I am probably one of a small group of people who, on the day after Christmas, have not yet wrapped one present, opened one present, or gone to any Christmas service. There are stories behind those statements but I have awakened this morning content and peaceful and looking forward to some small celebrations to come.
Yesterday we remembered our two mothers, Jo Ann and Vernie, who passed within ten weeks of each other. It was our first Christmas without either of them and we so missed their gentle presence in our lives.
I made my first Christmas dinner in Vernie’s kitchen, using her wedding silver and china.
Steve peeled the potatoes the way Ken always did.
If Ken and Vernie were alive today, they would be singing the theme song from “My Three Sons.” (Taken after Christmas dinner.)
here’s what Sheri (our grandkids’ other grandma) posted on Facebook yesterday. For any new readers, I put our grandkids’ names in bold.
Spencer-11, Noah-9, Ava-5, Madi-7, Zach-7 Andrew-3, Olivia-5mo., Abby-10, Grayson-4, Parker-4.
That’s ten grandkids under the age of eleven. Good times!
our Christmas was preceded by cold weather; we got down to 10 degrees one night which, for North Carolina, is pretty chilly.
We also had heavy wind and rain that filled up our creek quite impressively.
While the weather whipped around outside we also had a lot going on inside.
After enjoying one entire day of peace and order after getting the painting done and the living room back into place, it was time to make another big mess.
The reason for the mess? Exchanging the 30-year-old blue carpet for brand new tan carpet. (And no I didn’t vacuum before these photos because I refuse to vacuum carpet that is destined for the dumpster!)
The new carpet. Ain’t it grand?
The day after the carpet was installed, we worked at getting everything (sort of) restored to order which was quite the job since everything had been moved out of every bedroom. And then there was the question of whether we wanted to add to the chaos by bringing up the Christmas tree and decorations. I was pretty much done with chaos and didn’t want to but (thankfully) I was outvoted by Steve, Sarah, and Gage.
As we put up the tree, we enjoyed our traditions of listening to Amy Grant’s Christmas album, eating cookies, and drinking egg nog. Gage was the Chief Cookie Guy and made them look so festive.
The day before Christmas, one of our neighbors lost power. When Steve found out about it, he burst into action, rummaging around the basement for half an hour unearthing our generator and cans of gas.
The generator weighs 350 pounds but fortunately, it is on wheels. In below-freezing temps, he and I huffed and puffed it up this hill and halfway down the street. (Note: we actually took the generator over in the early afternoon; I didn’t take this photo till we were bringing it back later in the evening.)
Steve worked labored diligently getting things set up for the neighbor, running into some complexities along the way–the main one being that the generator wouldn’t start. After troubleshooting it and coming up with a few solutions, he got it going and all was well.
When the power was restored, we had to do the whole process in reverse but this time, we worked smarter. Steve sat on the back of our car and held on to the generator while I drove down the street, slow as a snail.
As we were creeping along, giggling to ourselves about how ludicrous we must look, Steve suddenly shouted exuberantly to me through the still night air, “Merry Christmas!”
I laughed out loud about receiving this cheery greeting in such a circumstance. A freezing, dark night. An oldish red Ford. A husband holding on for dear life to a generator that had provided warmth and light to a neighbor.
Christmas takes on many shapes and forms and celebrations don’t always go according to plan. But that doesn’t change the history or the mystery of the season.
A baby born.
A world changed.
Warmth and light spread to all.
Merry Christmas, indeed.
What about you?
Was your Christmas what you anticipated? Were there any hiccups along the way that you didn’t expect?
What do you do the day after Christmas? Shop? Rest? Recover? Work?
Did you receive a favorite, extra special gift?
Our plans were for our kids and grandkids to come for the weekend on Christmas eve, do church and all the usual things. Instead, our daughter got Covid so no one came home. It was disappointing and very quiet. However, she is healthy again and the rest of the clan is staying healthy as well. They will, God willing, all be here on Saturday. We will celebrate Christmas by day and the New Year at night. Perfect!!
LeeAnne,
I love the way you are looking at the bright side of a disappointing event. Combining two holidays with people you love. What could be better.
Happy new year!
The house renovation is coming along nicely. I’m sure you will be glad when it’s complete.
My Christmas had a lot of hiccups. My niece was flying into KC from Houston Christmas Eve. They were due to get in at 11:20 pm. At 4:00 they got word that their flight had been cancelled. They were able to rebook into St. Louis via Chicago. My brother lives a little closer to KC than St. Louis but it wasn’t too bad. ETA was 3:00 AM. They made it to Chicago but their flight to St. Louis was cancelled. Unfortunately, my brother was about 10 minutes from the St. Louis airport by that point. Rebooked to KC, due to arrive around 9:30 Christmas morning. I was going to pick them up as my brother and sister-in-law had church that morning. Around the time they were supposed to leave Chicago, I got a call from my brother. Flight wasn’t cancelled but they weren’t letting my niece’s husband fly. He nearly passed out in the line to board. No fever but was dehydrated from going without anything to drink overnight in the Chicago airport – everything was closed down overnight and they hadn’t thought to bring a cup of any kind. Rebooked on a 12:15 flight that was coming into Chicago from Orlando. Flight from Orlando was delayed several times and finally the flight from Chicago to KC was cancelled. At this point, they decided to get a hotel near the airport and try again the next day (26th). It just happened that some people from my brother’s church were in Chicago visiting their son so they brought them t-shirts and sweatpants as well as leftovers from Christmas dinner. Both were still in the clothes they had worn to Christmas Eve services. Their flight Monday morning was about 40 minutes getting into KC but after about 32 hours, they finally made it into KC. They are due to fly out tomorrow evening. I’m not holding my breath that that will happen as Southwest is having all kinds of issues, some related to the weather, some related to their computer systems. The good news is when they got into KC, they actually had their luggage.
My day after Christmas was pretty lazy. I didn’t even leave the house.
Phyllis,
Wow. I had to take a nap after reading that comment! What a crazy couple of days you all had. Glad everyone got to where they needed to be with luggage intact.
I can only imagine how much you enjoyed your lazy day after Christmas!
I love reading about how you are transitioning in this time and season in your lives. Honoring your loved ones and the past is so beautiful and such a part of our lives as we move forward. The house is coming along so nicely as you make it your own space. I have only lived in one place my entire adult life and wonder what it would be like to make moves and changes. Bless you for being such a blessing to your neighbors. Your hubby is a lot like mine. We had a lovely quiet Christmas with our family. My son and daughter in law came to spend the night with us on the farm. Family gathered and we had a traditional Italian celebration for our Lord’s Birthday. Day after Christmas workout and a little shopping. Happy and blessings to you both in 2023.
Donna,
I love that you had traditional Italian food for Christmas. And when you mentioned you were on the farm, I just imagined how cozy and sweet that gathering would be.
It’s funny how some people’s path in life has them moving many times and other people’s path keeps them in one place. As long as we all find contentment along the way, that’s what counts.
Your tree looks beautiful and your first Christmas as the Smiths in residence at your new home will certainly be memorable. Our Christmas took quite the unexpected turn, but it was a wonderful turn. Friday morning (around 8) my husband and brother-in-law decided we should should go to Arkansas to visit their parents for Christmas. (My father-in-law is 89 and showing signs of his age). So that meant Christmas with his grandkids/our great nieces and nephew would be that afternoon. Plus I would need to pack and be ready to leave early Saturday while my husband worked his usual shift until 9:30 pm after which we would celebrate with our 3 grown children. It also meant a “quick” trip to Target to pick up a couple of last minute gifts to take with us to Arkansas. It was wonderful to see everyone (my sister-in-law & family who live in Houston were also there) and priceless to see Tim’s parents when they saw us (we managed to pull off the surprise) and as a special bonus we got to meet our newest great nephew who was born December 13. So it was a whirlwind but I wouldn’t trade it for anything (And I’m thankful that I had already wrapped everything, which is unusual for me) Wishing your and all your family all the best in 2023.
Sue Ellen,
A whirlwind is right. Whew! So much activity crammed into such a short time but it sounds like many wonderful, unexpected, unforgettable memories were made.
So sweet to read about all the people who were gathered–even right down to the newest great-nephew. What a joyous time.
Love the before and after of the living room and the beautiful tree. So glad it was voted in. Nice cookies Gage, well, you are a great art person!!! How about all those grandkids – so many to cuddle! We have 8, but none to sit on the lap and cuddle. They are in their 20’s and 30’s. Had our daughter and her family over on Christmas eve – sans the husband – he just got Covid. We prayed a protection around everyone. We are just fine and so glad they came. Found a new game – they called it rollette. Like the wheel game in Vegas (probably spelled it wrong). I had about 35 – 40 red cups and larger cups. Under neath each one was a prize (candy, towel, small vase to put on a refrig, hot chocolate fixings, well you get the idea, but some were empty. Had 2 $50 and then lesser dollar amounts, 5, 10, 20 and some 1’s.. My daughter – not sure how she did it, but won both of the 50’s. Each one takes a turn and then they go around again and again if they haven’t all been turned over. Think everyone liked it and Lord willing will play it again next year. Went to church on Sunday a.m. – one service at 10:00, an overflow crowd. A blessed New Year to each of you.
Sharyn,
Roulette sounds like a fun game–especially winning $50 twice! It would be a lot of suspense to see who was going to get the big prizes. Sounds like you might have started a new tradition.
Thanks for your words about our house. We are definitely enjoying feeling a little more settled in after so much chaos. The downstairs is still a disaster but we won’t worry about that now. 🙂
We had a nice, but SOO COLD Christmas with our kids and grandson. We played games, watched movies, built gingerbread houses, cooked and ate way too much and just had a good time being together. The out of town kids left this morning and we put all of the decorations away since I’m going out of town tomorrow.
My favorite gift was a simple gold bracelet from my kids. Long story short, my daughter has an old letter my grandpa had written to her when she was little. He called her Angel Sam, and she somehow took the word Angel in his handwriting and had it engraved on the bracelet just as he wrote it! Such a meaningful gift!
Enjoy the rest of the season and have a happy new year!
Gayle,
The bracelet was such an incredibly thoughtful and special gift. I can only imagine how you felt when you opened it; such a total and complete surprise.
Sounds like your holiday was cold but wonderful. Happy new year!
Nice to have old carpet out,for sure. Good you could help the neighbors… always a good thing to do.
Love them as thyself…
Peace and contentment are big gifts in life, The best. Ruth
Ruth,
Peace. Contentment. Helping neighbors. Loving others as ourselves.
The good stuff of life!
We are on the road traveling back to Florida this morning after spending Christmas with my sister’s family in Lancaster, PA. It was a great week but we will be happy to get back in the sunny south! Our day was topped off with that call from cousin Steve! Ken so enjoyed their conversation!
Ginny,
So glad the cousins got to catch up. Steve enjoyed it, too!
Happy trails.
Great explanation of what Christmas was and is. I too didn’t really want to dig out the tree and all the decorations, but husband brought the tree up. I put on only minimal decorations that were from the last 3 years and were in a small bag. It did look festive. Christmas here was quiet and snowy. We wondered if they would cancel church and the breakfast they serve, but it was clear enough that we got there. Almost didn’t get out of the drift on our driveway but we made it.
Day after Christmas often is shopping the clearance sales, but roads are still not the best so staying put until tomorrow.
Favorite gift wasn’t any received, but the reaction to one given. My husband made a little gag gift, a wooden contraption with a tiny hammer, wooden cheese, and a quarter. It is a “quarter pounder with cheese”. We gave it to our pastor and they called right away to say they finally figured out what it was and were going to take it on to there family gathering to see if others could guess. Fun knowing that it was giving some entertainment.
Christmas and New Year Blessings to you and your family
Patti,
Oh my. Your husband is so creative to make that gift! I love it.
I agree. Sometimes the most fun is not what you receive but knowing someone really loved what you gave.