FRODO SEVEN : Christmas Story

How fast time flies! I can't seem to stop saying that. The weeks before Christmas passed in a blur. I felt a lot of nostalgia and wishing for home and we thought about going to Virginia but the three days in the car there and back decided it for us. So we made plans for another Christmas at Casa Doyle, a very happy place really.
I got two pieces of very bad news mid-December. First, I found out that my godfather, who has been suffering with cancer for about three years, has six months--no four--or less--to live. Then, my friend Linda's dear son was diagnosed with leukemia. Both things put my own home-sickness in perspective and mobilized me to work on behalf of others. There is no better cure for what ails ya.
Christmas day dawned rainy. I am truly weary of living in Texas where, for months on end we worry about drought and then, when rain finally comes, it ruins quite a few fun holiday plans. Of course, Christmas morning, we like nothing better than to be in pjs around the fire and there we were. The four littler girls got cotton-candy pink pj and robe sets from the Christmas elf Christmas Eve so they were well dressed for their mother, the perpetual photographer.
Our Christmas morning typically progresses like this: the girls wait at the top of the stairs until we are ready--with coffee, fire, camera etc. The coffee is probably the most important for me and Chris who are always tired from the late night before. This year, we all watched It's a Wonderful Life until 11PM. I love that movie. Good ole' George Bailey! Afterward, Chris and I stayed up past midnight having a private celebration and doing other secret things, the result being that we all slept until 8:30 or so. That would have been unheard of at 2503 Lisbon Lane. "When I was little, Christmas morning started at 5:30 AM!!"--not quite, but close.
Anyway, our first activity Christmas morning is stocking opening. That is the girls' opportunity to tear it up and go crazy. After that, we take turns opening gifts. This year, it was tame. We had a lot of small gifts, nothing too big. I got a few things I like a lot. Madeleine gave me the book by the Tiger Mom. Great so far, I've read about 120 pages. Chris gave me Hugh Laurie's CD--very good--a bead for my bracelet and some very handy wipes for my computer, camera lenses etc. among other things. This has already been the year of big purchases and I know I am very spoiled.
We were late to Christmas dinner as always. We've been going to the Japanese Steakhouse for dinner for a few years now. Why? First, I make a big dinner Christmas Eve. Second, we have three birthdays to celebrate the week after Christmas that require a lot of work, cooking and baking and third, it's great fun for now. If and when we ever live near family where a big group of us contributes to the dinner, we will go back to that. For now, this is fun, different and the girls love it. Ella was very concerned about the fire though. And we had a rather grumpy employee again. I always feel a bit guilty that the employees of the restaurant have to work Christmas day but they do a booming business. I'm sure they love that part of it. For the past two years though, we've had some grumpy people helping us. The coolest thing this year was that I ran into my Jehovah's Witness friend Hagar. I've known her for a couple of years now. She comes to our house with one or another of her friends and we talk about the Bible for an hour or so--her trying to convert me I suppose, me teaching her about the Catholic perspective. I like her a lot. It was funny that we ended up at the same place Christmas day because she does not celebrate Christmas--because celebrating Christmas is not in the Bible. As for me, I have only been to the Japanese Steakhouse on Christmas Day. Strange, no?

Tonight, I am residing at South Padre Island. We arrived today and will be here over a week. In fact, we will spend the rest of 2011 right here. Chris negotiated a great last-minute deal (which is how we land most trips like this) and here we are in a very nice two bedroom condo, a six minute walk from the beach.

I'll have more than enough material for my three posts before 2012! Stay tuned.