Ceremonial

Well, I'm glad that someone picked up on my hint!

Ceremonies
Tell us about some family traditions of personal rituals you practice. This could be holiday related (streaking through Central Park wearing nothing but a garland and a smile on Christmas Eve), or simply day to day bits of how you get your day on (32 brushes up and down, 32 side to side, for each tooth: 4 minutes, 42 seconds). Post it here or blog it elsewhere. It's all good.

Since I was a child unpacking my mom-made lunches in the cavernous auditorium of my Catholic grammar school, I always set up a midday meal in the same arrangement. Sandwich in the middle, optimally on the center of a piece of waxed paper, drink in the top right corner of the setting, and snack or dessert in the top left corner. Yes, maybe it's a little complusive, but's worked for 20-odd years, so why change things now?

As for more specific holiday-related cermonies, I go to midnight mass with my mom on Christmas Eve, and in the morning, whether I'm the first one awake (when I was a kid) or the last one (now), I'm always the one begging to start opening presents. We start with the stockings, which are all hung on the breakfront (we don't have a chimney or mantle), then, after everyone's opened and shown off their booty, we move into the living room to open the ones under the tree. Which takes a ridiculously long amount of time, since we all insist on seeing everything that everyone receives, so it's basically one present being opened at a time, for a family of approximately 12, give or take a spouse, partner, or child.

Oh! And on St. Patrick's Day I get green carnations. My dad used to always buy us green carnations to wear, and it's a tradition I really like. This year, I got a whole bouquet of 'em!

And on Valentine's Day, people give me presents. Ain't that cool?