First Christmas

Before Gavin was born, I was told that it's easiest to travel with kids when they're just a few months old. So we decided to take him home for Christmas, when he was just 2 months old, to introduce him to my extended family. The trip ended up being more of a whirlwind than it usually is, as we tried to cram in the entire family in very little time. But Gavin did great, and I'm so glad we were able to get out and introduce him to everyone.

I was worried about the flight, and had read a bunch of tips. We brought my nurxing pillow on the plane so he wouldn't just be sitting in my lap. We brought bottles of milk so he could be sucking on something during takeoff and landing. And then Gavin slept for almost the entire flight. It was magical, and I got to feel smug because the crying baby on that plane wasn't mine.

We went down to my aunt's house for her annual Christmas Eve party. Gavin was quickly overwhelmed by the noise and being the center of attention. But my aunt had set aside my cousin's old bedroom for us so we could escape to somewhere quiet. Kevin and I spent a lot of the first half of the party taking turns sitting with Gavin in there. But after dinner he calmed down enough to come out and meet people.

Christmas day at my mom's was a smaller crowd, and Gavin did much better. He got passed around to everyone who wanted to hold him, ate a ton, and got a bunch of clothes and books.

The next day we went down to my dad's for the third feast in a row and another side of the family. Gavin was a bit grumpier that day; I think all the traveling was getting to him. And he slept terribly that night. Which is to say that he only really slept from midnight to 2:30. But the next day was calmer and he caught up on sleep some.

That evening we flew to Phoenix on what was the longest flight of my life. Even though it's less than 2 hours. It was so bumpy that the fasten seatbelt sign never turned off and the flight attendants didn't even do a drink service. Then Gavin pooped about half an hour in, forcefully enough that it got all over his onesie and blanket and Boppy. Then when we finally landed we had to sit on the runway for a while before we could taxi to the gate. It was awful, and just about all I could do to keep Gavin from screaming the whole time.

Our time in Phoenix was pretty low-key. It helped that we stayed in a hotel there rather than with my family. We went over to my aunt's to visit in the mornings, then to my grandmother's in the evenings, and back to the hotel after dinner. We also managed to get dinner with one of Kevin's oldest friends who's lived there since college.

I was worried about flying home, but it ended up going very smoothly. On the first leg, the plane was empty enough that we were alowed to bring Gavin's carseat on and put him in his own seat, which made a huge difference. And on the second leg he once again slept almost the entire flight. He did get cranky during our layover, and I gave him a bottle in the airport. Which led to me having to pump on the plane. But at least we had carried the pump on so we could do that.

The trip was fast, but it was nice to have the opportunity to show Gavin off to everyone. And he did great on 3 of the 4 plane rides, which isn't too bad. Next up I get to take him on a much longer plane ride all by myself. But I think I can handle it.

Merry Little Christmas

This year we celebrated a much quieter Christmas than I'm used to. But it ended up being a lot of fun, and I got to spend some quality time with my brother.

He came over in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve and we went down to the Kennedy Center for Kevin's mom's Christmas concert. Kevin usually drives to these concerts, so it probably isn't a huge surprise that I got very lost. I missed my exit and ended up doing a big loop, crossing the Potomac three separate times before we finally found our way into the parkign garage. Luckilly, we had planned to arrive half an hour early. We ultimately made it to our seats a few minutes before the concert started.

The concert was lovely, as always. It didn't include music from any other countries this year, but that turned out to be a timing thing. A choir visiting from the Phillipines performed with them on the Gala Night, the main concert event, but elected not to stay for the Christmas Eve concert. Instead, we got some fun performances from a trumpet soloist.

After the concert we went to a friend's house for champagne and appetizers for a couple of hours. The group was much smaller than normal, as Kevin wasn't the only person unable to spend Christmas in Virginia this year. Then it was back home for a dinner of sausage and pasta and movies and wine with Connor.

I got him to watch Pride and Prejudice, which I've been wanting to rewatch for a few weeks now. Then we started The Tenth Kingdom, but Connor fell asleep before long, and I wasn't too far behind him.

On Christmas morning, Connor and I slept in until after 8, probably the latest either of us has slept on Christmas. Then we opened presents and made pancakes and called dad while we took Kina for her morning walk. After that we dove back in to The Tenth Kingdom. It was on in the background for most of the day while we visited and worked on a puzzle.

We met up with Pat for an early dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant in the area. The place was unbelievable crowded, even during our 4:30 reservation. But the food was well worth the wait, and it was a nice change of pace to go out on Christmas instead of cooking and facing a heap of dishes afterwards.

After dinner, Connor and I went back home and finished The Tenth Kingdom, then rounded off the evening with a few episodes of Angel, which Connor always preferred to Buffy. Overall it was a really nice, lowkey Christmas. I'm glad I was able to spend it with the family I had here, msotly hanging out in my pajamas and watching old movies. All things considered, it was about as perfect as it could be.

Early Christmas

This year we celebrated Christmas a week early. The Friday before Kevin left for Hawaii, we invited his mom and my brother over for a lamb dinner. Jen and Steve came out, too, and spent the night before their early-morning flight out of Dulles.

Kevin prepared an excellent lamb dinner with roasted potatoes and a delicious loaf of bread. His mom contributed a green bean casserole. We ate and drank wine and talked, and I was grateful that Kevin had been able to do all of the shopping and cooking.

Before dinner, we exchanged gifts with Kevin's mom. It was a little more rushed and chaotic than most years, which has become a bit of a theme for this year's holiday. After dinner we exchanged gifts with Jen and Steve. Then we we finished off the bourbon I bought for Kevin last year and played a game.

We couldn't stay up too late, because everyone had planes to catch the next morning. But it was nice to get a chance to visit and eat some good food. As weird as it is to celebrate Christmas so early, I'm glad we fit the celebration in before Kevin left.

Searching for the Holiday Spirit

December is always a busy month. With the holidays come many more social commitments. Work holiday parties, work deadlines, time spent with friends before everyone leaves town for a week or two, plus all the gift shopping and wrapping and decorating on top of it. I always know this is coming, and despite my introvert tendencies, I'm usually excited about it. December also brings with it a jolt of energy.

At least it usually does. The long nights and cold air always seem to bring me to life. When the sun has set before I even leave the office, I'm left with a nice, long evening that always feels longer than it is. Cooler temperatures invigorate me. And the twinkling lights and good cheer keep my spirits up. Not to mention that the first (and second and third and maybe all of them) snow fall often has me almost literally skipping around my office.

This year I'm not feeling it. My social calendar has been as busy as ever. But instead of my usual excitement and energy I've been feeling lethargic. I'm going to blame a lot of it on the weather. Winter is simply refusing to show up. A week ago we actually turned the heat off and opened our windows because it was so warm outside. We've barely had a frost. And while it's been very wet, that's mostly just translated to a warm, muggy feel. Like summer, but dark.

The other reason I'm not feeling it is Kevin's work schedule, which has him in Hawaii for three weeks over Christmas and New Year's. I really shouldn't complain too much. He loves his job, and he'd been wanting to travel more. In the scheme of things this is only one Christmas. We'll have many more together in the future. And once this project is through his travel schedule should die down some, or at least become more reasonable and predictable.

But it does mean that I'm going to have a very small Christmas this year. We didn't get a tree or do any decorating, because I was worried about my ability to take it down by myself. Instead of a big home-cooked meal, I'll be going to a nice restaurant with my brother and Kevin's mom. Again, I shouldn't complain. I have family in the area, dinner will be nice, a few traditions are still in tact. But for someone who enjoys and has grown accustomed to huge, whirlwind Christmases full of family, food, and alcohol, it's hard not to feel at least a little let down this year.

I'm trying my best to look forward to the little things, like my four-day weekend coming up (also, thanks to the cruise, I can't take any extra time off for Christmas this year). The holiday is almost over, Kevin will be back home before I know it, and maybe winter will decide to show up at some point. Plus, I have all sorts of writing to catch up on. In the meantime, I'll muddle through as well as I can.

Four Christmases

Okay, so I've never actually seen the movie from which I've stolen my blog title. But it seemed appropriate, given this year's Christmas celebrations.

We started the Monday before Christmas. Kevin's sister and her boyfriend flew to DC to spend the holiday with Kevin's mom. So we all went out to dinner while Kevin and I were still in town, then back to my mother-in-law's place to open presents. Dinner was at an Argentinian steak house with excellent sides like fried plantains and cheesy rice. And presents were a lot of fun. Everyone basically exchanged books and board games which is my ideal gift exchange.

On Christmas Eve, Kevin, Connor, and I woke up way too early to fly to Colorado. We landed in Colorado as the sun was rising, to give you an idea of how long this day lasted. My mom picked us up at the airport and we went back to her place to rest and nap. Then it was time to head to her older sister's house for the huge family Christmas party. Everyone from our side of the family attends, as well as all of my aunt's in-laws. There's a big turkey dinner, a ton of catching up, and the most chaotic present opening you will ever see. After the party we went back to my mom's house for a much quieter gift exchange.

My mom has recently become enamored with Doctor Who, so we spent most of Christmas morning watching a Doctor Who marathon before heading over to her younger sister's house from Christmas brunch (at 2 in the afternoon) and the smaller family celebration (which was still bigger than our Thanksgiving dinner).

The next morning we woke up and drove down to my dad's girlfriend's house. We spent the day playing pinochle and Settlers of Catan, then enjoyed a delicious prime rib dinner. This was the only night that we needed no designated driver, and we took full advantage of that fact, breaking out moonshine and whiskey in addition to the typical wine and beer.

The rest of trip was spent celebrating my mom's birthday before we flew home on the 30th. It was a whirlwind trip, especially with a big dinner planned on nearly every night we were there. But it was a ton of fun to see everyone, including some family friends I haven't seen in years - this was Kevin's first time meeting them. I'm excited to go back in March. We won't be there any longer, but it will be nice to be back so soon and without all the craziness of the holidays.

Christmas Concert

Kevin's mom sings in a number of local choirs, and every holiday season she performs in a variety of concerts in various venues around town. We usually try to make it to a few, but with time constraints this year, we were only able to attend one.

That one was the National Choral Arts Society's concert at The Kennedy Center. When we're in town, we attend this one on Christmas Eve, but this year we went to the abridged version earlier in December. The concert was on Monday night, and the length was cut down to accommodate that. But it was still a great show, perhaps better for clocking in at under an hour and a half.

Every year this concert is sponsored by a different ambassador, and music from that ambassador's home country is included in the program. This year the chosen country was Argentina, which made for a very fun concert. The Argentinian songs were performed by the Pan American Symphony Orchestra, who traveled to DC for this show. The music and language was just familiar enough for me to follow it, but different enough from my usual experience.

The choir also performed a number of traditional USian carols. And this year there was an extra treat. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, of Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers fame, joined in on guitar for a few songs. The guitar isn't an instrument I normally associate with Christmas music, but Silent Night was apparently originally composed for the guitar. It was cool to hear variations of these songs that I'm not used to. I left wishing we would be in town for the full concert this year. Hopefully next year's concert has some similar surprises.

Finding the Christmas Spirit

I love Christmas. I hold off on the carols and decorating until after Thanksgiving, but I'm usually ready to head out and get a tree that Saturday. This year was a bit different though. This year, Thanksgiving took a lot out of me. I spent the week after in a sort of zombie-like haze, trying to catch up on sleep and laundry and being thankful for the leftovers in my fridge. While people talked about Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, I could barely bring myself to care about presents. I started to worry, ever so slightly, that I would fall too far behind and be scrambling to get things done at the last minute.

On Friday, Kevin was talking about various gifts he was planning to get for friends and family. Something he said triggered an idea in me, and almost instantly I had figured out nearly all of my presents. The ones for family, anyway. With a firm idea the fog lifted from my brain, and I started planning out the stores I would need to visit.

We got up bright and early on Saturday to get the tree. It was raining, but that only helped us to be more decisive when we found a good one. Then I went out shopping in the afternoon and, miracle of miracles, I made a huge dent in my Christmas shopping list. And it's an impressively long list.

On Sunday I had one or two things more to buy. I actually found myself eager to go to Tyson's, the massive, nightmarish mall near our house. But I decided not to fight it and braved traffic. Parking was impressively easy. They implemented a new system to show empty parking spaces with red and green lights (and blue for handicapped spaces), and I was able to find a spot almost immediately. In the mall I quickly found what I wanted, rewarded myself with what is fast becoming a traditional cup of lobster bisque at Brio, and managed to not spend any money at Barnes and Noble.

I still have one or two more things to buy, and I need to wrap most of what I have bought and get it shipped to Colorado. But I'm feeling very on top of things. We have a fully decorated tree that I love looking at. The pile of presents beneath it is growing. Now all we need is some snow and everything will be perfect. I love this time of year.

Christmas Vacation

This year Kevin and I went out to Colorado for a whirlwind holiday trip with my family.

We flew out Saturday and got to my mom's in time for a late dinner. Then in the morning we woke up and went out to buy food for Christmas dinner. Then we met my dad at a local Steelers bar to watch the last quarter of the Redskins game. We stuck around for the first half of the Steelers game, which was an experience. I hadn't ever realized that their fight song includes a brag about going to the Super Bowl.

That night we made spaghetti and sausage for dinner and Connor's girlfriend came over. After she left, we opened presents and played some Scrabble on the super fancy board my dad got for Kevin and I. The next day was devoted to Pinocchle and cooking, with a trip to see American Hustle. For dinner we had a pot roast, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, and lots of wine.

On Tuesday morning there was more Pinocchle, then we went to my aunt's house for dinner. She always does a big Turkey dinner, and this year there were enough people to warrant two turkeys. After we did presents with her husband's side of the family, we went back to my mom's house and opened presents with her.

On Christmas morning we woke up and puttered around for a while. Then Kevin and I started cooking the leg of lamb for Christmas dinner. My mom's sisters and a few of my cousins came over for more food, wine, visiting, and, of course, presents. We do a bunch of little gift exchanges, which I've come to prefer to one big gift exchange. It's more intimate with each group, it's easier to remember who gave and received what, and there's always a bit more to look forward to.

Boxing Day was mostly devoted to washing dishes and nursing hangovers. We rewatched the entire fourth season of Community while addressing wedding invitations. Then Kevin took a nap while Connor and I watched several episodes of Revenge.

On Friday my aunt threw a wedding shower brunch for Kevin and I. She made a delicious quiche omelet hybrid and there were plenty of mimosas and pool on their new-old table. That night we took my mom out for a nice steak dinner for her birthday.

As I said, the week was a whirlwind of family, food, and alcohol. It's always fun to see everyone, but it's also nice to get home and relax a bit before heading back to work.

Christmas Weekend part 6: Recovery

On Boxing Day I woke up super early to say goodbye to Connor. He left at 7 so he could get some stuff done before he had to check in on base. It was snowing when he left and he had to drive through some pretty heavy rain on his way home.

When I really woke up a few hours later, there was about an inch of snow on the ground. I was worn out from all the celebrating and managed to make it as far as the couch with my pot of tea. Kevin came down shortly after and we proceeded to play every single game we'd received for Christmas with the exception of Dixit which doesn't work with only two people. I even won a few games, which doesn't happen often.

We had plans to go see The Hobbit with Kevin's mom in the afternoon, but after the snow turned to rain and everything got gross we decided to cancel those plans. We'll have to find another time to see The Hobbit, although I'm becoming somewhat less enthusiastic about it. I'm sure I'll see it eventually, but I don't understand why it has to be so long. In the meantime, I'm glad I was able to spend almost an entire day on the couch.

Christmas Weekend part 5: Presents!

On Christmas morning I actually woke up fairly early. Early for me, anyway. Then we had our slightly awkward Christmas tradition of Kevin watching me open the presents form my family. This year Connor got to watch, too! Then Connor went for a run with Kevin's sister and we made pancakes and bacon for lunch. I was going to do scrambled eggs, too, but a rotten egg sort of ruined that plan. Then pancakes were delicious, though.

After breakfast Kevin proceeded to beat everyone at Settlers of Catan because that's how Christmas goes.

In the afternoon we went over to his mom's to open presents with his family. They even got Connor a few things so he wasn't just an observer. Then it was time to make guacamole and head over to some other friends for Christmas dinner.

So many books!

We had leg of lamb for dinner and spent some time arguing about whether this was blasphemous (since Jesus is the Lamb of God and this is supposed to be his birthday) or just a stand-in for Communion (the wine helped make this argument in more ways than one).

After dinner we played Dixit, which is a fantastic party game. Then we played another round of Cards Against Humanity, this time making sure that the adults didn't know what we were up to. There are some things, like gloryholes and smegma, that you just don't want to have to explain.

Once again, Kevin was falling asleep before me, so we didn't stay out too late. Connor volunteered to drive home because he's a pretty awesome little brother.

Christmas Weekend part 4: The Day Before Christmas

Every year, Kevin's mom performs with the Choral Arts Society of DC in the Kennedy Center. The first year I got to attend this, I was really excited to get to see anything at all at the The Kennedy Center. Although some of that initial excitement has worn off in the past few years, I still love attending concerts there.

The concert is always sponsored by a different ambassador and the director includes some carols from that ambassador's country in the program. In the past two years these countries were Belgium and Russia, which exposed me to Christmas music I'd never heard before. This year the chosen country was Canada, which didn't seem that novel at first. But since the new director chose a lot of modern music, there ended up being a few new songs. One of them was actually premiered at this concert, which was interesting.

There was also an incredibly strange song called Epitaph for Moonlight that I'm still undecided about. Parts of it were enjoyable and other parts were downright weird. Although I'm not sure what else I expected from a song that was apparently inspired by a 7th grade class's made up synonyms for "moonlight".

After the concert, we went to dinner at the house of some of Kevin's family friends. We had ham this delicious cranberry-sparkling wine. Then we played Cards Against Humanity and had to explain concepts like road head to the older generation. Slightly awkward, but still a lot of fun.

My brother spent most of the evening with an 8-week-old boxer puppy chewing on his hand. He seemed pretty content to let him, even if he was covered with scratches by the time we got home.

Christmas Weekend part 3: Hail to the Redskins

There's a bar in Chinatown that has tables with taps in them. Kevin and I have gone a few times, and we were always disappointed that you needed a reservation for the special tables. So when we were invited to watch the Redskins game at that bar with Erin and her friends, we were pretty excited.

It turns out the concept was a little over-rated. The beer pricing during football games means that it's a lot cheaper to order drinks from the bar than it is to take advantage of the taps on the table. Add in the fact that our taps hadn't been cleaned, giving the beer a distinct yeasty flavor, and we didn't make much use of the taps.

The game itself was great, though. Watching it in a bar full of Redskins' fans made our victory over the Eagles even more fun. The bar played Hail to the Redskins when they won and everyone sang along.

Connor was disappointed because the Steelers ended up losing. But there was at least another Steelers fan at our table, so he had someone to commiserate with.

After the game, we went to a bar to play skee ball and shuffleboard. We only played a few games before heading home, since Kevin was still feeling a bit under the weather. They were fun, though. I definitely need to play more shuffleboard.

Christmas Weekend part 1: The Vindictive Spirit

I'm a huge fan of Christmas, and I like when the festivities stretch over several days. I don't mean that I start celebrating the minute Thanksgiving is over, but I do like the extended holiday that Christmas can turn into. This started in middle school, when having divorced parents and a big family celebration meant that Christmas usually lasted for three days. And it continued this year when I managed to get five days of celebrating in.

Kevin's mom is a member of several choirs in the DC area, and Christmas ends up being a pretty busy season for her. All of her choirs perform several times in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Every year, one of her smaller choirs sings carols in the lobby of the Willard Hotel for an hour or so. Since the hotel is only a few blocks from my office, it's easy for me to head down to see the performance after work. Then Kevin, his mom, his sister and I go out for dinner afterwards.

The concert is in a hotel lobby, rather than a theater, which gives it something of an informal air. People are wandering around, chatting, ordering drinks at the bar. There's a small audience that sits through the entire set, but most people wander over for a song or two.

Because of this, Kevin and I were having a quiet conversation. We were trying to organize a brunch for the following morning and coordinating with my brother who would be arriving at some point. I also giggled through the entirety of Hark the Herald Angels Sing because Kevin was forcing all the rhymes. That song attempts to rhyme "come" with "womb" and "peace" with "righteousness".

All of this added up to a lady in the audience glaring at us. We were clearly destroying the magical concert for her by having our own fun. So I decided to be naughty and join in on the next couple of sing-a-longs. People who know me know why this was such an evil move.

I cannot sing. I couldn't carry a tune if you put it in a bucket with five handles, as my high school friends were fond of telling me. I can't even hit notes. Not that this has ever stopped me from trying. I performed in two musicals in high school (they needed people who could tap dance and just refrained from giving me a mic). I even took singing lessons one summer where I was told that if I used my diaphragm a bit more, I'd ever a better chance of hitting notes.

That advice backfired, because it led to me getting louder any time I heard myself straying too far from the people around me.

By the end of the concert the lady looked like she wanted to kill me. But if the choir invites everyone to sing along, I don't think you can really put restrictions on that. Everyone should be allowed to join in.

After the concert, we got dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill. The wine list had a shiraz-viognier blend that was surprisingly delicious. Everything was good, though the Irish coffee at the end wasn't my best idea ever.