Since Christmas was on Sunday and we didn't want to delay or rush our favorite leisurely way to spend Christmas morning with church in the mix, and since local family was clamoring for our attendance at a Christmas lunch in Grandview, we decided to ignore the calendar and celebrate Christmas in our house on December 24th. That shifted Christmas Eve to Friday, December 23rd. We were all ready! We were all home! Why delay? Liberating myself from the constraints of the calendar is always a light happy feeling. Bring it on, Christmas!
Journal excerpts:
Saturday, December 24th: It was our family Christmas today! Last night Jeff and I had fun laying the last few gifts out by the tree and filling the stockings. This morning we turned on the Ray Coniff Singers version of Jingle Bells a little after 7am and the kids emerged from the basement to check their stockings. We had a leisurely morning opening and enjoying gifts. We finished the presents sometime around 9am I believe, but I wasn't looking at the clock; I was just enjoying the moment. Everyone seemed happy with their gifts.
I basically flunked the gift brainstorming for my husband this year. I kept getting him boring ole clothes, but didn't fully realize how lame they were until he was opening jogger pants on Christmas morning while I opened a wilderness survival kit and a fancy electric toothbrush. The most interesting thing I got him was an electric fly swatter, but I let Amber wrap that and give it to him. Thankfully Jeff ordered a TV to replace our dead one, so we counted that as his Christmas gift, even though it won't arrive till next week.
Jeff was feeling so good today, he was beaming! He kept saying "I feel like ME again!" I feel so relieved and glad and happy to have my beloved husband back. I missed him so much! He says he hasn't felt this much like himself/this good since mid September. YAY. A Christmas modern medicinal miracle!
I told the kids that I wasn't going to police their treat intake today because we were celebrating Christmas, and they basically didn't eat anything but cookies and candies all day. Oh wait, they had hot chocolate for lunch. Rose told me she had Ramen noodles for lunch too, but she was the only one of her siblings to attempt non-sugary foods today. Amber didn't eat any meals, subsisting solely off of cookies and candy today until 3pm, when she realized she needed something more substantial. So she had a Costco chocolate muffin. Yeah. I had to disengage my nutritional brain and let it go. The kids spent most of the day playing video games and snacking sugar and trying to get their new shared gift of a 3-D printer to work, with Jeff's help. It was a very chill, do-what-you-want kind of a day, with no sugar or screen limits, and while everyone was happy today, I hope there isn't too much emotional fallout tomorrow!
While the kids and husband were screening this afternoon, I snuggled up and read an entire book. Technically it was a novella, but it was the perfect length for an afternoon read. It was called "A Holly Jilly Christmas" by Emma St. Clair and it made me laugh and I loved it from beginning to end. It was such a decadent way to spend Christmas afternoon: curled up under a blanket with a good book.
It sleeted for an hour or two today and we didn't go anywhere this afternoon.
After an easy tasty dinner of Costco lasagna, we played a new Christmas-gifted game called What Do You Meme? It was silly and kind of perfect for Jay and Rose's ages. Amber started getting the hang of it by the end, which was nice for her competitive nature. We laughed and laughed together.
Sunday, December 25th: It was so icy today, we didn't feel safe driving to church. Jeff slip-slid-hiked up our driveway out to the road this morning to check road conditions and even his adventurous spirit was subdued. So we stayed home and found an old zoom link in a past ward email to log on to the zoom link and watch sacrament meeting. Our internet connection has been patchy this weekend due to the ice on our Starlink dish, so the zoom meeting was also patchy. During the pause where they turn off the zoom for the sacrament, we sang Christmas songs at the piano (I played) until sacrament meeting resumed. It was fun! When it was time for the traditional closing song of Joy to the World, the internet was too choppy so we turned off the zoom meeting and sang all four verses at home while I played the piano. I was able to sing about 80% of the words while playing, with only a few finger fumbles, which was new and fun.
After church, I declared that I wanted to go ice skating on the canal. My family joined me to keep me company. Amber was the only other person who wanted to ice skate, but Jeff and Jay took turns shoveling the crunchy snow off the ice so we could skate. Rose helped shovel a little too. The ice was so thick from a solid month of freezing temperatures, I doubt there was a drop of liquid water under my skates. It was the best ice we've ever had--no creaking, cracking, or groaning as I glided around. It did sleet a little while we were out there, but not too much.
Jeff's energy and vitality and personality are still returning and it is The Best Gift Ever. He came outside and shoveled a big patch of ice so I could enjoy skating on it. He has skates but they kill his feet so he didn't want to skate. It felt so special to have him outside with me, even though he wasn't actually skating. Is there such thing as a comfortable pair of ice skates? Mine are pretty painful too, but I like skating too much to stop. On Christmas night, Jeff baked us our second little Costco frozen lasagna for dinner. And he felt good doing all of it!!
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