random thoughts – Day 1,744 – (Wednesday) – foods and gifts

Waking up in a house not my own after a restful sleep that ran several hours later than usual felt luxurious. Decadent. Disorienting. I was in my niece’s room in my sister’s house and it was 9:00. It felt like a Sunday and it took me a minute to fully register it was Wednesday and that Thursday is a work day.  

Downstairs was shining with the full magical Christmas treatment of lights and multiple small trees and ornaments and figurines, plus the the remnants of our family Christmas Eve party. My sister has always had a talent for creating a festive space, whether it's Christmas, Easter, Independence Day, Halloween, birthdays, or NFL game day. This morning there were gift bags and opened gifts set in piles throughout the dining room, evidence of the gift giving the night before.

Christmas Eve party mode in effect.

The party had included a table laden with food sufficient for an army, despite our gathering numbering eight. We feasted on flatbread rolled sandwiches, meatballs in tomato sauce, kielbasa in ketchup brown sugar sauce, salad, cheese and crackers, potato chips, grapes, pineapple with Tajin seasoning, and countless homemade baked treats and candies. There was wine. And eggnog with a kick. It was glorious. 

The TV provided hours of background entertainment. During the dining and gift opening, it was an hour-long video of Santa stuck in a chimney, his legs and boots sometimes swaying or kicking, and an occasional Santa comment. This was followed by a video of a roast cooking in an oven, and we laughed about how easily entertained we are and tried to think of videos we could make and profit from. Then, it was the holiday classic and family favorite feature film, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

Soon, two of the three nieces headed to bed. One had to work today (Great Wolf Lodge) because vacation destination activities and supervisor duties don’t pause for holidays. The other naturally goes to bed early and gets up early, and it was already hours beyond her normal sleep time.

Decadent and delicious cake.

By the time I was up this morning, my sister already had the coffee made. I don't know how she does it, by her coffee is always better than what I make at home. One niece had left for work hours earlier. There was conversation and cookies with the coffee. Lunch of sandwiches, chips, and conversation. There was a slice of decadent chocolate tuxedo mousse cake selected by the nieces, and my sister cut a chunk and packed it for me to take home. 

When I headed home, the traffic was light and easy, and I was finally ready to listen to Christmas music. On the drive, I thought the same thing I think every time I spend time with my sister – “we need to do this more often.”

Relaxing with
a new book.

At home, Kiki had to show me who is boss by shunning me. She sauntered out of the living room and went upstairs. After a brief cooling-off period, she was meowing up a storm and ready for head pats. 

I stretched out on the couch and started reading A Court of Thorns and Roses. This is the picture of leisure that lives in my head, but which I usually fail to enact in the life outside my head. Today, for more than two hours, I read the book my eldest niece gave me for Christmas. We had talked about the Sarah L. Maas series previously, and before that a co-op in our office had recommended it, but I had never gotten around to buying it. Reading a gifted book was a perfect way to enjoy a chunk of the Christmas afternoon. 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were what I pictured as my perfect holiday this year. There was family time, food, and the gift of an afternoon with the freedom to relax in what has turned out to be an unusually stressful year-end/future outlook.