Garbage bags full of pretty papers and cardboard boxes, quiet houses, kids playing with new Christmas toys, tired parents…
All signs that Christmas day has come and gone once again, but what will you remember about Christmas 2007?
This Christmas Eve was the first in our 12 years of marriage that my husband hasn’t had to work. Nonetheless, it went by just as fast as ever. He got up to chop ice in the morning before his Dad was due to come over and exchange gifts and as soon as he stepped outside, he slipped and went down hard on the icy pavement. This put a small damper on the day as he was in some pain of course. After his Dad, step mom and my niece came over, I went over to my sister’s to say hello to her inlaws. The kids and Al stayed home. When I got back, everyone was resting. Kev slept for quite a while but that was probably a good thing. I finished my cooking and cleaning and before I knew it, my parents were here to exchange gifts and spend the evening together with us. My sis was a couple hours later because she went to the airport to pick up a friend and the plane was 2 hours late. My husband had a few friends stop over. The one friend I invited couldn’t make it because sadly she is the one who lost her Dad this holiday. It was after 10 before everyone left. This was the latest my kids have ever been up on Christmas Eve. I was sooo tired and while we were waiting for the kids to fall asleep, my husband fell asleep too. I cleaned up from the party, carried up the gifts from the basement and out of our room to the tree. I took a few pictures and my husband woke up enough to come out and tell me how nice it all looked. I had trouble falling asleep even though I was exhausted. I watched Midnight mass, wished Jesus a Happy Birthday and prayed before sleep eventually took over. I woke many times though, kind of like I used to when I was an anxious child waiting for Santa to arrive.
Kev woke up first as usual and woke us up at 7:30 to tell us Santa came and to ask LOL why Santa didn’t wrap his big remote control truck! Funny kid! I said he probably ran out of paper hehe. The kids had the best Christmas they ever had (their words). My Mom stayed a long time in the morning playing with the kids toys. The Wii is especially a big hit. Al’s Mom and my sister and Flan came over also. I love that they take the time to do this and have Christmas morning with us. When they all left, me and Al snoozed for about an hour before getting up and showering to get ready for dinner at my Mom’s. My cousin M stopped with his daughter to see all the toys the kids got and then we all headed over for a delicious dinner at Mom’s. We had italian for Christmas this year. This was a first for us. We had shrimp cocktail for an appetizer and then a big yummy salad and the main course was lasagna and spaghetti with homemade sauce filled with yummy meats. We all hung out and chatted for a while. My husband fell asleep again LOL I’ve never seen him sleep so much! Then we all got ready to head out as my parents were going to take a nap before heading out for their long drive to Florida (sad). I wish they were staying at least until we all went back to school.
When we got home, my husband relaxed in front of the t.v. and asked me to sit with him but my Christmas night routine doesn’t end until everything is in its place and rather neat. That took quite a few hours as usual but it’s so rewarding to see a nice, clean house and all of our pretty ,new things put away.
