Sick. This Christmas and New Year was unique that I spent almost the entire time sick. I started having upper respiratory congestion and body aches starting on December 21st at work, and the sickness was at its worst by December 23rd. The illness really screwed up my ability to sleep, as post-nasal drip and congestion would impede my breathing, leading me to wake up coughing uncontrollably before I could drift to sleep. Unfortunately, I've yet to completely lick this. It didn't help that my wife suffered from the same ailment. As always, being sick made me appreciate the comfort and peace of health all the more. As a friend of mine tweeted recently: "Most people will have many things on their wish list this Christmas. People with cancer have just one."
Food. There was a lot of food - way too much food. There were probably five celebratory meals plus four outings where we went out to eat. I confess that food is probably a guilty pleasure of mine, and in the spirit of the holiday, I was partaking in the celebratory breaking of bread. Lots of variety, too - Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine at my parents' place, American brunch at my brother and sister-in-law, Korean cuisine at my mother and father-in-law, and a couple of visits to Long John Silver's and other more distinguished outside eateries. I'm going to make a conscious decision to compensate for my holiday gluttony with a January diet.
Notable Gifts. I got some clothes and a portable dock for my iPod. Very nice. But I spent a heckuva lot more time playing with my kids' gifts. My daughter loved her tea set, so I dutifully played tea party guest as she poured tea and stirred sugar into my chai. What was much more fun was playing with my son's LEGO sets and Transformers. I have to say, the current generation of Transformers are much more polished and difficult than my generation's. Daniel got Sideswipe, which is now a Corvette instead of a Lambroghini, and transforming the Autobot into robot form was far more complex than the usual "pull down the legs and pull out the arms" typical transformation. Anyway...
The Great Blizzard of 2010. We got snowed in like most of the Eastern seaboard, getting stranded in Connecticut at the in-laws. In some ways, it probably was for the best, as the inclement weather forced us to stay home and do nothing. The storm did leave the family in a bit of a bind, as we were snowed in Connecticut and facing the scenario of driving back to New Jersey with a driveway packed with three feet of snow (with my snowblower and shovels inaccessible in the backyard shed). Thankfully, my dad came to the rescue but hiring a plow guy, allowing us to come back the next evening into a mostly cleared driveway.
Establishing Tradition. With Carissa experiencing her first Christmas, we're still very much into establishing little nuances to the Christmas holiday. We'd hope to go to a service, but the distance and timing didn't work for the family. On Christmas Eve, we found ourselves without an extended family dinner (which we've typically have done), so we went to our favorite local trattoria for a nice Christmas Eve dinner instead, followed by some singing of Christmas carols when we got home. My wife did a marvelous job yet again with her Christmas Day scavenger hunt for gifts - making the kids work for finding their presents as opposed to simply leaving it under the tree.
Child Bonding. With almost twelve days away from work, I had plenty of time to just hang out with the kids. I already mentioned tea parties with Sophia and LEGO spaceship building with Daniel. I also spent a lot of time with Carissa, who I've probably done the least baby-bonding time with out of my three children. It's nothing personal - just a matter of arithmetic. Daniel was at one time the only show in town, Sophia split time with Daniel and was the first girl, and by the time Carissa came along, the household was a circus. In any case, the break coincided with the eight-month "more responsive, almost standing and babbling" stage, which was great fun.
The Holiday Beard. So the next morning after my last day at work, I didn't shave out of laziness. By the next day, I figured I'd do something novel and see what an extended holiday of no shaving would do to my face. I knew darn well that my genetic makeup severely handicaps my ability to grow a robust beard - sort of like Cliff Claven on that infamous Cheers episode where he superglues a fake beard on himself to win a $20 beard-growing contest. I grew out a choppy and uneven monstrosity of hair, which looked something between a skin disease, coal mining soot and carpet dustballs attached to my face. Eh, it was nice to stroke my quarter inch stubble on my chin while I had it.
Reflection. I didn't do nearly as much reflection as I would've liked to, but I couldn't help but contrast last Christmas with this one. Last year, I was getting ready to head off to Urbana with a house half-filled of packed boxes that we were planning to move out of without a clear understanding whether we'd be in the UK or New Jersey in the immediate future. My wife was very pregnant, and our family of almost five was caught halfway between buying a house and waiting for my company to make a decision around my international assignment. As Christmas marks the coming of Christ, we are all grateful for the many ways He has manifest His grace and faithfulness in the past year.
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