December 28th, 2020

'Twas the Monday after Christmas and I hope everybody had a really great one!  Ours was fun for sure :)

Since we have lived in Florida, we do our bigger Christmas Celebrating on Christmas Eve.  We get together every December 24th with Joy and Bob  and this year was no exception.

Normally, as a part of our Christmas get together, we attend an event.  Some fancy light show or a bit of theatre maybe.  This year, of course, was a little different in that there was no event.  Or rather, I suppose, we were our own event?

We always alternate who hosts.  Last year we got together at our house so this year we drove up to Sarasota and celebrated at Joy and Bob's place.  It was a dessert extravaganza!  Joy supplied gorgeous cupcakes and two beautiful pies: pumpkin and  apple!  Wow!  I brought cookies. Of course I brought cookies.  That's who I am, it's what I do.

After we stuffed ourselves silly with goodies, we admired their beautiful tree, their gorgeous and enormous cats (sorry somehow I missed taking photos of any of that for you) and chitchatted a little bit.  Then we got down to the really important business at hand. The opening of gifts.

We exchange stockings.  Why?  I'm not absolutely certain how that came about.  I do know that Christmas stockings were always the best part of Christmas to Joy and I as kids and even now it's at the top of my list.  Stocking gifts are the most challenging thing to find and therefore the most fun.  And we do not limit ourselves to practical things. How boring is that!

No, we fill stockings  with pretty things, edible things, useful things, unexpected things and lots of silly things.   We laughed a lot.    Bob read corny jokes to us between gift openings, we tasted everything edible and the kitties checked out each gift to give the kitty seal of approval.  Instructions were occasionally read out loud as things were figured out,  jewelry was modeled, and magazines thumbed through.   

One of the my favourite funny moments was learning that Joy and I gave each other the exact shade of nail polish (though different brands)  What are the odds of that happening?  It's that sister-brain thing I guess.  One of the most unique things in my stocking was a chapstick holder.  Seriously that's a thing!  It's terribly clever.  A little printed neoprene pouch with an opening just the right size for a tube of lip balm and at the top is a ring so it can go on a key ring or my camera bag or belt loop!  Never again will I be out in the back of beyond, semi-lost, hours from civilization with chapped lips!  I am not being facetious about that.  Chapped lips is a real issue!  But my nifty Chapstick holder is freakin'  awesome :)

The extremely modest amount of money that we spend on these gifts isn't the point.  The reason we do this is because it's fun.  It's as much fun to shop for these gifts and wrap them as it is to watch the other person open them.  And for us to open ours!  It's always a surprise, it's always a treat, it's always fun and it's always memorable.   All the necessary elements for a perfect Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day was quieter.  We slept a little later than usual, had a relaxing breakfast, read the newspaper and opened the gifts under our tree.  We talked to all of the kids, texted and emailed back and forth with dear friends and ended the day watching Christmas movies on television.

It was chilly here.  Well Florida Chilly.  I was wearing a sweater and snuggled under the sofa blanket while watching the aforementioned Christmas movies.  We ate some of our Christmas gifted candies while we watched without once concerning ourselves with calories or other food-badness because EVERYONE knows that Christmas calories do not count.

All things COVID considered, it was a pretty damned good Christmas.  Hope yours was too.