What's your tradition?

I am sad to say missing an H in my name is not the only difference between Martha Stewart and me.

Along with that "h" comes a sense of style and a creative touch.

Anyone who has ventured into my office knows I am more of a clutter queen than a decorating diva.

My style could be considered yard sale eclectic, because I love old items and they don't have to be antiques. I can't bear to throw broken, lonely pieces away if they can be saved.

I always dreamed of matching plates and a Christmas tree decorated in blue lights and silver ornaments. Or purple lights and white feathers. Or anything elegant.

But that just wouldn't be me.

I have more than 50 years worth of ornaments, each with their own story. I can't imagine not using them on the tree.

My mother began marking my ornaments when I was a child. The first was a simple Nativity set. It doesn't light up. It's plastic and simple.

Next is a set of four happy penguins. I developed my obsession for penguins early on, before they were ever popular.

Since that time I have gathered many cats, including some calico like my real cat, and yes, numerous penguins.

I've continued the tradition by buying ornaments every year for my grandchildren. The year Melody started taking dance lessons I looked everywhere for a ballerina. We've bought numerous Disney characters and Star Wars ornaments to feed her obsession. Likewise for Chord and his interests - anything with wheels. They will have a good collection to decorate their own tree when they grow up.

When I decorate the tree is another matter.

Some people wait until Christmas Eve to put up their tree.

When I was growing up, sometimes that happened by accident. My parents just didn't get around to going out for the tree. We kids would go to bed to a plain room and wake up to a tree and presents.

That was cutting it a little too close for me.

It's always been my tradition to put up the Christmas tree for my birthday, which was this week. At my husband's urging I decided that this year I would put up the tree earlier. I tried to put it up last Friday. I made it on the eve of my birthday. I was proud to have it decorated one day early.

Until I plugged it in and blew a circuit.

We're working on that.

It wasn't my first tree this year. The Times News adopted a tree in the Palmerton borough park. We decided to dedicate the tree to first responders and wanted to add miniature ambulances, firetrucks and police cars. We couldn't find what we wanted, but we improvised at the last minute. It wasn't until the tree lighting ceremony that I looked over and realized we forgot to decorate the back of the tree.

Martha Stewart wouldn't have done that.

Baking is another favorite tradition in our family, as our waistlines can attest. When my grandmother was alive, she made the best kiffles in the world. She believed in baking a mouthful, and a dozen eggs and a pound of butter went into every batch. Once the circles were thinly rolled in powdered sugar, she'd spread them with nut filling. The secret ingredient: whiskey or homemade wine. Yes, hooch. Every time the batter got too stiff, she'd dump a little more booze into it.

In the beginning we watched, but as the years wore on, we'd do more and more of the baking. Later she wasn't strong enough to do the rolling, so she directed and took care of watching the oven so they didn't burn. I miss those days.

My sister-in-law gathers with her sisters every year for a day of baking cookies. I know other sets of sisters who do the same. They bake, they eat, they laugh, they bake some more. Eventually they have canisters of many kinds of cookies in less time than doing it on their own. It's the social event of the Christmas season.

What's your tradition? Is it a special recipe or meal prepared on Christmas Eve? A family gathering? A special present in your stocking?

Tell us about it for our Christmas Eve edition. Send an email to tneditor@tnonline.com or call 610-377-2051, ext. 3128.