Merry Christmas Eve Day! It is quiet around here this morning. Roy is at Bible study. Buddy left the soft and warm confines of my lap to take her first morning snooze in her little bed in the front room. KHCB is playing over the Amazon Echo in the kitchen. Good coffee and maybe a Christmas donut greet me this morning.
I like this quiet, the silence in which to think and ponder and to be grateful. Back in the day I loved the chaos of Christmas mainly because it masked a deep emptiness and kept it at bay, somewhat. Holidays were difficult and beginning in November the big count down till January 15th as the days were marked off for one more day closer to back to normal. We just needed to get through Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and my father's birthday. For many years my father controlled the holidays with a mighty grip. Sadly, he had unrealistic expectations and he was good to sabotage Christmas Day. Nothing could develop naturally, everything was manufactured, pictures were dictates of how to pose, how to look...There were moments in the day that he couldn't control, like when you wanted your mom to open her gift first because it would make her so happy. But many times the gifts he had chosen shouted to you loud and clear, you were more trouble to buy for and thus he hadn't given much thought to the gift. He did this to my mom almost every Christmas. And you could be sure he would be disappointed in whatever was given to him. Sometimes he would turn his chair to the corner of the room and open his gifts by himself so as not to interact with everyone gathered. Yes, it is so good to have those days behind us. Roy and I have settled into Christmas by ourselves. We have usually already received and given our gifts to each other way before Christmas Day. Some years we spent Christmas at The Inn on the Biltmore Estate, last two years we spent Christmas at our home in NC and this year, like many other years, at home in Houston. We will make lunch this year and Roy has started a new tradition of making gingerbread men this year. I know I will get some reading in. Yes, these are good days.
Yesterday, was such a fun day. Nancy and Megan came by. We went out to lunch and then came back here for wassil and opening gifts. Lots of laughs and fun. After they left I napped off and on but last night Roy and I watched the first episode of The Crown. I like it a lot. Then we watched one of his favorite movies We're No Angels. Yes, I stayed up past 8:00 pm and went to bed around 10:30.
I think we will go to a Christmas Eve service at First Baptist today. Maybe we will catch some Christmas lights along the way. Maybe we will stop for Chinese food like we used to do every Christmas in the recent Houston past.
Merry Christmas Eve Day!
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