Family Time

Sometimes it hits me like a brick. I really value traditions and a lot of others don't. To me it is extremely important to spend Christmas with my extended family. Since the death of my grandmother though I lost one of the traditionalists. My mom is the other. Perhaps come of the kids as well, but they don't get to make choices. A lot of people aren't able to make Christmas day stuff this year, so the day after Christmas my mom wants to have an informal gathering with no food, just getting together.

The final agreement was that we'd still have Christmas at my aunt's, but since she HATES cooking, my mom has to do all the cooking and preparation. Without her sister Grace this year since her boyfriend says Christmas will be with his family for once. This means my mom will be doing dinner for 10-15 people mostly by herself. My grandfather will deep fry the turkeys, but everything else she has to do. I will be VERY busy the day before Christmas making pies and during Christmas in the kitchen to help her. It is worth it to keep Christmas. Sometimes I think people forget that Christmas should be spent with as much family as you can get... and lots of little kids.

Anyways, that was yesterday. I also stayed up until midnight doing a puzzle with my dad. We realized early on that it was missing pieces because some that should be obvious we couldn't find. My mom was quilting, the cat was attacking my feet, the dog was sleeping, my dad and I were doing a puzzle. All without watching TV. I think that almost makes up for listening to my relatives play phone tag and try to get Christmas sorted out. Sometimes it's the little things that matter. Maybe next year I'll stay in Sweden for Christmas if people can't agree on what to do for Christmas!