Christmas 2010

It was a different Christmas. With two dogs in the house Terry did not want to put the packages under the tree for fear they might tear into them. So the packages were in a pile up in our sleeping loft bedroom. When we woke up at 5 AM as is our wont, I went down and made coffee, let the dogs out for their morning pee and checked out what had happened on face book the night before. I took the insulated carafe of coffee with two cups upstairs and Terry suggested she and I open our gifts up there instead of carting them downstairs and then back up again. I like that woman's sense of economy. So we did. It was really rather nice, intimate, cozy and a fun experience sitting near the bed watching each other open our gifts to one another.

The rest of the day was fairly normal. Jessi and her friend (ex-husband) were here and in and out. Terry spent a lot of hours in the kitchen preparing the Christmas feast. We had baked ham, beef brisket and a hearty gumbo that seems to delight our guests as it goes in a hurry. Chips, dips, barbecue baby sausages, along with assorted condiments made for a festive meal.

We served 10 for Christmas dinner. Gift opening when the family is together is a mishmash of paper flying, ohs and ahs, and laughter.

We had very light snow flakes stirring the air throughout the day making the spirit of the season a little more meaningful for me as I grew up with white Christmases. So my 66th Christmas passed on into history. Another day of being with loved ones, sharing some food, drink and gifts. We are not a religious bunch so there is no church going or thoughts of Jesus. But the season is celebrated and the fun of talking with loved ones on the phone, the joy of being with family are probably more what Christmas is about than religion.

I especially enjoyed Terry's new found freedom from work a source of pleasure. There was no great fatigue from having worked Christmas Eve, there was no race to make the meal and clean up afterward because she had to go to work on the 26th. Her time is her's and it is nice to see the pressure and worry of having to go to work removed. This was a good Christmas.