Wrapping Up Christmas

So, did everyone have a nice Christmas?

I did. Thankfully!

Honestly, I usually don’t enjoy Christmas. In fact, I tend to dislike Christmas because of the stress of trying to balance the time I spend with my mom and the time I spend with my dad. Ideally, I would be able to spend all day with both of them (because they’d be married), but that’s not reality, so I end up making myself miserable trying to make everyone happy. Throw in my brothers’ in-laws and arranging schedules so that my brothers and I are at my parents’ houses at the same time, and I usually feel like a general making battle plans. And, I’m just as grumpy.

This year, I realized that I can only do the best I can to make things fair and equal and to show my parents that I love them, and then it’s up to them to be adults and be happy with what time I’m able to spend with them. No, it won’t always be perfect for everyone, but that’s life, right? Every night since Thanksgiving, I’ve prayed to feel the Christmas spirit and to find joy in celebrating Christmas again, and it worked! Yes, there were still some tense moments, but not nearly as many as in past years! And yes, last night I thanked my Maker that Christmas was over for another year, but not nearly as fervently as I did last year! Hooray for improvement!

Some highlights of the five-day (Friday through Tuesday) celebration that is Christmas chez moi: (in no particular order)

1. A date with Anthony on Friday night.

2. Anthony giving me a Christmas present Sunday evening.

3. Getting a guitar for Christmas.

4. Watching my nephews and niece open their presents.

5. Getting the complete works of Shakespeare from Santa Claus.

6. Playing lots of games with my family.

7. Staying home from work on Monday and getting paid for it. I’m now officially salaried!

8. Speaking about Christmas traditions in church on Sunday.

9. Going to Milford to hear Rachel sing “O Holy Night” at her church. She sang it amazingly!

10. Good food. Lots of candy, ham, cheesy potatoes, veggies and dip, poppy seed cake, and other delicious items.

11. Spending Christmas Eve night at my mom’s and not getting much sleep because I was excited for Christmas and because I was thinking of someone too much.

12. Playing air hockey at my brother’s house and having my imminent victory snatched from me when my sister-in-law started playing really good.

13. My apartment being a mess. It still is, in fact. I have all the presents I received stacked on my table, my couch, and my easy chair. And, I have pots and dishes that need to be washed. Unfortunately, I have no immediate availability to clean my apartment like it so desperately needs to be cleaned.

14. Going to “I Am Legend” with my youngest brother and my mom. It was pretty good. Not great, but good. A little scarier than I prefer, but quite interesting.

There are other things I could mention, and I could certainly go into greater detail, but I’m not going to. Well, I’m pretty sure I’ll be writing a post about numbers 1 and 2 fairly soon, but you’ll have to wait a bit for that; I’m still figuring out a few things.

I hope you all had a merry Christmas!