My Christmases Past-Part One of a Three Part Series
Tonight it's Christmas Eve. While this year is very special, I still find myself doing something that I've always done. I remember my Christmases past. I seriously doubt it's something rare...probably everyone does it to some extent. It's human nature, right?
I love to remember the ones that were really great...like the one where I got my pink Huffy bicycle with the white seat...or the one when I got my Baby Alive doll. I wasn't the gift that made it special, though. The pink bike only stands out because I remember seeing it in the living room with a bow on the seat. We took it out in the front yard, and with a little help, I was able to start riding it right away. I felt like such a grown up! And the Baby Alive doll? That was the first year that my family decided to draw names, and my cousin drew my name. I really wanted that doll, and she knew it. She hunted that doll all the way to Dothan. Seriously, she drove all the way to Dothan to get me that doll. When I opened it I was so excited and when she told me how she got it, I couldn't believe it. I remember thinking, "Wow. You did that for me?"
There are also the Christmases that stick out for other reasons...not necessarily bad, but memorable for some reason or another. One year (when I was pretty young) we all opened presents in my room because I was pretty sick. I don't remember what I had, but I was sick enough that everyone brought the gifts to my room and I stayed in bed. It was still fun, though. There was also a year that none of my gifts were wrapped. This is one of the funnier ones, actually. I ran out to the living room and saw all the gifts under the tree and I was so surprised at everything...mainly because I could see all the gifts RIGHT THERE. Nothing was wrapped. I said to my mom, "Santa came! Wow! Look at everything! Hey...why isn't anything wrapped?" She answered, "Well, Santa didn't have any money left over for wrapping paper after he bought all the presents so..." I still remember saying, "Huh. Well, okay." Years later I still love to poke fun at my mom about that one.
There were also some kinda crappy Christmases. One year I was supposed to visit with a particular parent (um yeah...) for Christmas and I guess he kinda forgot. Mom and I went and did the regular Christmas with our family and I waited all day to hear from him. Never did. Another Christmas that wasn't all that great was just a couple of years ago. Ryan and I decided we wanted hardwood floors and since he had a bunch of time to take at the end of the year, he'd do all the work during the day and we'd have beautiful new floors for material cost only. Riiiiiiiggggghhhhhttttt. Write this down: Don't live in your house while it's under renovation. We were basically confined to our bedroom because the rest of the house was covered in dust (did I mention he also changed out the tile in the kitchen?...hence the dust?). I remember being at work and not wanting to go home because I was sick of staying in the bedroom. Not a whole lot of fun.
Other Christmases I also remember...the one where my Granny stayed at our house. I don't know why that year and not others, but I do remember being so excited about waking her up to come see what Santa brought us. And then there's the dreaded year that I realized the truth about Santa. I'd heard rumors at school, but wasn't sure who to believe. One day I was looking in my mom's dresser drawer for something and found a Popeye video tape. I thought, "Hmmm....I guess I'm getting that for Christmas. Cool!" At that time, my bedroom was up in the loft of the townhouse we lived in and I had a perfect view of the living room...and Christmas tree. I must have woken up every hour on the hour to check the tree. Nothing. Check later...nothing. And later...still nothing. I woke up in the morning and WOO HOO! Santa came! We were opening gifts and I opened up that Popeye tape and had a huge smile plastered on my face, but I remember thinking, "Ooooh! Popeye tape! But...wait a minute..."
Last year Ryan and I went to Eufala for Christmas. We knew that this would be our last Christmas with just the two of us and we wanted to have a very quiet Christmas. As in...take two naps a day, watch tv ALL day, and basically, become slugs. And that we did. And it was wonderful. Actually, it was awesome.
And this year...it's all up in the air. I know that Lane doesn't understand what's going on. We're certainly not planning on having the traditional Christmas. Actually, I'm not even sure anything we do is "traditional". But...it's us and we like it. Later on, I know this year will go down in my memory for something...possibly the year that Lane wouldn't sleep...maybe the year that I didn't make anything handmade...so far, it's going down as the year that I have a different outlook on Christmas. This year (and I'll probably hit more on this tomorrow...at least I hope to), I'm looking at things and enjoying them differently than previous years.
And that's really exciting.
I love to remember the ones that were really great...like the one where I got my pink Huffy bicycle with the white seat...or the one when I got my Baby Alive doll. I wasn't the gift that made it special, though. The pink bike only stands out because I remember seeing it in the living room with a bow on the seat. We took it out in the front yard, and with a little help, I was able to start riding it right away. I felt like such a grown up! And the Baby Alive doll? That was the first year that my family decided to draw names, and my cousin drew my name. I really wanted that doll, and she knew it. She hunted that doll all the way to Dothan. Seriously, she drove all the way to Dothan to get me that doll. When I opened it I was so excited and when she told me how she got it, I couldn't believe it. I remember thinking, "Wow. You did that for me?"
There are also the Christmases that stick out for other reasons...not necessarily bad, but memorable for some reason or another. One year (when I was pretty young) we all opened presents in my room because I was pretty sick. I don't remember what I had, but I was sick enough that everyone brought the gifts to my room and I stayed in bed. It was still fun, though. There was also a year that none of my gifts were wrapped. This is one of the funnier ones, actually. I ran out to the living room and saw all the gifts under the tree and I was so surprised at everything...mainly because I could see all the gifts RIGHT THERE. Nothing was wrapped. I said to my mom, "Santa came! Wow! Look at everything! Hey...why isn't anything wrapped?" She answered, "Well, Santa didn't have any money left over for wrapping paper after he bought all the presents so..." I still remember saying, "Huh. Well, okay." Years later I still love to poke fun at my mom about that one.
There were also some kinda crappy Christmases. One year I was supposed to visit with a particular parent (um yeah...) for Christmas and I guess he kinda forgot. Mom and I went and did the regular Christmas with our family and I waited all day to hear from him. Never did. Another Christmas that wasn't all that great was just a couple of years ago. Ryan and I decided we wanted hardwood floors and since he had a bunch of time to take at the end of the year, he'd do all the work during the day and we'd have beautiful new floors for material cost only. Riiiiiiiggggghhhhhttttt. Write this down: Don't live in your house while it's under renovation. We were basically confined to our bedroom because the rest of the house was covered in dust (did I mention he also changed out the tile in the kitchen?...hence the dust?). I remember being at work and not wanting to go home because I was sick of staying in the bedroom. Not a whole lot of fun.
Other Christmases I also remember...the one where my Granny stayed at our house. I don't know why that year and not others, but I do remember being so excited about waking her up to come see what Santa brought us. And then there's the dreaded year that I realized the truth about Santa. I'd heard rumors at school, but wasn't sure who to believe. One day I was looking in my mom's dresser drawer for something and found a Popeye video tape. I thought, "Hmmm....I guess I'm getting that for Christmas. Cool!" At that time, my bedroom was up in the loft of the townhouse we lived in and I had a perfect view of the living room...and Christmas tree. I must have woken up every hour on the hour to check the tree. Nothing. Check later...nothing. And later...still nothing. I woke up in the morning and WOO HOO! Santa came! We were opening gifts and I opened up that Popeye tape and had a huge smile plastered on my face, but I remember thinking, "Ooooh! Popeye tape! But...wait a minute..."
Last year Ryan and I went to Eufala for Christmas. We knew that this would be our last Christmas with just the two of us and we wanted to have a very quiet Christmas. As in...take two naps a day, watch tv ALL day, and basically, become slugs. And that we did. And it was wonderful. Actually, it was awesome.
And this year...it's all up in the air. I know that Lane doesn't understand what's going on. We're certainly not planning on having the traditional Christmas. Actually, I'm not even sure anything we do is "traditional". But...it's us and we like it. Later on, I know this year will go down in my memory for something...possibly the year that Lane wouldn't sleep...maybe the year that I didn't make anything handmade...so far, it's going down as the year that I have a different outlook on Christmas. This year (and I'll probably hit more on this tomorrow...at least I hope to), I'm looking at things and enjoying them differently than previous years.
And that's really exciting.
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