random thoughts – Day 2,108 (Wednesday) – family christmas eve

Back yard in fresh snow.

It was a winter postcard scene when I woke up this morning. Everything was coated in fresh snow and it looked like a pretty postcard. The snow angel across the street cleared my driveway and walk with his snow blower and it felt like the setup for a Hallmark Christmas movie.

A couple days ago I had wished to not leave the house for several days but once again, today I was briefly back in the fray. It seems I cursed myself with that earlier wish. 

A prescription had been waiting for me at CVS for a week that I kept forgetting to pick up and today I was determined to finally get it done. The parking lot was packed and I almost kept driving, but a customer left the store and I did the vulture thing, lurking, watching, and waiting for her to get in her car and exit. Inside wasn’t as bad as the parking lot and the pharmacy line moved along with impressive efficiency. I got my stuff and was out the door in no time, vacating the spot for someone in the fresh crop of circling vehicles.

Then it was the baking of the wonton sausage cups and reheating of the kielbasa, rolling of the sweet bologna and cheese wraps, and setting out of nuts, chips, and sweets. And then it was party time with the family. It was fun to be hosting. When I was in Lowell it was just far enough away to be a hassle for the family to come out, especially those who had to work part of the day. It’s so much nicer to be back and closer to everyone.

The afternoon was spent doing final baking and warm ups and setting up the dining table with chips and dips and the kitchen counter as a buffet. My middle niece and her boyfriend arrived and gravitated to the couch and we all followed to the seating in that area. I love that this house is suited to conversation groups and easy entertaining. I also love that the pesky fire/carbon monoxide detector was quiet for the day.

Perfect Christmas Eve with the family.

My youngest niece got out of work early and was able to join us earlier than she thought. It was a perfect night. We ate. We talked. We laughed. We commented on the Christmas songs playing on TV and searched for the Santa graphic on the “can you find Santa?” screens until we’d seen them all a few times and I changed the channel to YouTube and punk pop Christmas songs and then Post Modern Jukebox. I shared how I wish I was a singer, but that idea was killed when my brother and I sang in church choir and he told me I sang like Olive Oyl. Then my sister shared how I ruined her singing dreams by saying "who told you that you could sing?" Damn. Sibling words hurt. For a long time.

My eldest niece in Vegas called in and we exchanged greetings. We remembered to take a picture, which we've gotten really lax about in the past few years.

Overall, it was a perfect night – food, family, fun. Five stars. Highly recommend.