For the 2nd year in a row, we Christmased at our own home, just us 4. This year, however, I really wished we could be together with family. Ah, 2020. Even though we weren't sick, we kept seeing the news and authorities advising people to please not travel, please... like, really, we beg you... (they were so desperate to convince us all, weren't they?).... and so we just decided we'd better not. Again, even though we would have driven, not flown or taken a bus or anything.
And do you know what? On Dec. 26th, Kate developed a stuffy/runny nose and really didn't feel great. And how would I have felt if we'd been at my parents' house?? Not good, Bob. We will come back to this momentarily.
Christmas Week was a full week of PTO for both me and Shawn -- very rare, indeed. It began conspicuously, however, with Alex's oral surgery (part of his braces situation) Monday morning. He has recovered so well, with nary a whimper of discomfort -- only a little bit of having to eat carefully on his back teeth. He's still taking antibiotics but has come out the other side a total champ. Monday afternoon while Alex recovered, Kate and I met some of her friends for an outdoor park play-date -- more specifically for the girls, a photo-op, because this is what pre-teen girls do. Just take a million photos together. Selfies and Us-ies and filters and all that. The moms sat in our folding chairs in a socially-distanced circle and it was nice (though some of them are not my favorite moms, I'll admit. Mostly because some of them do not believe in the virus. I mean, that's an exaggeration. But, a lot of negative feelings about it, some talk about travel and big get-togethers, and some "We cannot let this stop us LIVING OUR LIVES" comments, and it was hard to keep quiet).
Monday night we watched "Elf," I believe. Classic. And I made myself an Amaretto Sour. I really wanted to have a different drink every night and this was an excellent start. Also, we went outside to view the planets passing! Did you? How neat was that?
Tuesday we had to go to the kids' piano lesson - that was the day's excitement. I think otherwise we did very little, and what a treat! A day off, with no plans! Just what I wanted. Watched "Christmas Chronicles 2" from Netflix and I fell asleep, probably due to my White Russian drink of the day. ;)
Wednesday Shawn and I VOTED! Woo hoo! Democracy -- an important runoff. I did some last-minute shopping at Target and I think Alex's movie choice that night was "Nightmare Before Xmas," always a good one. I forgot - or just maybe opted not - to make a fun drink. I'd intended to do hot chocolate w/Peppermint Schnapps. Oh well.
Thursday, finally, Christmas Eve. In the early afternoon I put the TV on "It's a Wonderful Life," much to Kate's chagrin, but everyone watched the whole thing in the end (a first for all of us -- I'd seen parts of it but never the whole movie start to finish). I bawled, then made appetizers. Pigs in Blankets, Sausage Balls, veggies and dip, and homemade salsa with chips. Our drink was a Merry Mojito, and delicious! Rum, Peppermint Schnapps, mint, lime and sugar. I made sure to WAIT until after we watched 6pm Christmas Eve Mass, though. ;) After that, we did take some family photos in front of the tree, and played the Brian Setzer Orchestra's Christmas songs - so fun and festive for our little "party!" AND it snowed! It had rained all day, but for about 10 minutes around 5pm, it was lovely and quiet, the way snow is, and we loved that!
One of Kate's favorite things about Christmas Eve is opening ONE present. But I think this year she didn't even ask about it! We stayed up late -- I finally had to shut things down and go to bed, and then luckily I woke myself & Shawn up around 1:30 to go play Santa.
And Christmas Day, get this? They agreed to wait until 8:30 before coming into our room! Maybe even 9:00, I can't remember. THEY fed the cats breakfast (7:30 on the dot!) as a means to "peek," so I got to actually sleep in!
One of the things I love about having older kids is their willingness to help lengthen the morning of present-opening. In our house, we now do a special wrapping paper for each kid, but there aren't any tags so they have to guess which paper is theirs. They guessed right on the first try, and in fact, Kate opened her Grand-Showstopper gift first (her very own iPhone11). I was worried it would all be a letdown after that, but it wasn't. They took turns, and I think really liked everything that was given to them.
I was happy to receive an Apple Watch (and Shawn was happy to give it, because it is TECH) ;), AND AirPods, which I totally did not expect. And I got the birding binoculars I wanted, and a book I didn't realize anyone knew I wanted, and even a full stocking. I really have good gift-givers in my family (I just wish I was one of them).
One different thing we did was to FaceTime Mom and Dad, and then Susan, my MIL, while opening their gifts. That stretched things out and made it feel more like normal, when they are here (or we are there). It kinda made me sad, but also happy. ?! You know?
This is getting long, but we made our traditional Christmas Crepes for brunch at noon, then had pizza rolls at 3:30 (ha, a family joke/tradition now), and then Honey Baked Ham, hash brown casserole, roasted vegetables and wine for dinner -- in the dining room with the Lenox and crystal. Somewhere in there, I made a red velvet cake with green whipped-cream frosting. So festive! And I drank another Merry Mojito, I feel sure. :) We Zoomed with Jill and Nils and Mom and Dad again. I didn't take a nap, but gosh, it was a perfect day.
NOW: Back to the matter at hand: Kate's nose. She was sniffly and tired on the 26th - she took a long nap - and got really nervous when she couldn't smell/taste. I tried to console her. That is, after all, a normal thing to happen when you're stuffed up. She never had a fever, so I'm trying not to be worried, and she is much better today (28th), so I'm hoping it was just a blip. I don't know if I'm supposed to report it to school, though? I don't feel like she needs to be tested at this point. I've Clorox wiped and Lysoled everything she's touched, as much as possible. Shawn had a bit of a sniffle today. I just don't know - I feel like I'm doing it wrong to not be panicked. I am grateful we stayed at home, that's for sure, and very wary.
I went back to work today but have not been super productive. This blog post is the most productive thing I've done, aside from picking up a post-holiday grocery order!
