Christmas Recap

Bing Crosby could sing “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas” all he wanted last week, but it was never going to happen here in Michigan.  The weatherman told us over and over to expect record high temperatures.  Hell, it was colder on Halloween and Thanksgiving than it was on Christmas!  Maybe that is why it didn’t feel like Christmas to me.  I’m not sure.

I worked Sunday night and had Monday night off.  Sam had to work Monday night, so it was going to be just me and the boys.  I picked them up around 6pm, and then we stopped to pick up Dimitri’s new glasses.  We then met my aunt for dinner at Cracker Barrel, where she gave the boys their Christmas gifts.  We had a great meal and the boys were glad to see her.

We went home and they were allowed to open up one gift – their Christmas Eve pajamas.  I always thought this was a cool idea.  We never really did this growing up in our house (which explains why some of the pajamas I am wearing in old pictures are just plain embarrassing!), but I wish we had.  They were excited for presents in the morning!  They were in bed before midnight, which was a challenge!  Once they were in bed, I filled their stockings and added a couple gifts under the tree.

We waited for Sam to get home and we opened presents.  The boys had got Sam a Cinnamon candle (she loves the smell of cinnamon), and a book she had mentioned wanting.  They were excited to see some of the very cool T-shirts we bought them.  They were less than thrilled with new underwear (no surprise there).  I think they enjoyed the books we bought (even though we had the right title but wrong book for Dimitri).  Dante’ was happy with his new controller for the Switch he has, and Dimitri was happy we have a new game to play at the house.

I made a huge breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast.  I also made cinnamon rolls.  After breakfast, Sam (who had worked all night) had to lay down to sleep.  Knowing that I had to take the kids home at 6, and that they were having dinner when they got home, I made an early “dinner” of ravioli and garlic bread.  It was nice.  In the 24 hours I had them, I had some great conversation with both of them, together and separately.  Those moments are so special to me. The conversations get deeper every year – a constant reminder that they are growing up and becoming men.  Hugging them goodbye in their driveway was a bit harder than normal.

Sam texted me and asked if we might have a “date night” Christmas Eve.  We were going to grab dinner and drive around looking at Christmas lights.  Well, there wasn’t much open at 7pm on Christmas Eve!  We went to Crossroads Village/Huckleberry Railroad to experience their “drive thru” light display.  Every Christmas they have a wonderful train ride with great Christmas decorations and lights.  When the train is not running, they open up for the “drive thru”.  For $5 a car, you drive through the village, which is lit up beautifully.  The trees and buildings have tons of lights on them!  There are huge light displays as you drive through, too.  It doesn’t take very long, maybe 15 minutes, to get through, but it is always worth the trip.

After seeing the lights, we tried to find somewhere to eat, but almost everything was closed.  Our Christmas Eve dinner consisted of two Big Mac meals at McDonald’s!  Neither one of us really wanted to cook at home.  We came home and sat on the couch.  We watched A Christmas Story and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  The baby is moving all over the place and I could feel her moving and kicking when I put my hand on her belly.  It was a long day, and I think we both dozed off a bit and slept on each other.

Christmas morning, my best friend since 2nd grade, Jeff, was in the area dropping his daughter off to see her mom and her grandma.  He brought over a pound of bacon and we had pancakes, bacon and coffee.  Always love when I get to spend time with him.  We chatted for a few hours and then we had to get ready to go to Sam’s sister’s house.  We needed to bring desserts, so I shipped up a batch of my grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.

Dinner was at 3 and we had turkey, ham, mac and cheese, potatoes, and loads of desserts.  Some highlights from the afternoon included watching Sam get down on the floor to color with my nieces in their coloring book, and holding my nephew.  It’s been a while since I have rocked a baby to sleep, but as much as he fought it, I was able to get him to sleep.  It was neat to think that I’ll be doing that with my daughter in less than two months!!

I had to go to the radio station and record a show afterwards.  It took a little longer than normal, so when I was finished we were hungry again.  After watching A Christmas Story, we joked that we would probably be having Chinese food for dinner like they did.  There was a Chinese place nearby that my son said is fantastic, so we drove over there.  Chinese places on Christmas a happening!!!  The place was packed.  They told us there was at least an hour wait, so we figured we’d just go to the place by our house.  It was busy, too!  Usually when we call, food is ready in 10 minutes.  Christmas Day, however, the wait was like 25 minutes.  I’m glad we called it in – it was ready when we got there and we took it home to eat at home.

I found myself staring at the Christmas tree lights from the couch after we ate.  Lost in thought.  I don’t really know that I was thinking about anything in particular.  I may have been thinking about past Christmases.  I may have been thinking about future ones.  I could have been thinking about those people who have passed away and are no longer here to celebrate with us.  I don’t really remember the exact thoughts. I am sure that it was probably a mixture of all of those things.  One thing is for sure, it did not feel like Christmas to me at all.

My brother-in-law posted on Facebook that this was the “least Christmasy Christmas ever”.  The comments that followed were almost all in agreement.  I tend to feel the same way.  It wasn’t fun to shop for presents.  Sam and I opted to not buy anything for each other.  We have all of this work to do on the baby’s room that just isn’t getting done because I am working so much.  My work schedule has been such a crazy mess with my real job and the radio jobs.

Yes, I watched my favorite Christmas specials, watched my favorite Christmas movies, listened to classic Christmas old radio shows, and read A Christmas Carol!  I listened to Christmas music on the radio, played it on the radio, and sang along with the boys.  Then, as I mentioned at the start of this blog, there was the spring-like weather.  It was just really hard to get into the spirit this year.

Maybe I just need a do over when the snow arrives?  I don’t know.  So many thoughts running through my head tonight, and none of them really make any sense.  I’ve been without my “to blog” notebook for a few days…normally I jot thoughts down there.  Looks like I need a few minutes to myself to think and sort out my thoughts ….

I hope you had a Merry Christmas!