Boxing Day is now over, but since this is a
double update; let’s back up a day and begin with my Christmas morning wake-up
call.
Ethan and Ehlana delivered that to me, and
while that didn’t happen ten minutes after I went to sleep; my nap time ended
at a bit after six o’clock. They cuddled
with me for a few minutes while wishing me a Happy Christmas; and then moved on
to Dawn’s room next while allowing me to freshen up a bit so that I’d be ready
for the dozens or hundreds of pictures that were sure to be taken by the
parents all morning.
Mom and Dad were already downstairs and in
the kitchen by then, so we shared some Christmas hugs, kisses, and best wishes
too before I joined in to help them with making up carafes of hot drinks,
platters of Olde Bakery snacks to munch on until we could get around to having
breakfast, and setting out the plates, glasses, cups, and cutlery that we’d
need for the early-morning treats and drinks.
Uncle Rick and Aunt Melissa joined us before that work was done; and it
wasn’t long before Ethan and Ehlana had our cousins rounded up and downstairs
too. That round of hugs and kisses
happened around getting drinks and snacks; we moved into the living room; and
started out our Christmas morning fun by finding out what Santa left for us in
our stockings.
That’s always more entertaining when we
have a house full of family to share the entertainment with; and there are
always some laugh-worthy stocking stuffers to go along with the sweets and more
practical little gifts. My brother and
sister were not the only fired up kids in the room that were ready to find out
what was under the tree, so once we finished with the stockings; Dawn and I
were drafted to hand out the gifts. I’m
not going to make the gifts the story here because it was that time with my
family that I loved the most – even though I loved the gifts that were chosen
for me too. I can assure you that it’s
more fun to watch Ethan and Ehlana opening gifts with a gang in the room; and
they need to play ‘normal’ kids when they’ve also just earned their unofficial Bachelor’s
Degrees.
Then again, Dillon and Chris didn’t have a
problem playing with some of Ethan’s new toys – even if they didn’t want to
play with Ehlana’s dolls and toys.
While there were lots of gifts to open, we
still managed to get through all of that by eight o’clock – partly because
Violet and Dillon needed to be at his parent’s house for Christmas with them, Isabelle,
and Andrew. The Dads were in charge of
cooking breakfast after that while the girls were allowed to hit the showers
and get ready for the day; and Chris and Martin selflessly offered to help out
by playing with Ethan and Ehlana – as long as they played with Ethan’s new toys
and video games. Sofia the first was not
allowed to join in – even if she was flying Minimus; but Doc McStuffins was
allowed to treat the injured PAW Patrol pups or remote control car crash
victims at her mobile clinic with some help from Nurse Ehlana.
Dawn and I took turns using my bathroom,
and since I went first; I had time before breakfast to run down to Michael’s
house to share a few Happy Christmas hugs and kisses with him – and some of the
members of his family. Some of them had been up early too, but that was more
because Jacob and Miranda are used to starting their days early – and because
Jacob needed to get the turkey in the oven early too. Gerry was still awake and fired up by seven,
though, and they were well on the way toward wrapping up their gift un-wrapping
by the time I stopped in for those fifteen minutes or so of fun. Michael and I didn’t do our gift exchange
then, but only because we did that a bit later at my house when we could do
that on our own in the lounge – and have a few quality moments of alone time
for the non-verbal kind of thank-you fun!
I was back at home with time to spare
before we sat down to have breakfast; we did that in the dining room; and then
Dawn and I were on clean-up duty while Mom got to work on the Christmas dinner
work. We hosted the family dinner this
year, and while that meal was scheduled for around six o’clock; Mom had a very
large bird to cook and it needed to go into the oven early-enough to be ready
by then – just as Jacob had put his turkey in early enough to be ready for
their noon meal. All of the cooking and
kitchen action isn’t exciting at all, but it was a big part of the day – and Michael
and I were both on a lot of work crews today.
I was okay with that, since I don’t think that only a few people should
get stuck with all of the work every year; and I’m glad that my grandparents,
aunts, and uncles got to spend more time having fun on Christmas this year.
That isn’t to suggest that Michael and I didn’t
have fun today because we’ve had an amazing day! We just spent quite a few hours working
too. For me, that started with the
post-breakfast clean-up; some cooking prep-work help; and some third-floor work
to get ready for the teens and kids that would be using the lounge and my room –
even while I was away and with Michael and his family. Michael came over after he was finished with
the breakfast clean-up at his house; we spent some time with my family; did our
private gift exchange; had a very minor make-out session; and then we were on
the go for pretty much the rest of the day.
I couldn’t possibly cover every detail of
the day; so let’s try and speed this up a bit.
Tim was at Rowen’s house by then, so we stopped in for a visit with them
and another gift exchange; stopped in at the Bassett house to collect Jessica,
Ryan, and Sophia on our way back to Michael’s house; and then split the rest of
our morning time between playing with Michael’s cousins and helping Jacob and
Miranda out with all of the work. The
rest of the Bassett clan arrived by noon; we had an amazing Christmas dinner;
dessert included a video chat with Jake and Stephanie while everyone was in one
place; and then Michael and I were drafted for the clean-up crew. That work took well-over an hour; we had a
bit more play time with his family; and then it was time to head over to my
house to spend the rest of the day with my family.
That next round of family fun and adventure
was great too, but I was getting fairly tired by then – and having a nap wasn’t
an option. Along with the play time,
there was more work to do both before and after dinner – with an emphasis on
the after dinner part of that. The teens
and collegians were on the front line for the clean-up, and while we had fun
with the work; some of us had a bit too much fun that made for extra work. I won’t use names, but let’s just say that
some of my cousins haven’t completely grown up yet and still like to prank
their sisters and cousins now and then.
Michael and I didn’t have much time left to
spend together after that clean-up because he was booked to help with the
breakfast buffet at the Inn while Rebecca stayed home and hosted their weekend
guests. We caught part of a movie in the
lounge, had some play time with my younger cousins, Ethan, and Ehlana; and then
we found a quiet room where we could say goodnight to each other without much
talking right before he headed home for the night. My day wasn’t finished yet, but the fun at
our house was winding down by then.
Uncle Nick and Aunt Deborah were first to leave; and that was entirely
because they were spending the rest of the weekend with her family and decided
to do the drive tonight with hopes that the kids would sleep all the way to Rosemont. They’ll be busy with their ‘away’ family
Christmas, and while I sometimes wonder what that would be like; it is really
nice to stay home for Christmas every year – especially now that Mom and I have
such an amazing family to share the holidays with – along with all of our best
friends too!
I was recruited to help out with hauling gifts
and kids home to other houses, and while I totally skipped mentioning the whole
gift-exchange thing for either family Christmas; that was part of the fun time
that Michael and I had to fit in around the work that didn’t stop for those
special moments. Since we missed a lot
of that action; I don’t want to make a big deal over the time we did spend
opening our own gifts. The playing with
the kids parts of our day were way more fun for us – and the moments I’ll
remember best.
Okay, I can and will remember every tiny
detail about everything; but you know what I mean. ;^)
Once we were down to just our family and
weekend guests, life at home got a lot quieter – but my night still wasn’t done
yet. There was more cleaning to do on
the main floor and in my room and the lounge; and then Dawn and I watched a movie with Ehlana and
Ethan before they headed to bed at a bit before midnight. The parents were heading for bed then too,
but Violet and Dillon were still out and at his house; and Chris and Martin
were playing video games in the living room.
I’m not sure if they were waiting up for their big sister and Dillon or
just needed to make sure that they didn’t turn in first; but Dawn and I were
ready to crash by then and didn’t really care if they stayed up all night or
not.
I only did my basic email and computer
checks last night before writing that micro-update; and then I was out for the
count from then until morning. My
wake-up call was self-inflicted; and I was up early enough for Tai Chi for
three because Mom and Dad slept in and skipped it again today. Ethan, Ehlana, and I had fun with that,
though; and the rest of my morning was certainly more fun that Michael’s breakfast
buffet shift at the Inn. All of my
family was there for that buffet; and Rebecca was there with her weekend guests
too. We weren’t sitting in the same
section of the dining room, but I did spend a few minutes talking with her before
going to fill my plate at the buffet tables.
The shopping adventure began immediately
after we left the Inn, but the boys went off to do their own thing while the
girls headed across the road to start out our fun at Palmer’s and Taylor
Shoes. I didn’t buy very many things,
but I did pick up one new outfit and a pair of shoes; and added a few more
purchases as we made our way around town.
I missed getting to do that with Rowen, but Dawn and I had fun; and we
did get to have a few cameo moments with some of my friends as we shopped – including
with Rowen while we were at the computer store.
We shopped until noon; had lunch at home; and then I had some play time
that Michael was able to join us for during his afternoon break before we both
headed over to the Inn to help out with the two bonus dinner buffets that Jacob
and Miranda were trying out this weekend so that they could try having just
three buffets on Sunday instead of the usual four.
We worked hard until the last round of food
went out for the second buffet, and while I missed out on the second family
buffet at the Inn of the day tonight; I was glad to help Jacob and Miranda
instead. Michael and I were set free
early so that he could host his family at home once they were finished at the late
buffet and Rebecca stayed to help with closing the Inn; and we mostly played
with Gerry while the parents and grandparents wound down or went to bed
early. Gerry lasted until nine-thirty
because he’d also had a long afternoon nap; we watched a movie with the adults
that were still standing once he was tucked in for the night; and Jacob,
Miranda, and Rebecca were home in time to catch the tail end of that show.
It was bedtime for everyone after that,
though Michael and I were left alone in the living room so that we could say
goodnight to each other before I came home for the night and he went up to
bed. We didn’t really seriously consider
a sofa sleepover tonight with guests at both houses; but that would have been
nice. There were still parents and kids
awake at my house when I got there; and Chris, Martin, Violet, and Dillon were
playing video games in the lounge while the parents were not really watching a
movie in the living room. I stopped in
for goodnight hugs, kisses, and a minor recap before heading upstairs; and then
I only joined the action in the lounge for a while before advising my cousins
and Dillon that I was too tired to party anymore today. Mandy was all for that plan, so she came with
me when I went into my room and closed the doors between the two rooms so that
Chris and Martin could continue their gaming for as long as they wanted to do
that.
I was ready for bed fifteen minutes later;
did my usual bedtime computing along with a minor bit of family business work;
and now I’ll be off to dreamland about a minute after I wrap this up.
It really has been an awesome tow days; and
I really hope that everyone I love most got to have as much fun as I’ve had so
far this weekend. We’re down to one day
left for the holiday weekend, and I’ll be working most of the day tomorrow
while helping out with those three buffets at the Inn; but we’ll have lots of
fun too – especially if that change in the buffet schedule works out as well as
Miranda hopes that it will.
I’ll let you know how that goes, but right
now I really just need to get to sleep; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
