Well it's Christmas Day and I feel this unmistakeable drive to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. This has been a lovely holiday season, filled withed with happiness and gratitude, regardless of what religion we practice. I spent this holiday painting my bedroom, because we recently had our master bathroom remodeled and we needed to paint the bedroom to match. Needless to say (for most of my readers), the bathroom remodeling has been a debacle. I'll follow up with more on that once it's completed and I don't need to live in fear of retribtuion. For now I'll just say that if you're considering hiring a well-known bathroom contractor to remodel your bathroom DON'T DO IT.
So we spent the day repainting our bedroom and it turned out great Then I made chili this evening and drank a bunch of wine so i'm a little buzzed as I write this so it won't be eloquent or even probably enjoyuable to read.
So as I sit here, I'm thinking of Christmases past. Of lasagnas at my grandmothers house. Of playing an obsure game called "Password" and toying with homemade outfits for homemade Barbie dolls. Of fixing twice-baked potatoes and traveling to downstate Delaware to celebrate with my Sussex County family. Of home-grown gag gifts and name labels on the bottoms of plates at Mom-Mom's house. Of being jealous of the sheer number of gifts my cousins received every year. These are the memories that jump out at me for all the Christmases that linger in the past. My husband often wonders aloud why I can't fix a big family meal without providing bread (even if it's just wonder bread with butter) and my answer is unfailingly that my Mom-Mom never served a meal without bread. Why would I?
I offered to make ham this Christmas and my husband offered, instead, that we make chili and cornbread. And I realized how far away from home I am, that chili is the meal of choice over ham and potatoes. And I'm okay with that except that ham and potatoes is my holiday meal of choice and I sort of miss it. And so next year we will board a plane and head home to Delaware to enjoy ham and potatoes and ice and snow for Christmas. And while we are there we will see my niece, who will be 2, and nephew, who will be 7, and my friends' children who will be a range of ages, from 5 to not yet one year old. I savor the idea of being there for a Christmas with my family, after 4 years away. And we will embrace the most precious of holiday traditions. Not the day off from work or the enjoying of presents and wine; instead we will enjoy family and friends and the true wonder of Christmas. Until then, and likely after that, my husband and I will continue our little family traditions on our own, hoping that we will not disapppoint our family too much by continuing our lives without the blessings of children.
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