Well last night was the last of my Christmas festivities. So here it was beginning to end.
Pre Xmas
My Christmas already felt kinda bleh this year cause things didnt seem very christmasy and i didnt have my usual xmas spirit. first i never had time to do my tree . when i did drag our tree out of the basment and started to put it together, i discovered that the Mousekewitz family that lives in the basement had shredded the tree skirt and made a nest in the branches, so there were bits of red plaid cloth all thru the branches and it was kinda gross. so it wasnt until the thurs before xmas that i got a new tree and got one put up.
Saturday
so then christmas eve rolls around and the day of i discover im working a closing shift. when they asked me to pick up the shift i had no idea it was a closing shift. also i had no idea that my grandparents dinner started at 5pm (i figured it started around 7). i was totally stressed all through closing the store trying to get everything done and get out of there on time to make it to the lake for the big christmas dinner. this is the one that has all 40 relatives there with all my aunts and cousins. paul and steph came and met me at petsmart and i finally got out at 7:30. we call my dad up to say im off work, and he says everyone is going to leave in about an hour. by the time we drove there that would only leave us 30 mins of seeing everybody, so we ended up not going. i already didnt see any of this family last year since i was in london for xmas, and i went to TN for thanksgiving, so I havent seen any of these people for 2 years now. i know what some of you are thinking…about how i usually do anything i can to get *out* of going to the lake and seeing my relatives cause i dont like any of them, but this year i wanted to go and make a good impression on them cause its the last chance id have to see them before inviting them to my wedding and i thought if theyd seen me recently theyd be more inclined to show up. i think me not going really isnt all that big of a deal, and me making that shift change allowed me to make it to a get together with my friends from work the night before, which honestly was way better than dealing with my family, but the point i think looking back was that this was yet another xmas eve that i spent stressed out and anxious about trying to make it up to the damn lake. paul, steph, and i had dinner at fridays instead, then i went home and wrapped all the presents and went to bed at midnight.
Sunday
considering id only had 3 hours of sleep the night before at Dixie’s apartment and then worked all day, when my alarm clock went off at 9am christmas morning, i couldnt deal with getting up and going out all day that day, so i went back to sleep until 10, which was when i was sposed to already be at my moms house for christmas. we get up at 10 and steph calls saying mom has cooked us a huge breakfast and its all ready and where are we. so steph and i got in a fight cause she was mad at me and i was mad at myself for sleeping in when they were waiting on us. paul and i got there around 11 i guess and we had a great breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and chocolate fondue. i love love love breakfast. i could eat it 24/7. i was disappointed that my mom didnt have a xmas tree at all for us to open presents under (ok so she had a 2 ft tall undecorated tree but thats not hte same), but the breakfast and the presents and them being in such a good mood made me feel better after all the nonstop negativity id been feeling. i got a bunch of great stuff and my sister was thrilled with the necklace i got her.
an hour later my mom headed off for Tenn ( i so wish i could have gone)and the three of us (paul, steph, and me) headed up to the lake to see my dad, grandparents, and uncle’s family. at first i found it a lil awkward cause my grandmother makes me a little uneasy, but eventually us “kids” ran off from the adults and i just hung out with my cousin and his gf, lizzie, that he brought down with him. shes super sweet and i totally adore her.
next stop was paul’s parents house for christmas dinner. they made pot roast that was so so so good. they also gave me a $100 gift certificate to Kohls so i get to go shopping!
after dinner paul went home and i met back up with steph, my cousin chris, and lizzie to go see Fun With Dick and Jane.
Monday
monday i had to work in the morning (luckily daniel switched with me cause i was sposed to be closing which means i would have missed the other christmas dinner too!) and got off at 6. my dad was having an informal dinner at his house with my aunt and uncles family. my grandfather and jane werent able to make it cause he ended up having to go to the hospital for some kinda stomach problem so we didnt see him. i felt bad for him having to sit at the hospital all day instead of seeing his family. after dinner the adults and two of my cousins left to go to the hospital to see him, so steph, chris, lizzie, my other cousin adrian (chris’s brother), stephs bf will, and i watched the island and hung out.
Thursday
last night was lauren and mys christmas get together with all our friends from high school. we have one every year and i love seeing them all. i missed it last year cause of being in london so i was especially excited to see everyone. a lot of people couldnt make it this year which was really disappointing, but i did still get to see lindsey and sarah and jana and shawna and jeff all of whom i havent seen in years. lauren and i had made a dvd slideshow of pictures of all of us from the 9th grade up to last year that we played for everyone and then gave a copy to each person. shawna and i are talking again now which is awesome. it was lots and lots of fun and i really miss my high school days when we all hung out like that every weekend. you hear stuff about people never remaining friends after high school, but looking at our group that just so isnt true. ive never had friends like my high school friends.
ally-cat 