Christmas Blog

It’s been a while since my last blog. I’ve been traveling a lot! I’ll try to split this into a couple blogs so as to not overwhelm anyone.

Let’s flash back to a week ago last Monday. I was at work but not really wanting to be there. Winter closure started on Wednesday (Christmas Eve) but I saw that I had about a bazillion sick hours so I planned on suddenly catching a cold and leaving for my parent’s house early. But, I had some things I had to get done first. My top priority was to finish a letter to the administration where I work. The HR lady asked me to come up with a list of duties I’ve been performing that are outside of my job description so I could be “compensated” for doing my boss’s job in spite of the fact that they believe I’m not qualified for it. Being compensated is almost always a good things so I got to work on that list – which became a letter – which became a very long, very bitchy letter – which got revised and de-bitchified – and in the end I turned in a 2 page single spaced letter that explained in a very direct and honest way what I’ve been doing for them for the last 7 months and why nobody else will be able to do this job without my help. We’ll see what happens with that.

So, I got all my work done and left before lunch. I got packed and ready and was on the road at a reasonable time. The roads were fine, and then they weren’t fine, and then they were flat out bad. Just as the sun was setting it started to snow, hard. The middle 2 hours of my drive were a little stressful but I finally made it home. Actually, I drove right past the place I’ve always called home. The lights were all off and it looked all abandoned and cold and sad. I pulled up to the new house and went inside. I felt kind of weird just busting on in but I refused to knock on the door and I’ve already decided I’m not going to use the front door ever since nobody uses it but guests. The house is big and beautiful and it was mostly set up. My dumb dog made short work of destroying the week old hard wood floors. She doesn’t walk anywhere like a normal dog, she has to skitter and peel out and run and slide everywhere. I was pretty sure she was going to take out the Christmas tree at some point but she didn’t.

My parents and bother all had to work right up until Christmas Eve so I kind of just hung out at home all by myself. It was sort of strange since it was a new house and none of my things made the cut to get moved over, not even any of the furniture in my old bedroom. The first day I kind of jut read and puttered around and made lunch for my mom. The next day was Christmas Eve and my brother had the day off so he hung out with me in the morning and then my mom came home in the afternoon but she had a pinched nerve in her back and spent most of the day in bed. This meant I got to cook our big Christmas Eve dinner – all by myself and in a half moved in kitchen I’m not familiar with, which also happens to be about half the size of my entire apartment. Par for the course… my brother decided to go hang out with a buddy rather than stay home and help me out and my dad was still working. (I complain but I actually enjoyed doing it!) So, I made two pies (pumpkin and peach), baked a turkey breast, made dressing, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, a green bean casserole, and some rolls. My mom eventually felt better and peeled the potatoes and then later mashed them but the rest was all me. It all got done at the right time and it all turned out. Not bad! Gay son saves the day!

Christmas day was sort of odd. Normally we get up kind of early and open packages. There would always be stockings on fireplace mantle with a few little goodies in them and typically a movie and a box of candy sitting on the coffee table in the living room. None of that happened this year. Normally my parents spend way too much and get my brother and me way too many gifts but not this year, which was fine. I have too much stuff. This year there were just a few gifts under the tree and we sort of slept in and then it took a while to actually get around to opening things. It just felt kind of “off.” I got some nice things and I didn’t have to rent a U-haul to go back home so that was good. Christmas dinner was at my grandma’s house. If my parents live in the middle of nowhere, then my grandma lives about 30 miles past the middle of nowhere. There is no cell reception and the nearest neighbor is miles away. It never used to bother me but the more grown up urban “me” is starting to realize just how odd that is. I love my family and I love my grandma but going to her house for Christmas dinner is always awkward and always has been. The conversation is always forced, there are these long uncomfortable silences, and nobody really wants to be there. After dinner we left pretty quickly since mom’s back still hurt. We were secretly glad to have an excuse to dine and dash! We went back home for a while and then went to my other grandparents for leftovers. My other grandparents live literally across the street from my parents and that side of the family is a little more interesting and they usually have prime rib instead of a very dry and bland turkey. I got to see my little cousins there and the leftovers were good and my grandpa got to show me his most recent genealogy finds. I really need to make it a point to go home soon so he can show me all his research; none of us are getting any younger.

The day after Christmas it started snowing and the wind was blowing and my mom insisted that I leave as quickly as possible. I gathered my stuff and was gone by mid morning. The roads were fine and weather was clear all the way home. Normally I would hang out at home with my family until just before New Years but this year I had other plans. I’ll post that blog later!