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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to find new ways to celebrate the holidays.

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Speaker 1: A lot will need to change this year, but by

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Speaker 1: thinking ahead, you increase the chances of feeling contented rather

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Speaker 1: than disappointed. Many of my listeners are celebrating Halloween this weekend,

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Speaker 1: Thanksgiving in November, and Christmas or Hanukkah in December. The

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Speaker 1: last ten weeks of the year are pretty much packed

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Speaker 1: with such things. It's always a fun, festive time, but

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Speaker 1: this year many things will have to change. People won't

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Speaker 1: throw big parties, parades, and other concerts might be canceled

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Speaker 1: or look different. Anything with a crowd is suspect, and

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Speaker 1: many people won't want to travel, even if it looks

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Speaker 1: like research is showing that flying is relatively safe. None

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Speaker 1: of this is breaking news. We've obviously lived with the

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Speaker 1: reality of a pandemic for a while now. But the

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Speaker 1: holidays also feature tons of traditions. These are things that

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Speaker 1: we do the same way year after year. Because they

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Speaker 1: are so ingrained, we don't necessarily think about them until

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Speaker 1: the holidays are upon us. So the next few weeks

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Speaker 1: are going to bring some big realizations that, oh, after

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Speaker 1: ten years of going to the Joneses holiday party, the

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Speaker 1: Joneses aren't going to be able to have a big

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Speaker 1: holiday party. The kids always sit on Santa's lap, but

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Speaker 1: there won't be any sitting on Santa's lap. Last year,

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Speaker 1: for example, I got my family tickets to all sorts

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Speaker 1: of crowded favorite indoor holiday events like a performance of

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Speaker 1: The Nutcracker, a classical coral concert, Disney on ice circ

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Speaker 1: de Sole. With my city restricting all large gatherings, these

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Speaker 1: are not likely to happen. This could certainly make the

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Speaker 1: end of the year feel even more woeful than it

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Speaker 1: already will. But here's the thing. We know this realization

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Speaker 1: is coming up, and if you know it, you can

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Speaker 1: plan to deal with it. There are plenty of options

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Speaker 1: for celebrating in different ways, and if you proactively plan

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Speaker 1: in enough fun stuff that can be done, the absence

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Speaker 1: of what can't be done won't seem quite so difficult

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Speaker 1: to deal with. My family is doing this with Halloween.

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Speaker 1: When I realized that some of the usual adventures like

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Speaker 1: a Halloween parade or my husband's office Halloween party wouldn't

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Speaker 1: be happening. We hunted for other events where we could

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Speaker 1: wear our costumes. We wound up doing a drive through

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Speaker 1: Halloween parade, going to a ghost gathering at a local

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Speaker 1: botanical garden, and getting tickets for a music ms socially

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Speaker 1: distanced Halloween event. With enough fun stuff stacked up, the

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Speaker 1: holiday couldn't help but still feel really fun. We're taking

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Speaker 1: the same approach with Christmas. I'm pretty sure we'll wind

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Speaker 1: up doing lots of outdoor festive stuff and just bottling up.

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Speaker 1: It will still feel like Christmas and that will be good.

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Speaker 1: So today, think about the upcoming holidays you might be celebrating.

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Speaker 1: Think about what traditions you do automatically, and think about

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Speaker 1: which might have to change. Think about what you can

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Speaker 1: do instead that will be really fun and meaningful. You

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Speaker 1: just might come up with some new stuff that you'll

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Speaker 1: want to keep when all this is over and the

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Speaker 1: normal traditions are possible. That would be the best of

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Speaker 1: both worlds. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,

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Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.

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Speaker 1: That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I

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Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I

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Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. One