Christmas Recap

So, as promised, I’ll give you the scoop on my Christmas. Starting at the beginning, Steve and I had our second annual Christmas date on Friday the 22nd. When I was a little kid, I always hated turkey and stuffing and all the crap my family had just gorged on 4 weeks before at Thanksgiving… so I always said that when I have my OWN family, I wanted to do a Mexican themed Christmas. I’m talking fajitas, margaritas, sombreros, mariachi Christmas music, and everything else. Very fortunately for me, I’m going to be spending the rest of my life with a Muslim, whose family hasn’t already indoctrinated him with their own idea of Christmas traditions, so I get to do with him whatever I please. How cool is that? So on Friday night we went and had a great Mexican meal, exchanged gifts, and had a very romantic Christmas date for two. Afterward, we attended a fun little gathering on Friday night the 22nd at our friend Cwik’s house with about 20 friends. One drink led to lots of drinks, and before we knew it, it was dark:30.

Getting up for our flights the next morning was a bit painful… we were like Dumb & Dumber on the way to the airport!! Steve was still a little wasto, and thought it was hilarious to joke about bombs and guns in the security checkpoint line – thank God the TSA peeps didn’t hear my bearded Middle Eastern boyfriend making these stupid jokes, or I’d be breaking him out of Guantanamo about now. I almost killed him… ANYWAY, we finally got to Houston and the family madness ensued. The first night we were there, my mom practically forced us to make Christmas cookies, because she bought all the stuff for it (we were tired and hungover, but did it anyway - see photo above). They were Steve's first Christmas cookies!!

It seems as though my parents have been on a quest to remodel the entire house in which I grew up, and their target date for completion was the day we arrived for the holidays. Apparently, the plumber had just left our house about 2 hours before we arrived. My mother was an anxious mess and my father was frustrated and ready to kill her. Most of our trip consisted of my mother apologizing for everything that wasn’t picture perfect in the house, and explaining that it’ll be better next year. An anxious perfectionist, my mother…

My grandmother, the matriarch of our family, also passed in June of this year, so this was the first Christmas for us not to have her with us. It was very sad for all of us, but it almost drove my mother over the edge. I wanted to offer her some of my Xanax so badly, but wasn’t sure if that’s appropriate…

On a more positive note, Steve and I had a lovely trip together, plus I got to see the Orrs and Darbys, which was fantastic!! I got to show Steve much of why I am the way I am (turns out my dad is weird about eating particular animals, such as lamb, too; and my mother is a total snob about using the crystal and silver at Christmas dinner, too) and teach him a little more about what Christmas means to me – giving and tradition. Seeing Gina and Ray (my former in-laws) and Shannon, Petri, and Finley (my former sister-in-law and her family) is always a pleasure. They will always be family to me and I aspire to have a loving family someday like theirs.

It was great to get back home, but I was physically and emotionally exhausted from the 5 day dog and pony show. San Diego sweet San Diego!

Hope you enjoy the photos. Love, Mer