On Christmas Traditions and Additions

This year, Christmas was a little different.  For those of you who don't know, my mom is due to get married in February (to a wondeful, wonderful guy) and we (my mom, brother, and I) have been moved into his house with his two college-aged sons since October.  It was a strange adjustment.  I wasn't around for the move, and my house is a four hour drive from my school, so I don't get home very often.  The first time I saw the house was at Thanksgiving, and everything was already moved in and situated, and I felt a little discombobulated.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I was sooo happy to be living there, but I had been living in my old house since I was five.  We moved there from the Chicago suburbs, and, after my mom's divorce, it was a constant.  I could always come home to it.  I went away to high school and took two years off to dance in two different ballet companies after graduation and have been gone a long time, so I don't have a terribly strong connection to my hometown, but that house was always my respite, my piece of familiarity, etc.  So to come "home" to some place completely new was weird and different, to say the least.

But, somehow, I managed to figure it all out, and I went back to school, finished up my final papers, and got home the 14th.  I've been home for two weeks and feel a bit more adjusted than I did at Thanksgiving.  However, Christmas was definitely different this year.  I knew it would be...a new house, a soon-to-be step-dad, two soon-to-be step-brothers, four dogs, two cats, (and a partridge in a pear tree), is a lot to handle.  On Christmas Eve, we went to my grandma and grandpa's house for dinner like we've done since I can remember and then to their church for Christmas Eve service.  Much as I like their church, it would have been nice to have gone to ours.  Also, my grandpa isn't doing so hot lately, so in order to get him to church, they had to pack the wheelchair in the car.  That was hard.  After church, we came home, but, unlike Christmases past, my mom didn't have any Christmas PJs for us to unwrap.  She "didn't know we wanted them."  Didn't know we wanted them?!  I ALWAYS want Christmas PJs.  Oh well.  No biggie, I guess.

Then, on Christmas morning, we woke up (late--9:30 I think it was), opened our stockings from "Santa," had waffles and drank some Christmas blend, and then my brother and I reluctantly drove to our dad's house for Christmas dinner.  The last time we spent Christmas with my dad was before I went away to school, so, to say it was weird doesn't even begin to cover it.  Now, don't mistake, I love my dad, but I don't exactly like him.  We haven't clicked in about five years.  We don't talk regularly and it's hit-or-miss whether we're going to get along when we see each other.  But that's another story entirely.  Anyway, we had turkey and green beans and mashed potatoes and all the fixins, but my brother and I were definitely glad when it was over.  We then returned home, opened up our presents (Santa was good to me this year) in the late afternoon, and ended the day with steak, mashed potatoes, and wine.  Lots of wine.

Yesterday, we got up early and headed up to Michigan to see my mom's fiance's family.  I was a bit nervous to be meeting so many new people (21 in total I believe), but they were so welcoming and fun that it ended up being a blast!  We had yet another Christmas dinner (take 3? 4?), sat around and drank wine, and played several violent rounds of Spoons and Taboo.  Then the adults left and the "kids" stayed at one of the cousins' houses, watched The Hangover (which I'm very surprised I thought was hysterical), and went to bed late.  We drove home in the snow this afternoon, and here I sit on my bed in my new house with my new cat purring next to me.

Like Buck said in his vlog the other day, Christmas changes, but it's ok.  I think I can get used to this.  Christmas isn't always going to be as brilliant or as awesome as it was last year, but it will always be different.  It might even be better.  I can't wait for the wedding in mid-February.  I've never seen my mom this happy in my life.  And that, my friends, is more of a present than anything Santa could have left me under the tree.

Merry Christmas and best wishes (loljohngreenjokes) for 2010!!!