Hope you had a good holiday, and time with people you enjoy. I am pretty much decided that the best part of the season is the opportunity to spend time with folks you love. And, unashamedly, getting so sappy I think that the cheezy old standby of 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' is one of my favorites. We used to hear the elders talk about how the felt like the older they got the more they felt like time just seems to fly, having years pass by in the blink of an eye. I think I'm getting 'there'....
We left home on Monday (Christmas Eve day) morning (not early by my personal standards, but still pretty early for someone who usually takes an hour to get going, complete the a.m. routine and and out the door. Stopping on the north side of Atlanta to have (our second) breakfast with oldest daughter and son-in-law who live in Marietta. Then on to Chattanooga by lunch time.
We'd been invited to spend the night, and have 'portable' Christmas, as we seemed to be the most likely to travel, and have the most time for getting out on the road. Went to church on Monday night, and then did a little riding to see holiday decorations. Where we viewed a number of over-the-top garish displays, with Santa, Snowmen, Nativity scenes side by side packed into front yards roped together with miles of brightly blinking lights, and a light sprinkling of polar bears and penguins for good measure.These seasonal inflatable yard decorations are getting completely out of hand.
Slow starting on Christmas morning, mostly just hanging around waiting for the sister to arrive from Decatur around lunch time. Then an hour or so of unwrapping chaos ensued. Paper flying, ribbon dangling, tissue wafting, boxes crashing, gifts galore. Some pretty amusing stuff ("99 ways to tie a necktie"), some very useful stuff (hand made hand cream and sugar scrub, pocket knives, flashlights), some completely absurd stuff (red blinking reindeer nose, a day-glo orange 'boonie' hat with reflective stripe to keep me from getting flattened when walking after dark), and a bucket full of family togetherness.
I knew we were expected to go to Uncle Jay's for dinner, and more gift exchanging. I knew we would spend hours getting back to Columbus before getting to bed, since I had to work Wed. and Thurs. at my little jobette. But I also knew I definitely, positively did not want to get up from the dinner table and walk out the door to start home. And had cautioned him about this when I told him we were going to dinner with the in-laws long before we went to TN. I somehow got bullied into leaving, actually just as we started talking about dessert choices. So found myself walking out the door as some were still eating, doing what I specifically did not want to do.... For the Last Time.
The weather was predicted to get really bad, with some winter thunderstorms, heavy rains, gusting winds. In the past year or so, I suddenly realized that I live with a guy who loves to fret about the weather, and assorted other things he has no control over. All these years, I had assumed he was super weather conscious due to his employment. But I have recently become convinced he apparently loves to watch the weather channel and worry about acts of God, assorted disasters he has no control over. We did get into a little of that south of Atlanta. But safely got home by 11:00 and into bed.
I stuffed my little box of wrapping paper, gift boxes and ribbon back up in the closet this morning, and since I did not do the first bit of seasonal decorating: it looks as if it never happened here. Pretty much what my workplace looked like when I went in on Wed. morning, as the closing crew had to take down everything that resembled 'seasonal' before they went home on Monday night. So when the store opened again on Wed., it would be back to business as usual... got your black-eye peas yet?
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