The Re-cap
It's been a good two days. On Christmas Eve, as the five of us were sitting in the living room playing Cranium, it struck me how rare it is that we spend time together like this as a family. We had been invited to a neighbour's house, but I think we were all having such a good time that it didn't occur to us to stop what we were doing and walk down the street. Other things struck me too: I realized just what a hilarious sense of humour Jamie has. He had us all in stitches the whole night. Not that I didn't know before that he was funny. But it really hit home that night. He really is quite a neat individual, and will become even more so the older he gets. So different from his older brother, who is incredibly quiet. Alan reminds me a lot of Joe's youngest brother Andrew. Iris is somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.
It also struck me that this could be the last Christmas we will all be together, at least in the same way. Maybe not, but with Iris and Alan both planning to leave home shortly, you just never know what next December might bring.
I think it was for all these reasons that Christmas Eve seemed so precious to me this year.
Christmas morning, I was wide awake at 6. I got up and made tea and a fire, and by seven Joe and Jamie were also awake. It took another hour or so before we could stir the other two.
Presents were opened and appreciated, breakfast made in between taking phone calls from family, and then we all scattered for a couple of hours: Joe and I to do some visiting, Jamie to go across the street to his best friend's house, Iris to see her boyfriend, and Alan to grab a nap.
Back together for dinner. Iris made the desert, Jamie the gravy, and Alan shovelled the deck so Joe could get to the barbeque - he used the old 'beer can up the butt' routine to cook the chickens. In the end we had to finish them off in the oven because barbeques don't like winter weather, but when all was said and done the meal was delicious. And with my mom's good china, silverware, parfait and pickle dishes in use, it took me back to Christmases past. I also put out a plate of food for those who couldn't be with us for the meal, so it felt like there were more than just five of us around the table.
Today will be a lazy day. I do plan to run out to pick up a few things, phone a few friends and maybe go for a walk, but other than that my slate is clean.
6:55:49 AM 
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