, who spent the decent part of a summer sleeping over in our apartment when he first came to the Boston area).

And oh, boy, is it winter now (regardless of the fact that the actual winter solstice isn't for another 3 weeks) - it was 17 degrees this morning, with an anticipated high today of 27 degrees. I'm a local native, and I think it's too cold to be standing at the bus stop. I can only imagine how those transplanted from warmer climes are feeling.

Comments

Grin

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

"family" is an odd category in my universe: the category of people who have seen my hair in the years since I started covering it include family - my blood relatives, relatives by marriage, and their offspring - and people who have seen me in my pajamas.

You realize this includes Jonathan? Me, too, of course, but, as I'm female and all, haircovering in front of me is pretty moot.

Re: Grin

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Yup - it covers a number of people, actually. With Jonathan, I would let him see my hair if it didn't make him uncomfortable (for instance, there's a friend up here who qualifies for the "pajamas" category but would be uncomfortable if I uncovered my hair around him; the "seen me in my PJs" portion of our friendship was before either of us was married so I wear a hat when he and his wife come to our place). But, yeah, if it was just the four of us - you, Jonathan, MAB, and me - I probably wouldn't wear my hat if everyone was comfortable with that.

As for hair covering in an all-female gathering, that's a topic for another time - I seem to be much in the minority with my views on that one.

Penguins

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Once again, the big penguin shows up when I read yor post as part of my friends page,
but it's not there when I pull up your regular page.

What does this have to do with your post? Who knows?

Re: Penguins

[dancingdeer.livejournal.com]

Got it - figured out why. The picture is not marked as a default picture, so when looking at your userinfo page, there *is* no default picture. However, if you go to http://www.livejournal.com/allpics.bml?user=gnomi, there it is, because it shows the pictures you have listed.
I don't think it has anything to do with the current post.