One of the important elements of Christmas that has been missing for us the last couple of years is the ability to relax and enjoy the holiday for what it is. The tinny tunes (yes I said ‘tinny’) always go on and on about the hustle and the bustle, but when you’re in a hustle and a bustle the entire year, one needs to find the opportunity to just sit down and relax a little bit.
Luckily, Earl and I found just what we needed for this Christmas holiday. We didn’t do much of anything during the day yesterday, save for me wrapping all the gifts I needed to wrap. I didn’t get worked up about having to do this chore and subsequently the presents looked rather presentable this morning under the tree. There were no wads of paper disguised as a convenient carrying handle on the gifts; boxes were wrapped in rectangles and I even took all the leftover scraps and made a clever looking wrapping for one of Earl’s presents. It didn’t look white trashy or anything.
Since Jamie was headed to his parents today, last night Earl, Jamie and I had our Christmas Eve dinner and as usual the husbear cooked quite a feast. Then we watched “Despicable Me” before calling it a night. We were quite relaxed when we hit the hay, but honestly who can sleep on Christmas Eve night? This morning we made our way through the presents this morning and there were quite a few surprises. In 1982 my sister and I were wide-eyed when we unwrapped our Atari 2600; this morning I as wide-eyed when I unwrapped myAtari 2600 and 10 classic games all contained inside a classically styled joystick. Other retro gifts included a turntable, so I can record my 12-inch singles into MP3 format. Jamie and Earl both enjoyed their gifts as well, then Earl made breakfast and Jamie was on his way to see his folks. Earl and I relaxed for a bit before heading up to a low-key Christmas celebration with the country side of my family. I enjoyed the visit very much and Earl and I took the long way home to admire the lights on homes as we made our way back through the countryside. Someone tried to kill us by running a stop sign and causing me to slam on the brakes and put the Jeep into a skid, but I was so relaxed that I was able to handle the ordeal without even so much as a curse or racing of the heart; one hand went to protect Earl and the other just controlled the skidding Jeep. Being relaxed helped me deal with it in an intelligent sort of way. So tonight Earl and I are now just bringing Christmas 2010 to an end in a quiet way. Phone calls have been made, messages have been exchanged and most importantly, love and good cheer has been shared. Sigh. Life is good. In fact, life is very good.
