Posts
Speaking of the holidays, I survived. Obviously, or I wouldn't be writing this.
But what a holiday season it was!
Let's do this by who rolled in and when.
December 21-- Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bob from Maryland
December 23-- Granddaddy from Montgomery and Uncle Ken from Tennessee
December 24-- Andy, who now lives in Vestavia, and Katy from Birmingham.
So along with my parents, that made NINE of us in our THREE bedroom house. NINE in THREE. You do the math. Granted, Andy and Katy only stayed the nights of the 24th and 25th, but still.
Honestly, mom had been wondering for MONTHS--since, like, SUMMER, I kid you not-- where we were going to put everyone for Christmas. And since I'm sure you're wondering, too, let me break it down.
I got my room, and my parents got theirs. Lucky us. My granddad got Andy's old room, now the guest room. Aunt Sandy and Uncle Bob got what we all like to affectionately call the "lounge" and the sleeper sofa (they got the guest room when Granddaddy wasn't there). Uncle Ken got to sleep in the unfinished basement on my bed i'd used in my college apartment. Katy slept on the air mattress in my room. And Andy--bless him-- slept in his HAMMOCK in the basement. He preferred this to sleeping on an air mattress in the dining room or on my parents floor. It's not like we forced him to sleep down there.
You'd think with NINE people in the house we would have had a lot of drama. Surprisingly, we did not have much. But I won't speak of the drama here. Likely, you've already heard of it. ;)
The day after Christmas Mom and Aunt Sandy had the family reunion for their mother's side to plan so that consumed a lot of Christmas. Andy, Katy --and even Uncle Ken, my dad's brother-- and I rolled silverware for what felt like FOREVER. Yes, we ROLLED it. Because it wasn't enough to just stick in the cardboard box like all the other hosts do. That's how my mom and aunt roll.
I understand they wanted it to be special. This was our second year without my grandmother and the first family reunion that it was her turn to host, but she wasn't here to do.
For Uncle Ken, this was the first Christmas without his wife, my Aunt Gayle, but he fit right in with the other crazies and we embraced him and he embraced all of us.
We all jammed onto 1 and 1/3rd pews at church on Christmas Eve. I always loved going to the service when it was just 4 of us, but going with 8 other family members is even more meaningful, knowing that we all truly know the Reason for the season and that even those of us who are no longer here, we'll one day see again.
So Christmas was wild and crazy. And by December 31st, everyone had gone.
and it was quiet. too quiet.
I'm one of those people who doesn't react to changes in my routine. By the time I'd gotten used to the extra people in the house, they were gone. Then I had to get used the quiet. And it returning to just me and my parents in our three bedroom house.
I love the holiday season. I love having my family around. I love the traditions. Heck, let's be honest-- I LOVE getting off work.
But then it just all..... ends.
It happens every year. There's this HUGE buildup to Christmas, and then it's over a couple of weeks later.
And sometimes, it's like the happy feeling ends with it.
The time after Christmas is always a sad time for me. I think of my life and how it STILL isn't where I thought it would be. I'm STILL living at home. STILL single. STILL waiting for the perfect job. the perfect opportunity.
But it's a little ways into 2011, and the year isn't looking so peachy right now.
Maybe that has something to do with coming off the holiday season of happiness and joy. Maybe it's just me and that I still feel stuck and lost.
And I'm sick of feeling this way. Really, I am.
So. I'm going to turn this year around. I've got to.
