Happy Christmas

It's Christmas morning and the day began beautiful, clear, and sunny. The east wind is blowing and quite cold but not a cloud in the sky. Wonderous.

Christmas mornings are certainly different now since the kids are all adults. No sounds of little feet waking me up before dawn. No mad scramble for the stockings and the presents. It's much saner, quieter, much more peaceful.

Don't get me wrong. I loved those madhouse mornings with the anticipation and excitement. But perhaps the older we get, the more we crave a more serene celebration.

I was up pretty late the night before. Hilary and I went to midnight mass for the first time in a long time. By the time mass was over and the stockings were filled, it was almost 2 in the morning. Since I have a recent history of not sleeping, it was a long time yet before I drifted off. I woke at 7:30 and cat napped until about 9, surprisingly. Tom and Amy were up making breakfast, so nice. Everyone else was still in bed. This would have been an impossibility even a few short years ago.

I put some Christmas music on and the rest of the morning passed, relaxed and happy. We opened the stockings and gifts and just enjoyed each others company. The Diva came over and opened her stocking, too. There's two things I always get her: macadamia nut candy and toffee, her weaknesses. She mostly behaved herself.

We ate dinner when it was ready, no timetables, no deadlines. We decided to go see the new Sherlock Holmes movie and it was pretty good. It was a nice way to spend the day, all together.

The thing that really tickled me was this; the kids must have been very tired of seeing my ratty old apron from circa 1970's. I got a new apron which is pretty but serviceable. I ceremoniously tossed the old one in the trash. (It WAS pretty bad.)

All in all, a happy Christmas.

How was yours?