So I'm not a bah humbug sort of girl at all, not even close. I love Christmas, love spending time with family and eating good food. It's just that right now, all the kids are watching a movie, all the last minute cookie decorating has been done (Swedish Cremes and Hedgehog Truffles and Baked Pecan Truffles, in case you're curious), and most of the adults are working on a puzzle.
Of course, since I've started typing, the quiet has shattered and Sam has a poopy diaper and he doesn't want to get changed; the puzzle has been completed and the puzzlers dispersed; judging by the noise of children, I'm guessing the movie's finished; and Gretchen's playing piano and singing. Clint's standing next to the computer desk, tapping. I think he wants to get on the internet.
The presents have all been unwrapped and the paper cleaned up. It feels like Christmas is done. And here's my big admission: sometimes I feel like the holidays are not so fun. I like parts of the season. I like sitting in my living room in the evening with all the lights off except for those on the Christmas tree. I like singing "Silent Night" at the Christmas Eve service, especially the verse we usually sing a capella, when everyone is holding a candle and the lights are dim. I like--no I LOVE cookies and candy. I like watching my kids open presents.
But it's like the feeling you get when you spend a long, dedicated time in the kitchen making dinner, and you set the table beautifully, and then the meal is done in twenty minutes. I have spent maybe four to six weeks preparing for this one day, and now it's almost over. Is there some place where people spread gift giving out over a period of time? I'm not talking about in-law and step-family Christmas celebrations. I'm just saying (and maybe it's because Jared is two and a half and he's really INTO presents) that it felt a little frenzied, and the meal was good and all, but now it's over and all I am is tired.
Not a great way to end a post, but I'm too lethargic to think of anything else to say. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
2 comments:
Alright Kir, I'll finish it for you since you are so tired.
So Rich, Lauren, Gree and I finish up our game of Scrabble. No, the players don't include Kir - she doesn't ever play, probably because she would beat us every time, what with all her literary kung fu and grammar Ju-jutsu. But we still use her for our unvoluntary dictionary. I swear "et" is a real word amd not Southern slang as Kir claims it to be, while we light-heartedly argue about it, hollering back and forth across the house. Anyway, we finish our game of Scrabble (Grandma would be proud -- 569 points for a 4-person game is pretty good for amateurs) and we look around. Where is everyone? Ilona? Kir? Bill? Clint? The young kids are all asleep, no doubt playing with their new toys in their worry-free dreams. Laughter is coming from somewhere. Where? Upstairs, that's where. So I walk up the stairs and see a good dozen Greiner offspring, including Kir, laughing in unison (almost harmony, really) as Steve Carell convinces them he is funny as Dan in Real Life. And I pause for a second to notice... the frustrating tiredness of it all has indeed yielded to unobstructed, pure relaxation in front of the widescreen television, with your favorite people in the world, in your favorite house in the world, after celebrating the Birth of the One that provided it (and continues to provide it) to us all. Doesn't really get much better than that, does it?
There - that's a better ending.
Thanks, Dave, for seeing through my pessimism to the happy ending. I love you, you know? In a completely appropriate way.
And by the way, I was almost ready to play Scrabble with you last night until I saw the table was full.
But Dan in Real Life was funny, and it is great to relax with the family and celebrate the peace of the season after the chaos is over.
Thanks be to God.
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