A Bum-derful Holiday

Did you know....?
-that Reese's makes bell-shaped candy too?? (Weird.)
-that my bed is covered in filth, except for the patch on which I sleep?
-that Japanese food is still good the seventh time around? (..excuse me, my brain said "second" and my fingers typed "seventh". I'd throw that stuff out before the seventh time)
-that if you opened my stomach right now, you would only find Japanese food and sugar (along with the alien implants)
-that it's actually Saturday, even though my body says it's Friday?
-that I would really like to have a treehouse?
-that Christmas is the day Santa was born? <--that's a total lie.

Song of the day: Mary Did You Know? (inspired by the above paragraph)
Actual song of the day: White Christmas
Song I'm listening to right now: Christmas Don't Be Late by Alvin and the Chipmunks. Don't worry, it came right on time.

This week I was a total BUM. Bum, bum, bum. It was glorious. Most of my time was spent reading books I wanted to read, eating, wearing pajamas, and making a clay nativity for mom. In my spare time, I took Daniel cologne shopping (I'm afraid that this may become a yearly tradition), went to the bank, read Christmas stories to Audrey in a Russian accent, made cookies, and spent time with three friends.

Spending time with one of these friends in particular was very special--necessary, even. After thirteen years of friendship, we were due for a disagreement...and in September, conflict rushed in like a bad thunderstorm. We didn't talk for months after that and it was a constant shadow looming in the back of my mind. Then, on Christmas Eve, we finally took the plunge--that awful, terrible confrontation conversation that nobody on earth really likes--and after half and hour or so, the tension disappeared like it had never been there in the first place. It was amazing. Everything returned to the way it should be, and that evening I found myself sitting in their family living room opening little Christmas presents like I had on Christmas Eves before. I think this was the best kind of Christmas present I could have asked for.

Hurray!

Alright, now let's talk about actual Christmas Day. I get fascinated by other people's Christmas morning traditions, which are all pretty much the same as well as completely different. They go like this: everyone wakes up, some meaningful things are said, someone is "Santa" and hands out presents to everyone, and turns are taken so that it makes a kind of show. (and if you don't open your present with enthusiasm, everyone will stare daggers at you!) Then, when presents are open, everyone eats something delicious for breakfast. After that, there's a lot of hanging out.

WELL. This morning I was not woken up by pretty Christmas music, as per usual. Instead, my sister threw open my door (BEFORE nine o' clock) and huffed "Get up," before turning around and leaving me alone to figure out what day it was. I squinted at the clock, brushed my hair, tripped down the stairs, got some eggnog, and sat down on the couch. Then we had a family Christmas devotional with my ever-enthusiastic mother for about half an hour and even sang some carols (which sounded a bit croaky). Then puffy-faced, just-had-her-wisdom-teeth-out-and-is-a-total-grouch-because-of-it Audrey acted as Santa. And, as usual, I got what I asked for, with the added bonus of Baby Bottle Pops and Reese's bells. After that--yup, you guessed it--special breakfast with once-a-year sausageballs. Nothing much happened after that until lunch, when we had Japanese hibachi, a Christmas tradition because mom doesn't want to cook and the Japanese places are the only ones open on Christmas. The rest of the day was spent watching movies and eating food. BUMMING.

Oh yeah, and for once we actually had a decent snow on Christmas. It was perfect!

It was a lovely, bum-derful day. Now I am preparing to be afflicted with post-Christmas blues. Farewell, Nat King Cole. I'll miss you.