Exhaustingly Fun Weekend

Prepare yourself, this is going to be a long post.  This past weekend was so much fun.  We picked up my daughter and son in law on Thursday night and we were joined by our son on Saturday morning.  The race to get ready for the holidays had been frantic and it was nice to sit back and enjoy the fruits all that labor and anticipation.  I’ve written before that I am an unabashed devotee of the Christmas holidays and sometimes I get too excited as nothing can possibly live up to my expectations.  I’ve learned that life and the traditions surrounding it evolve and that you have to accept these changes without losing sight of the ultimate goal.  On Friday we went to see the movie, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and it was so well done.  I loved the Stieg Larsson books and the Swedish movies made from them so I was leery of this big budget American effort going in.  The movie was faithful to Larsson’s plot but added some subtle touches that were ably carried out by the talented cast.  On Saturday we gathered at home to watch the Patriots’ game which was the usual feast and famine but luckily ending with a Patriots win.  My wife made a great dinner as we headed into Christmas Eve where my sister and her family joined us.  We turned the TV off and enjoyed each other’s company.  As the evening was winding down we all watched the movie Love Actually before retiring for the night.  My sister had to leave before dawn on Christmas because she had to work.  I was the first one up after that and walked around the house putting all the Christmas lights on and getting Buddy up to run around a little before the gift opening.  I was hoping he and my sister’s dog Bailey would exhaust each other prior the festivities.  I should have known better.  Buddy seems to possess a secret well of energy that he taps for special occasions such as this.  The family leaked downstairs singly and I was able to spend a few moments with each wishing them a merry Christmas – this is one of the finest parts of the day for me.  My brother in law returned from the sister delivery mission and we were ready for the gifts.  I love watching the people I love open gifts and react.  My wife has the best reactions because she wears her heart totally on her sleeve and the joy she receives each gift with is truly a spectator sport.  I usually have all my gifts unopened when everybody else finishes because of this.  Everyone was a little too generous this year and I have a bunch of new movies and a stack of puzzles, something I asked for, to tackle as well as an almost completely new wardrobe, courtesy of my wife.  My wife and daughter then prepared our traditional Christmas breakfast of mimosas and fried dough with a new addition of a sausage casserole that was a huge hit.  I also love the time after the dust settles as everyone moves through the quiet time, except for Buddy, before Christmas dinner in their own fashion with the new gifts.  We had a lot of fun video chatting with my wife’s family down in Panama.  I normally prepare the Christmas dinner and that is a story for another day.  I got a late start because of the breakfast and this year I was teaching my son how to prepare the turkey.  For that reason I was late getting the dinner on the table and was so exhausted by that point that I didn’t really enjoy it thoroughly.  I did enjoy the time with my son but felt I let him down by not getting it right this year.  My wife developed a bad head ache and was bed ridden for the rest of the day.  My sister returned from work and we launched into the Christmas night festivities which culminated with the arrival of my best friend.  We exchanged gifts with him and then settled down for the rest of the night.  My children adore this best friend and have always referred to him as uncle.  He revealed that another friend had spotted some hidden scenes in a favorite movie and we spent the rest of the evening tracking that down together.  It was a great time.  The day after Christmas the house started to empty.  We all went to see Mission Impossible which had predictably awesome action and interestingly the villain was the actor who had played the hero in the Swedish version of the Dragon Tattoo movies, tying the weekend movie experience together obliquely.  We drove my daughter and son in law down to Connecticut for their ride home to New York City.  It was so tough saying goodbye to them.  We passed by some horrendous traffic and I felt blessed that I no longer had to make those dreaded holiday drives back to wherever I was stationed at.  We continued our drive up to New Hampshire for another Christmas tradition, a get together at the aforementioned friend’s house.  This December 26 party used to be done at my mother’s house but moved to my friend‘s house when her health started to fade.  We’re now in the second decade there.  My children love going to this party which is something I marvel at.  For the most part it’s just a bunch of old farts like me sitting around, talking, reminiscing, and enjoying each other’s company.  My son brought his girlfriend this year and I’m sure she was bored out of her mind and wondering how the hell she ended up there.  This was however a real indication of how much he likes her because he was sharing something he really treasures.  We liked having her around because it made us all feel a little younger.  We enjoyed the subdued but important reconnection with old friends that the evening offered but had to agonize a little bit when we heard our daughter's ride back to NYC was stranded with a flat tire.  That resolved itself quickly, for us, I'm sure not for her.  Since I had to work today we drove back home last night after midnight.  More correctly, my wife drove us home due to a certain amount of beer consumed by one of us.  Today dawned too early but the warmth I feel from the time I spent with the people most important in the world to me made it all worthwhile.  Now to pay the credit card bills – off to work.