3:39 p.m. - 2007-12-27
Why such a happy Christmas???
The wife and I really haven't exchanged Christmas gifts yet. Although she did get her sapphire stud earrings.

I got to open my can of genuine Italian espresso beans. Although, I was (still am) quite thrilled with the coffee. It was a very thoughtful gift. It made me smile when I opened it, and I smile with each cup of espresso I make.

So why don't I feel discounted? I had a great Christmas. Spent the morning making posole stew for dinner at my brother's. Dinner was relaxed and fun. No pressure, just relaxing. I picked up M&D on the way to brother's house. They managed not to say anything terribly annoying.

SIL has been taking over their medical management from making sure they take all their pills to driving them to all their doctor appointments. SIL is a saint. Brother is beginning to show proper appreciation. Finally. M&D are beginning to really try to be nice. Of course, they know that if they're not nice SIL may stop helping them and then it's off to Assisted Living. For them, Assisted Living is the most evil thing in the world. M would "cave in", and D would have to give up his internet porn.

So M&D were ensconced in the deep cushions of the couch while the confusion of my sibs, sibs' kids and pets cowed them into submission. That allowed the rest of us to enjoy ourselves.

So why did I have such a happy Christmas?
The wife was really, really stressing that we were running so late. (over 2 hours late) I slept late (past 10!) and we didn't even have time for me to make her waffles as I had promised. She was the one who decided against the waffles. Still, I managed to put together a tasty brunchy kind of breakfast of toasted cranberry bread covered with peanut butter and cranberry relish (very tasty actually), link sausages, and peeled clementines.

We made it to our friends. Momma friend was kind of irate with her daughters who were doing nothing, lolling about while she was slaving away. They liked their gift. Yay us! Daughter & Momma were both thrilled with gifts for the grand babies. Yay again. But the air was thick with family/holiday tension so the wife and I hurried on out for the trek north to the brother's.

I spent the whole drive (the wife drove) on the phone with brother 1, brother 2, and M&D coordinating the whens and whats of dinner. .... No wait. That was the day before... Christmas Eve we drove up to M&D's to celebrate M's birthday. I baked her a cake. (Dad certainly isn't up to playing with hot ovens anymore) So we had quick cake. Present (freshwater pearls) Ooohhhh... another Yay us on gift selection. and quick back south for Christmas Eve Services... (enough digression. I'll get to Christmas Eve in a bit)

Now then... We got the big expensive-gas guzzling car to take M&D to brothers. (yes, that's right... whew) Picked up M&D, checked SIL's magic medication matrix to make sure they took and took with them all their meds, then we strapped them in the car for the journey west.

On arrival we popped open the wine and the Bailey's and relaxed. Had a great time. Got home Way too late. Slept as late as we could and crawled into work for a boring day of absolutely nothing to do.

But back to Christmas Eve. After all our rushing around we actually managed to make it to choir call on time. The wife, and all the women of the choir, were singing Britten's "Ceremony of Carols". Wow! They were Awesome. Incredible. Even the congregation (with all the Christmas Eve 'tourists') hushed up to listen. Wow.

The full choir sang two anthems and we did okay on those. I had one brief rehearsal before the service so I was nervous we'd not be as good as we should be. But we did very well indeed. Both services went well. The dinner in between for choir & clergy was as festive & fun as always. We got home around 2:00. And so I slept in on Christmas (see above...)

So why such a happy Christmas?
Why did the Blue Monster go away?

I think because:
1. I was relaxed and kept busy doing all the things that needed to be done without stressing about what anybody else thought.
2. I worked hard to allow myself to sing for Christmas Eve. I made the effort the week prior to get to the early morning rehearsal and so was allowed to sing with the choir. I gave myself that gift. (I'm still amazed that I can make my voice do well enough to sing with such a talented group... But I do it.)
3. Spending more time with my brothers has been rewarding.
4. I took control of M&D with their Christmas. I guess I want to show them how to do it right.
5. Most of all it wasn't about gifts and presents. Certainly it wasn't about presents for me. That allowed me to enjoy and appreciate what Christmas really is -- the celebration of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

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