Taking It Easy this Holiday Season with Miranda Oh
As we wrap up the year, we are wrapping up all those goodies and gifts for our loved ones. The year and all its chaos floats through my mind, 2020, a year to look back on and remember, a year of great change, a year of compromise, and evolution.
The holiday season is typically drenched with recurring traditions, and as we creep closer to years end, it looks like we may have to steer clear of some of those traditions. Gone are the days we get up at the crack of dawn and whip into each other’s rooms to exchange what we got in our stockings, followed by a big gathering of grandparents, and closest aunties and uncles for a brunch feast.
That feast was always my favourite, smoked ham, croissants, smoked salmon, fruit salad and of course the Christmas blend of coffee that warms you up from the inside out.
Christmas afternoon was always the most relaxing, usually popping on a 007 James Bond film and fall asleep from a food coma. After waking a few hours later to begin another rush of excitement, fancy clothing and traditional Christmas mocktails with the parents, we would all pack into the vehicle and trudge through the icy cold city to a large family Christmas feast. The ones with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salads with sides on sides on sides…well you get the point, there was a lot of food.
As I reminisce on Christmas tradition from my childhood, and how it has evolved over the years growing up, I can’t help but look forward, thinking about what Christmas is going to look like this year and the coming years. Will we be able to get together to see our extended family or will lock down prohibit that? Will we be able to sit 30-40 people around a bunch of tables shifted together and cheers to the blessings we’ve had over the last year, and bestow happiness and health on us all for the up and coming year?
Christmas was never a huge stressor or overly chaotic for me and my family, and as we aged, it became more relaxing and more intimate. Looking back on it now, it looks like we were subconsciously preparing for 2020 to happen. Learning to love the downtime, time to self-reflect, and most of all learning how to take care of that small close circle of people.
This year instead of braving the crazy parking lots, the over-crowded malls, and the not so jolly people that filled them, I took to online shopping at local businesses, and now eagerly await those special Christmas gifts to arrive in the mail, just so I can wrap them up, and drop them off at the doorstep of my loved ones. This year instead of over-stuffing myself with food, cocktails and then suffering for a couple of weeks post the holidays, I will lay back, kick it with the closest immediate family, and catch up on some rest, self-reflection and self-care.
We often are too busy and forget to take care of our own self first, so this year, for a change, that will be my focus.
Here’s a look at Miranda’s latest release JUST BREATHE: CHIN UP, TITS OUT BOOK 3
Continuing the saga of Hadley, recently divorced and wending her way down the path of life in anticipation of her rapidly approaching 30th birthday as a single woman. Testing waters and wantonly accepting new and exhilarating scenarios, Hadley wisely chooses each path carefully before diving into the quagmire which is life. A humorous, oft times sexy, look at life from a young woman’s standpoint, readers will laugh out loud at some scenarios, cry at others and knowingly shake their heads at still others.
