Yule Blog

It’s funny isn’t it?  We grow up celebrating the holidays one very specific way.  And then we become adults and get married to someone who may or may not have grown up celebrating the holidays in a completely different way.  And we’re expected to just merge our traditions seamlessly and without any complaint.

Yeah. Right.

I grew up with my parents and four other siblings in California.  We didn’t have a lot of extended family close by.  There were some cousins who we may get together with either before or after the holiday for a little get-together but for the most part, Christmas was just us.  My family moved to California from the midwest in the early 70’s, just before I was born.  Since my older siblings were used to spending Christmas with the extended family out in Michigan, my parents felt an urge to make the holiday as special as possible.  So they started a tradition where on Christmas Eve, we would all get dressed up and go out to a late lunch/early dinner at some place that we might not otherwise go to during the rest of the year.  This was always memorable and I can still vividly remember some of the restaurants we ate at on Christmas Eve.  Afterward, we would go to church (I was raised Catholic and Christmas Eve service is just about the most beautiful Mass you could imagine).  On the way home, we would look at Christmas lights and then once home, snack on cookies and fudge and open a gift or two before heading off to bed.  We would open everything else, Santa gifts included, the next morning as soon as everyone was awake.  Then mom would spend the day fixing the dinner which always rivaled Thanksgiving dinner while my dad and brothers would watch football.  Voila.  That, to me, was Christmas.

The first Christmas I was married was the worst one I’d ever had; at least up until that point.  It was about as different from my Christmas as I knew it as you could get. I was used to Christmas Eve being all about the anticipation.  I got to where I counted on it.  Only, that first Christmas away from my parents house I didn’t really realize that.  You know the old saying, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.  I had high hopes about spending Christmas in Elko that year.  I was actually kind of excited to try something new.  But the fates conspired against us.  Kile and I both were working at the university (I was taking classes still to finish up my degree) and he had yet to start what is the job he has now.  He was set to start shortly before New Years, but for the time being, was still an hourly employee over at the library.  So we both had to work on Christmas Eve.  Being hourly employees, we needed all the money we could get and there weren’t really any “days off”.  We were taking enough days off as it was to go to Elko.  We had just moved into a new two bedroom apartment and I was wanting to try to have a baby.  We needed the money.  So we let for Elko around 3pm on Christmas Eve.

NEVER AGAIN.

I will never again travel anywhere on Christmas Eve.  That year, it completely ruined my holiday. By the time we got to Elko, the day was nearly over.  There was no lunch out, no Christmas Eve Mass, and his family had the tradition of opening all their gifts on Christmas Eve.  Within a couple hours, all the presents were opened and as far as I was concerned, Christmas was over.  The next morning, I woke up feeling distinctly disappointed.  There was a nice dinner that afternoon, but not like what my mom would have made at home.  I found myself incredibly homesick and feeling very sorry for myself.

I’ve loosened up a lot since then.  However, the times we have spent Christmas in Elko since we have insisted on opening the majority of our gifts the next morning.  I’m lucky that Kile feels the way I do, that the anticipation of Christmas morning should be upheld.  As long as you get a present or two the night before, that is. Doing something different isn’t as tragic now as it was then.  But then, I’m used to it by now and I’ve matured as well.  That first year away from your family can be a huge adjustment.

Though it could be easy for me to say.  We’ve adopted more of my family’s Christmas traditions than his.  For instance, last night we went out to an early dinner before heading to a candlelight Christmas service at church.  On the way home, we gawped at Christmas lights before snacking on goodies and watching the boys open a present or two.  But we had a great time, the boys had a great time and that’s what matters, right?

So how do you feel about your Christmas traditions?

Christmas cookies, as decorated by Harry

The boys show off their matching Christmas jammies before bed on Christmas eve

Santa came!

Liam prepares for his future as a hard core rockstar

It’s a toss-up as to which he liked more, the bike or the Spider-man 3 game

The state of my living room after the tornado passed.

Did I tell you we decided to change Pup’s name?  Yep.  We did.  But come on… “Poptart”?  Seriously?  And then, a couple weeks ago, we were listening to the “All Christmas, All the Time” radio station when the song “Mistletoe and Holly” came on.  You know the one:

Oh by gosh, by golly, it’s time for mistletoe and holly,
Tasty pheasants, Christmas presents,
Countrysides covered with snow.
Oh by gosh, by jingle,
It’s time for carols and Kris Kringle.

Do I need to point out that Beetoe’s given name was “Mistletoe”?  SERIOUSLY.  We needed to name this pup “Holly” and that was that.  Even Harry agreed and seeing as how she’s his dog (technically), he got final say.  He was all for changing her name to Holly.  And it’s not like we’re not going to just keep on calling her Pup.  I mean, the name is stuck by now.  Besides, our pets never retain their given names.  Our first pet, a cat we got while still in college, was named Cheyenne.  Nice, huh?  Yeah, we never called him that.  He was Stinky.  Still is (we don’t have him any longer, my friend does).   Anyhow.  So yeah.  The Pup is now named Holly.  So we have Mistletoe and Holly.  Cute?  I totally think so.  And it doubly works as Pup was born in December and we acquired Beetoe at Christmastime so there.  It was meant to be.

Anyhow.  What I really want to say was Merry Christmas to everyone.  I hope everyone is off right now enjoying their families and feeling the spirit of the season.  And that no one is like my brother who is currently stuck on the tarmac in Minneapolis, hoping his plane takes off in time for him to make his connecting flight to San Jose in Denver.  Which, you know, it totally won’t.  Gah.  I think I’ll go give thanks right now that we’re staying put for the holidays.

I just know that I have things to say but for the life of me, I can’t think of a single one to write about this morning.  Isn’t that always the way?  I think the holiday season has finally gotten the best of me.  It’s all the shopping and wrapping and associated stress.  Why is there so much stress?  Can I go back to being 10 and have the biggest worry on my mind be whether or not I’m going to get the My Little Pony Dream Castle for Christmas?  Those were the days.  Anyhow, here’s some things that have been weighing on my mind in the last day or two.

• Our weather has been schizophrenic at best.  Right now the sun is out and the sky is fairly clear and blue.  But an hour and a half ago it was like a blizzard out there.  Explain, please?  And last night, the wind was HIDEOUS.  I swear, nothing makes you worry about the wind half so much as owning a home.  And sure enough, about two am Kile woke up to hearing glass break.  Turns out?  One of the panes in our loft window broke out.  Just because of the WIND.  He also has to reset a fence post at the back of the yard because it’s come lose and now the back gate doesn’t want to stay latched anymore.  All because of the WIND.  I hate the wind.  I think it is of the devil.  And it doesn’t help that we don’t have any sort of wind-break out here because we have absolutely ZERO landscaping.  SIGH.
• Does Liam have enough gifts?  Surely, we got him some things but not near as much as we got for Harry.  I keep trying to tell myself that he won’t really notice and he’ll be more obsessed with boxes and wrapping paper come Christmas morning.  And also, enjoy it while we’ve got it because soon we’ll have to make sure each boy gets an equal amount of gifts. I just have a little guilt about it is all.
• I’m worried about a few things getting here in time.  We ordered the boys some ADORABLE jammies from LL Bean and while the tracking page says they should be here on the 24th, I worry they won’t arrive in time.  We got them in matching colors and the idea is to have them open them on Christmas Eve and wear them to bed so they’ll be matchy-matchy come Christmas morning.  I hope they get here in time.  Kile also ordered some things from Dell and we have NO idea if they’ll show up in time or not.  One of those things, of course, is a present for me.  Figures, doesn’t it?
• Speaking of Dell, they’re chapping our hides here.  I’ve made no secret that they’ve ticked me off before.  Or maybe I have, because I can’t ind evidence of it here on this blog.  Huh.  Anyhow, a couple years ago for Kile’s birthday I ordered him a gaming keyboard and a gaming mouse.  I ordered about a week or two before his birthday, which is in June.  And waited.  And waited.  The whole time, when I would check my order status, it was listed as “In Production”.  RIGHT.  Because over at Dell headquarters they’re actually putting together this mouse and keyboard which technically isn’t even made by them.  They just have it to send to people who wish to purchase it.  Which brings up the question: “Do they have this stuff in stock at all?”  And if not, why isn’t it noted on the page when you order that the item isn’t in stock?  MOREOVER, why don’t they tell you how long it will take to receive the items when you place the order??  This goes double for Christmastime.  People who order things around this time of year generally expect to receive them by Christmas, no?  So, when Kile placed this order at the beginning of the month, he thought it was all good.  Most people would, right?  Except the status of the order has never wavered from “In Production” and Christmas is looming close.  There was nothing on their site that would indicate an order placed at the beginning of the month would not arrive by Christmas.  If you ask me, that’s god-awful customer service right there and I would be hard pressed to order anything as a gift from them again.
• We were supposed to drive to Winnemucca this Saturday to meet Kile’s brother’s family and exchange gifts for the people in Elko with them.  This wasn’t anything I planned, because I have made it clear I’m not wanting to go anywhere right now.  In fact, as Kile was agreeing to this plan, I was on the phone with my mom and telling her I was staying put, I wouldn’t even go to Winnemucca.  Oh, the irony, right?  Well, Kile doesn’t really want to go either and just agreed because that’s what he does.  We got to talking and agreed that the Saturday after Christmas would be better for us and Kile might even be able to talk me into going along if that were the case.  He was supposed to call them yesterday to tell them we wanted to change plans but he didn’t.  Because he’s a good boy and likes to avoid confrontation.  And, you know, he probably forgot.  So he has promised he will call today.  I’m sure this will somehow play back on me as though I’m the evil one in the scenario, but whatever.
• Tomorrow is a half day at school.  Argh.  These half days kill me.  KILL ME.  The good side is that at least I don’t have to worry about hiking down to the school to pick him up at lunchtime (and as it happens, naptime).  The school bus has solved that.  But it makes the trip I want to take to the grocery store a little more difficult to plan.  That leaves either tomorrow morning or this afternoon.  Depending on when Liam wakes up from his nap this afternoon, perhaps it’ll be tomorrow.  Why do I worry about this stupid stuff??
• Of course, thinking of grocery shopping is making me think about a grocery list in my head and I have very little idea of what we need.  I know I want to find a gift for Harry that I know this particular grocery store will have.  I also know we need milk for my milk fiend, but beyond that? Maybe I better talk to Kile.  He’ll know.

All this thinking is giving me a headache.  I think I’ll go watch Liam try to eat his foot instead.

Thanks to everyone who responded on yesterday’s rather lengthy post (yes, even jacksmith, whose passion on the topic was almost a little scary). I’m just amazed that so many of you actually read through the entire thing because it was long and rather rant-y. But, it’s a hot button issue of mine. I don’t know what the solution is, but I know there needs to be one.

Anyhow, to lift those spirits and remind us that it is indeed Christmas, I need to share with you this video:

Awesome, no? Someone here in the area did this (much reminiscent of a light show using the same song last year, no?) and we’re hoping to maybe go take a look at it this weekend. Thing is, we were in the area last Saturday and if I’d known it was there, we totally would have gone to look because DUDE. That’s freaking awesome. This guy’s neighbors HATE HIM.

And while I’m in a video-sharing sort of mood, you have to look at this if you are even remotely a fan of “Lost”:

EEEEEEHHHHHH!!!! I know, huh? January 31st can’t come soon enough. I saw enough goodies in that clip to make my tongue liquify. And did you notice that at the end there, the logo of the island reflected a city in the water? Dude, what’s THAT about? Much as I’m happy that “Biggest Loser” and “Big Brother” will be back so soon this winter, I’m so excited that there is at least one scripted show to look forward to.

See, don’t you feel better now?