Here it is, mid-afternoon on Christmas Day, not a creature was stirring except for my keyboard mouse 🙂
There is a special sort of grounding that I feel every time I come home. The power I get from returning to my roots is both humbling and astonishing. Now that I’m grown, I have a new appreciation for my parents. It seems they have an appreciation for us as well because now they say we weren’t have as rowdy and wild as they thought we were at the time.
Heh, I could have told them that… oh wait I did and they didn’t listen. I think it’s part of the parent /child contract. We’re not supposed to listen to each other from the time us kids are 13 until we’ve been out on our own for half a decade.
Last night was peaceful, the packages were wrapped (not as many as when we were younger but Christmas has always been more about family than presents for us anyway), the turkey was thawed and the potatoes for the stuffing were already mashed and waiting for the onions and other goodies to be added (didn’t want to chop the onions before church and be smelly). We sat down to watch It’s a Wonderful Life until it was time to head in to the church service. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the first part of the movie before. I always seem to come in halfway through.
After church, we came home, stuffed the bird and had a nip of Limoncello before bed to help us out with the visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.
Waking up to the smell of roasted turkey is one of the best parts of Christmas. Having the bird done so you can relax and enjoy the day isn’t a bad side effect either. I had a cup of coffee, a leisurely breakfast, watched Mom prep the vegetables and waited for my other brother to arrive with his girlfriend and her kids.
Once they arrived it was chaos. Their 10yr old came in dressed as Santa and his sister like a reindeer. They had a blast handing out presents to us and weren’t disappointed when we gave them gifts in return. Then came dinner, turkey, stuffing, pie – we practically had to roll ourselves away from the table. The urge to nap was almost overwhelming. Dad succumbed, Mom sat down to read one of the books she got and one brother went outside to work off the meal while the other one had to prepare himself for heading over to his in-laws for 2nd Christmas. Me? well two guesses what I’m doing right now while sipping a lovely glass of NB cranberry wine.
Once I hit enter, I’m going to start writing again. I’ve been so busy with the book launches and editing other people’s work that I’ve been forced to suppress my own urge to write. This is my Christmas gift to myself… well that and the barley toy and ribbon candy I bought 🙂
Merry Christmas Everyone, may your day be filled with peace no matter how much chaos surrounds you.