Christmas Eve right now. It snuck up on me, although not as bad as it seemed to last year 😛
We took Liz’s parents and their dogs to the Zoom Room today and did agility, and they loved it. Everybody is always so skeptical about it, they think it’s so only for crazy dog people, and then they come and do it and they get it. It’s seriously awesome. Then we came home and I *finished* my Foundation review/book report. Now, I just want to edit it and add some pictures, and it will be good to go. That will happen within the next few days for sure.
Julianne, Liz’s sister, and John her boyfriend came up shortly after that, and we took our now-traditional trip down to Target to buy stocking stuffers for each other. We had a $20 limit this year, which I think was larger than last year. It seemed that way, anyway, because we were able to get a ton of shit this time around. We’ve done that now for three Christmases and it’s always a ton of fun.
Then, we had an amazing steak dinner with the gift Liz had found for her dad, a frozen gift crate from Omaha Steaks that included filet, pork loin, baked potatoes, burger patties…the works. It was a genius gift idea and he was super impressed. So we had all that for dinner and it was delicious. Then, we all played Cards Against Humanity which is always good fun. It’s nice having J, Liz’s sister, and her boyfriend John in the house. I wish they’d been able to come up and hang out earlier. Makes the house very lively.
Now we’re all snuggled up for bed, we’ll do presents in the morning, and I’m thinking about Christmas Eve growing up. We had the tradition of doing Secret Santa shopping for us boys. My mom would take us to the mall during Christmas Eve day, we’d walk through and point out various gifts under $25, and then she’d take us in two’s to go and grab a present or two. Then, that night, we’d all get to open our Secret Santa gifts, our parents would give us a set of pajamas, and then we’d open whatever DVD they’d decided to get us and watch it as a family.
It’s kind of funny to think of it as a “tradition” now, because when we were kids, it was just what we DID. I kind of assumed that every family did that, it just seemed so logical. Family all opens a small gift, you get into some comfy clothes, and then everyone watches a movie. But, I guess it *is* a tradition; in retrospect it always was. I haven’t been able to do that for many years now.
I was also talking to my mom, and she was telling me that she decorated the Christmas tree today, which is always an intense experience because most of the ornaments we put on there are from all of us boys as children, and with Russell gone, it’s an emotional road to travel down. If you’re reading this and have no idea what I’m talking about, Russell was the youngest of us four boys, and he passed away in a car accident several years ago. So, I’m glad I got to talk to her about it, and I’m also glad they were able to get the tree up this year before Christmas. The past several years, my mom has either had to work ON Christmas, or all the days leading up to Christmas and the house, as a result, is nowhere near as Christmas-y as it used to be. So, I’m looking forward to the trip home, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow morning with Liz’s family as everyone opens their gifts. It’s one of my favorite times of the year, if not my favorite.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Today’s cover art is courtesy of these fine folks.
