Christmas to me is about loving friends and family, spending time with the people closed to you. I normally get into the holiday season by listening to Christmas music, buying gifts (which for me as an adult is normally gift cards at a retail store like Walmart that is 5 minutes away or even better at an online store like Amazon that go with the person, unless I know what someone wants like my father who I purchased DVD’s for) and watching Christmas specials on television. I am still kid at heart when it comes to Christmas which includes watching the 12 days ‘til Christmas with How the Grinch stole Christmas, The Santa Clause and more.
I remember when I was young, what Christmas was like, you know before I was 12 years old, Christmas as a kid is a lot of fun, from spending Christmas Eve over at my grandparent’s house or a relative’s house, opening one gift, having a nice dinner and then going home, and get into bed, sleep tight, see you in the morning. Then on Christmas Day, sometime around 7am, you walk up, run downstairs, in my case it would be running downstairs with my sister as her room was upstairs too, shacking the house on the way down, waking up my parents and once they are standing there, opening all of your Christmas gifts and saying thank you, and in some cases seeing my grandmother who lived next door, helping my mother with the dinner. Hours later, seeing your relatives come over, greeting everyone at the door or in the living room and saying Merry Christmas and sitting down around one of two tables to an amazing Christmas dinner, I prefer Ham on Christmas with all of the fixings and then watching the parade, a football game or a Christmas movies depend upon what was on television.
As the years go on, the days of the events may change, but something’s don’t, the spending the holidays with friends and family and now as an adult with my sister who just got married earlier this year (December 2008) spending it with her husband’s family and my mother living in Las Vegas, it’s different. It’s going over a relative’s house or my sisters last year on a cold Christmas Eve night to have dinner with my mother’s side of the family, seeing my grandmother who keeps reminding me that she isn’t going to live forever, talking, hopefully with no drama, not likely and a few hours later, heading home. Don’t get me wrong its fun, but its different every year, however change is good.
Christmas day is different every year it seems as well, normally it’s just my father and I, he goes to pick up a premade Ham dinner at a local store, like a deli, a steak house or somewhere, yes we do get the same type of dinner for Thanksgiving too, but a Turkey dinner, heat it up and sit down and eat, followed by relaxing in front of the television with a good movie and enjoy the rest of the day. I like that, of course I welcome change too.
However for this year, we were invited over to my aunt’s house for Christmas with my father’s side of the family, nice change, no Ham dinner, but it’s not the dinner that really makes the difference, but then again, I do enjoy a good meal and sit around watching television and relaxing, talking with family, catching up with everyone, isn’t that what’s all about. In my family as it most likely is with just about every family, there are always leftovers, watch my relatives pack a bag quickly with food for me to take home.
What about Christmas gifts, anything good Brian? I tell my family gift cards to Walmart, Best Buy, a place I can buy electronics is good for me and I will use then when I am going out sometime early in the new year. For example, Last year, I received two Best Buy gift cards, one on Xmas eve and the other one the next day, so on Christmas Day, I went online to BestBuy.com and ordered what I wanted for my computer and picked up at the store the next day, pay for it online and pick it up at the store, good service if it works right, plus no waiting in long lines or searching for the item. This year, gift cards to Walmart, so I will buy some DVD’s on this Saturday in the New Year.
Now, I am waiting for a great night later tonight, New Year’s Eve, watching the Dick Clark Rockin’ New Year’s Eve on television that had Carrie Underwood signing, this year it’s another one of my favorite artists, the beautiful Taylor Swift, I can’t wait for that. Until Next year, enjoy.
