I woke up this morning feeling like it's the day after I ran a marathon. Dazed, a bit disorientated, slightly frayed at the edges, and really happy to be entering regular life again. I sense this regular life will take a few days to feel "normal" though.
The problem is not the holiday season, but rather the combination of Serb and American holidays. When I was single, I'd take off a week between Dec 25-Jan 1st and then get right back to work. Now that I have a family, my own holidays take on greater importance, plus we add in Serb holidays as well. That quick week off mainly dedicated to sleep has turned into four full months punctuated by celebration after celebration, each requiring special shopping, cooking, eating, drinking, long distance phone calls, and hours and hours sitting around the table being with each other:
Oct 31 - American Halloween
Late Nov - American Thanksgiving
Dec 25 - Western Christmas
Dec 31 - Western New Year's Eve
Jan 1 - Western New Year's Day
Jan 7 - Serbian Orthodox Christmas
Jan 13 - Serbian Orthodox New Year's
Jan 19-20 - Our Serbian Family's Saints Day (date varies depending on your family history)
All I can say now is, thank goodness we have a nice long rest before both Easters kick in.
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5 comments:
We start with Dec. Xmass and also end on Jan. 19th as Armenian Xmass of Jerusalem church. Marriage anniversary on Jan. 10th. Dull it isn't!
Srecna Slava Rosemary and husband.
You have my sympathy.
Ours is around Jan20th, too (Sv Jovan). Not only do we celebrate all the holidays you listed, my husband's American, our younger daughter's birthday is January 20th. She was born 3 hours after we ate slava dinner that my mom prepared (sarma).
So we have about a week's worth of various birthday parties to add to our holidays (her birthday with each set of grandparents, plus her friends makes 3 or 4 parties).
Take a rest!
Hey you forgot the chinese new year!
My Serbian wife is always annoyed by Americans who are anxious to end the holidays early. I mean why do people feel compelled to throw out their tree and take down their decoration a day after? Like its shameful to leave them up until after the epiphany.
In my American mind I say the more the better. the holiday season begins on Halloween and ends on the epiphany .
Heck, I even get excited about lent.
That our family Slava too so we have the same schedule as you. People at work wonder why I take Serbian Christmas off then follow it up with another day off for our Slava.
Orthodoxy in general and Serbian Orthodoxy in particular is a large mystery to most Americans.
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