Maybe I'm The Oddball Here

but my holiday traditions are, well, non-traditional. So I’m having a hard time coming up with something my boys and I have deemed customary. I’m the girl who’s always looking for something new.

Two Christmases ago we took a last minute trip to Jackson Hole. I remember sitting in my chair by the fire on Thanksgiving while my boys were away with their father, thinking, this is ridiculous. I’m not spending the next holiday without them. We’re outa-here. That’s it. So I picked up the phone and within the next hour I had a snowboarding trip planned to the Tetons. I’m not saying I could actually afford it so much but when sitting alone on a holiday, we tend to make choices that are sometimes shall I say, extravagant? It may have taken me a year to pay for it, but we spent Christmas Day racing down the snowy streets of Yellowstone National Park on snowmobiles. We had lunch in a warming hut next to Old Faithful. (Our guide had timed our arrival perfectly.) Moose, elk and buffalo grazed only feet away from the safety of our snowmobiles. It may not have been traditional, but my sons will never forget it.

When it comes to our Christmas meal, turkey is usually not on the table. Last year we had king crab legs. Like I said, I’m the non-traditional type.

I used to read the boys Twas the Night Before Christmas until they stopped asking for it - sigh, sad face. My mother did that for my sisters and me, so I suppose that qualifies as a tradition. We do love to watch A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve. Is it TNT that runs the marathon around the clock?

Traditional or not, I’m looking forward to this Christmas. My son comes home for the first time in four months. I’ve missed him so badly it hurts inside and that’s something I hope never becomes a tradition.