Twas the night before Hanukkah

And all through the house there were piles of books and papers and various and sundry things belonging to slobby teenagers. Every creature was stirring, but not doing their homework. And I in my sweats and clogs have just settled down with a pen and paper to create a list of things I need to buy at the store tomorrow in order to be ready.

Things like, oh...wrapping paper. Because although I know we have plenty of it left over, I have no clue as to where it is, and that means either sifting through the hall closet or just gritting my teeth and spending a few bucks on new paper in the same old boring patterns.

A quick trip to the grocery store for apple sauce and sour cream and I'm ready to make the latkes tomorrow night. Perhaps I ought to pick up the giant sized bottle of Tums, too.

I've already ordered our sufganiyot and I'm sure that I'll only eat one before Hanukkah. How can you just sit in a room knowing you have a couple of dozen donuts waiting to be devoured?

The cleaning lady is coming tomorrow and she'll clean up the biggest part of the mess, and I'll run all the Hanukiyot under hot water to clean out all the wax left over from last year. I always mean to do it, and somehow it never gets done.

After sunset we'll light the candles and say the prayers. The first night of Hanukkah there are three prayers to say, but on all the other nights you only say two. Then I'll start frying up the latkes, we'll all eat until we're ready to explode, and open a small present each.

We'll get out the gelt and spin the dreidels until we all either laugh ourselves sick or someone leaves the table in a huff because they've gotten a bad dreidel. There's at least a 50-50 chance of that happening, especially if someone (ahem) is sitting in front of a huge pile of gelt. You know, gambling tends to bring out the worst in kids!

I know it's not like Christmas, but it's really a lovely and moving holiday for us, when we remember the struggles of Judah Maccabbi and the original miracle of the lights.

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Twas the night before Hanukkah

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