Category Archives: Holidays

National holidays, birthdays, special events.

We have plans after all

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Christmas was very quiet at the Guzmán-Domínguez household. With John just out of surgery and my getting a nasty cold with laryngitis, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were like any other day. No visits, no friends, no special dinner (OK, John made his super awesome stuffed potatoes). And it kind of makes me depressed to be so alone during the holidays. I was expecting New Year’s to be the same, and it turned out to be totally different… too many options.

First there is our Little Brother’s family who really likes us, so I mentioned we could do something together and they are very excited about it. And then I received a call from one of our Peruvian friends to join them and some other people on New Year’s Eve. So I had to change plans with the Little Brother for New Year’s Day, and hopefully it will work for them.

The holidays are always hard when you are away from family and close friends. But I have to be thankful because we have met awesome people here in KC. And today I wished I didn’t have any plans so we could spend New Year’s with a couple of friends from out of town who can’t go home. But I can’t be to different places at once… We all try… But I know how much it sucks to look around and realize that we need to build stronger relationships and we are not doing it.

That will be a post for another day. On how much work I need to do on the making and keeping friends department.

Politically Incorrect Holidays

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I finished getting my Christmas cards ready today. It has always been a tradition I enjoy, sending out a little greeting to friends and family. I think I still have every single card I’ve received during the last 10 years, since I started using the Internet and making friends all over. However, this year I noticed I was trying too hard when writing the cards. I not only refrained myself from putting “Merry Christmas” in some of them, but I also got worried about the stamps that I bought because they have the Blessed Virgin Mary (which I’m a very big fan of).

Some people may be reading this and thinking WTF! And yes… WTF! Since when it became a problem to wish people Merry Christmas? Back in November I even noticed some people weren’t saying Happy Thanksgiving because of religious connotations. That is just silly. I understand about the respect we should have for other kinds of beliefs, but this is CHRISTmas, and anyone with more than 1 brain cell knows what this season is about.

I don’t remember when I started making mental notes of who I can wish Happy Holidays to or not, in order not to hurt sensibilities or get an embarrassing response. I think I have a pretty good idea of which ones of my friends are not Christians, but I also believe many people enjoy being sent good wishes during this time of the year. However, I become frustrated when I start second-guessing myself; and that is because I call myself a Christian and I’ll always will. So technically people will always get a Merry Christmas from me.

We’re living in a world where we can’t say words that had no other meaning years ago, or where we have to make sure to compartmentalize our brain to be politically correct even when it comes to a holiday wish! Don’t you think that is a little bit crazy?