Christmas 2005
Christmas snuck up on us pretty quickly this year but for the first time in a long time I did not use Christmas Eve as my first and last shopping day of the season. I had two items to build this year: An electric motorcycle for Ben and a bicycle for Abigail. The motorcycle was crazy and took about 3 hours to complete. Thankfully Terry helped out and stopped me from making the types of mistakes that could have turned the project into a 6 hour affair. Abby’s bike was quick and easy but then again, I wasted many hours in my youth building and modifying BMX bikes so everything made perfect sense.
We went to the Asbury’s for their annual Christmas Adam party (that’s the day before Christmas Eve… get it?). I’d guess there were 30 adults and 20 kids. The Asbury’s always do a great job and everyone had a marvelous time. They employed a Santa to come read to the kids and dispense gifts to the youngsters. As usual the end of the night found the final four (Matt, Tim Darin and myself) hanging out around the fire. We didn’t stay too late as compared to previous years but we did enough damage to make the next morning a little painful.
We had friends come over on Christmas Eve for brunch and ended up with a surprise visit from cousin Colleen. I haven’t seen Colleen in nearly 10 years so it was quite a treat. In addition we had the Flannery’s and the Davis family. Later in the evening we went to Kerri’s Grandpa’s house (that’s Great Grandpa to my kids) and cruised his neighborhood to see all of the Christmas lights. He lives smack in the middle of a little area termed “Candycane Lane” which attracts thousand of cars with families packed inside to see the crazy light displays. Hundreds of homes put up thousands of lights and other decorations for everyone to see. It really is quite a sight.
Once the kids went to sleep I went over to neighbor Matt’s place to retrieve the motorcycle and bike so they could make it next to the tree for morning. Abby is at the perfect age right now because she really “gets” the Santa portion of Christmas. She actually asked me if she could go to bed and put herself to sleep much earlier than usual. Would it be bad if I were to invent other magical beings with similar late night activities that I could assign to other holidays and get the same bedttime eagerness? More thinking required…
Christmas morning came earlier than I had hoped but I suspect that will be a continuing trend for the next several years so I had better get used to it. Perhaps inventing other holiday beings isn’t such a good idea. More thinking indeed…
We’ve been trying to reign in the sheer number of gifts for the kids but with friends and family it’s difficult to manage. We’re definitely better off than we were 2 years ago but we need to do better because these kids have way too much stuff. Perhaps we need to restrict gifts to particular types, like books and art supplies and clothes. Just what every kid wants, I know. They’ll be calling me The Grinch if they end up with all socks and sweaters under the tree.
The kids were lucky enough to have all four grandparents around them for Christmas this year. Terry and Nancy have been at our place for a bit and it has been most excellent (I’m not just saying this because Terry is right behind me either). The kids love it and Terry has been rebuilding the broken parts of our house on a daily basis. Kerri and I also got to hit the movies to see The Chronicles Of Narnia while grandparents watched the kids. Goodness all around, for sure.
I suppose the “real” meaning of Christmas if different for different people but for me it is about the birth of Christ with some side bonuses. Everyone I know has been in good spirits and there is a general “warmth” in the air as I interact with firends, neighbors and family. If only the Christmas season were to last all year long — We’d have a lot less going wrong in the world.
Finally, I caught up with some of my December photos and a few Christmas pictures in the Dec. 2005 album. I tried to keep photos with myself out so you could enjoy the experience a bit more.
Merry Christmas everybody! Be sure to check back after New Year’s Eve for a description of our annual gathering and for pics of my newly shaved head.
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