Day 15

Hanukkah Fun

www.51in51days.blogspot.com is a blog about the journey of getting my life back 

on track in the 51 days leading up to my 51st birthday on January 13, 2013.

DAY 15

First and foremost Happy Hanukkah. Tonight is the first night of the 8 nights of Hanukkah and I wanted to wish anyone and everyone a Happy Holiday. But I wanted to confess something that I've never told anyone. Growing up Catholic, when I was a little girl, I had big time Hanukkah envy. Oh, my was I jealous of my Jewish friends. You want to drive a Catholic kid crazy, flaunt eight nights of gifts, dreidels, and the chocolate Hanukkah geld right over their nose. It's brutal. And then to add insult to injury, some of my friends' parents even got a Hanukkah bush that looked an awful lot like a Christmas tree. I mean, man oh man, I had nothing on them when they through in the Hanukkah bush. 

The Prized Chocolate Hanukkah Geld

My Christmas day was just one day. And most of the time my parents were too lazy to really get me any presents, so they would just write me a check or give me cash. My mother did not like to cook, so we would go out on Christmas day for Chinese food no less. They were the only restaurants that would be open. Merry Christmas! Nothing says Christmas like a pork egg roll. And then my parents would always fight on Christmas. I'm not sure what about, but it would be something.  Something big. As I got older, my sisters would get into it too. One Christmas I was serving spaghetti on Christmas day. Yes spaghetti. As I got older my mother would attempt a Christmas dinner. It was me and my sisters bringing over a pot luck hodgepodge of food. She and my dad would buy some pies. That would be the extent of it. Anyway, one year my sister spilled a platter of spaghetti all over me. Maybe she deliberately threw it on me, I'm not sure, but I remember it being a mess, and I was very unhappy. No, family holidays were not my favorite. Holidays were just a poor excuse for us to pretend that my family and I wanted to be together. 

One more thing about Hanukkah. I can't say Happy Hanukkah without thinking of Adam Sandler's song, The Hanukkah song. So hear you go.

I will try not to miss anymore blog days on the road to my 51st birthday. Been busy, and trying to be introspective. Those two alone take a lot out of you. I've missed missing my blogs. So I will try to be better.

Elissa is a freelance writer & graphic designer somewhere in Los Angeles.

Until tomorrow and Day 16 of my blog....