Sweet Potato Biscuts and Diet Coke

Here's a little insight into the wonderful world of being a Pooler/Hale:

We always decorate our Christmas tree while listening to Jimmy Buffett's Christmas CD entitled "Christmas Island". We spend countless hours watching "Holiday Inn" and "White Christmas" multiple times (I think my mom has a thing for Bing Crosby). On Christmas Eve, we all go to church (which is interesting b/c I go to a different church than the rest of the family). At church, the service is always the same: the pastor reads a snippet of the Christmas story and then we sing a Christmas Carol...and then we repeat until the rest of the story is told. This year, my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin from Manhattan came to church with us. I'm sitting between my Aunt Mary and 13 year old Cousin Alex, and right before we start singing "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" my Aunt whispers to me, "this is Gram's favorite song". I look down the pew and see my Gram singing at the top of her lungs with a huge grin on her face. The funny part: She was staring and singing to my Uncle Dwight the whole time! Dwight was singing back, trying to contain laughter...I wasn't trying too hard because Mary, Alex, and I erupted into laughter in the middle of church. We always end with singing "Silent Night" by candlelight...and this year a little girl's hair caught on fire! Christmas is wonderful.

After church, we all go back home and read Christmas stories. We always read the classics like The Polar Express, The Night Before Christmas, etc. Then we read mother's favorites: Santa Cows and the sequel Santa Cow Island. There's no need to explain the plot...it's pretty self-explanatory...and weird. Then we get nostalgic and tell embarassing Christmas stories from years past. 98% of them involve me in some way. Oh well, it's family. My parents LOVE to tell the story of when I used to say "dane-rear" instead of "reindeer". I had a stuffed reindeer that I always misplaced and then I would run around saying "Where's my dane-rear?! Has anyone seen my dane-rear?!" They also love to recount the time when all I wanted for Christmas was a Snickers Bar and a Happy Meal. I was 4...and apparently adorable.

Most families put out milk and cookies for Santa...the Pooler's are not like "most families". We put out homemade sweet potato biscuts and diet coke. My mother says we have "the Southern Santa" (she's from Alabama). Then we venture outside to sprinkle "reindeer food" on our front lawn. Reindeer food is a concoction my mother invented to add Christmas cheer to her kindergartners lives. It's oatmeal and glitter, and it "helps the reindeer find our house and know where to park". As a child I used to run outside throwing reindeer food EVERYWHERE. There was so much glitter, you'd think it was 1972.

On Christmas morning, after everyone is awake, as a general rule we ALL have to go to the bathroom before we see our presents. Perhaps this started because one Christmas I got a little too excited when running out to see my new toys. Perhaps.

Although my bladder condition has changed, my excitement and joy during this season has not. I can't wait to continue these traditions with my kids one day.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.

-KP