Christmas 2012

Hello dear readers! I know it's a bit late for a Christmas post, but with the holiday craziness, I haven't had much of a chance to catch up. But this lazy New Year's Day has given me the perfect time for you to all catch up with my oh-so-eventful life.

This year's Christmas was one of the best I've had yet. I was able to spend a lot of time with my family and friends, kept up with old traditions and created some new ones. For me, the importance of Christmas lays in spending time with those closest to you and enjoying traditions passed down through generations or even just that are carried out year after year. Luckily for me, I genuinely enjoy spending time with my family. I'm fortunate enough to have a family that I get along with when so many people dread the holidays because it means being forced to interact with people they don't care about or just don't want to be around.

Man Friend and I started our celebration early this year. We couldn't even make it to Christmas Eve...we exchanged gifts on the Friday before. This was partly out of antsiness and partially out of time constraints. We wanted to be able to exchange on our own and not with all of our family and didn't want to be rushed with all the different get-togethers. I made him a "beer cake" with his favorite Coors Light and a bunch of Wisco-brewed beers and the movie Iron Man 2. He got me some new slippers to replace my previous pair that were literally falling apart at the seams, an electric wine opener and a book of recipes in jars.

 

My cousin and me in our ugly Christmas outfits

Saturday we had a Christmas get-together with my (well, our now) friends. It was supposed to be an ugly sweater party, but half the people missed the memo and actually dressed nice. We all brought food to share, and you'd think we're starved. The food we had in one room could have easily fed an entire 3rd-world village for a week, and we scarfed it up in a few hours. Ahh, gluttony. Typically when we get together, we just sit around drinking and talking, but we decided to bring some games along this time. Last year's ugly sweater party was our first game party, with the Logo game. We had enough fun with it that we decided it would be a good way to go again this year. We played Apples to Apples and Catchphrase. I had never played Catchphrase before, but I really enjoyed it. It's fun to have to think on your feet, see what kinds of things you know and what your teammates know.

Sunday was mostly a lazy day, laying around the house. Man Friend and I watched Polar Express for the first time, which was such a cute movie! Unfortunately, the volume on my computer isn't super loud and the movie was pretty quiet. We had to strain to hear parts, but I really enjoyed the movie otherwise. We finished the night off by making and decorating Christmas cookies. Well, actually, Man Friend baked the cookies and  made the frosting. I have zero patience for baking. I just watched and then we frosted the cookies together. I've been frosting Christmas cookies every year ever since I can remember, and this is one of my favorite traditions. It's nice to be able to do things with Man Friend that I've always done with my family growing up.

Since Man Friend had to work Christmas Eve, I spent the day finishing up gifts and cooking. I made a meal for the two of us so we could spend a little more time alone for the holiday before non-stop running. After eating, we drove around and looked at lights. This is my other favorite tradition from growing up. I found a scavenger hunt online for all kinds of different decorations to look for. Usually we just drive around looking for the most or best decorated and well-lit. It was a fun little date and exciting trying to knock off everything on the list. I think we got all but one.

Christmas Day was a little bonkers with three different stops, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything. We started the morning at my Dad's with him, my step mom and brother and my sisters. Dad made a big breakfast and after stuffing our faces like fat kids, we opened presents. I got pretty spoiled. Not only did I get more presents than I expected, I got some really great stuff that I will actually enjoy and get a lot of use out of. After opening my baby sister's present of writing stuff, she apologized for such a lame present, but she  didn't have a lot of money. It just broke my heart to hear that. It's not the size or expense of a gift that makes it meaningful to me. It's the thought and effort put into it, which she obviously did. And that's all that really matters.

We left for Man Friend's Dad's where we stuffed our faces again and spent a few hours with his dad, step mom, and step family. I'm still getting to know his family, particularly the extended members, so it was nice to be able to spend time with them and learn a little more about them. It's still quite hard for me to talk to people I don't know, so it was a little awkward. I'm just not very good at starting small talk, but when everyone was in the room together, conversing was a little easier. And I got to play with Man Friend's adorable step-niece. If nothing else, I'm good with kids and that can easily be an ice-breaker. We exchanged gifts with his dad and step mom and each got some more great stuff.

Grand kids waiting for Secret Santa

We had one more stop for the day, with my Dad's side of the family. We typically have Christmas for the whole family at my grandpa's, but his furnace went out. Although my stubborn grandpa tried to insist it would be fine to have the whole shebang at his house still, Dad offered his place. It was a little bit of a tight squeeze for everyone to fit, but the important thing was that everyone was there together. Dad made his once-a-year delicious meal of mushroom tenderloin and more face-stuffing ensued. Every year, the grand kids exchange a name for Secret Santa gifts. I decided this was going to be my last year of participation. I really look forward to the gift exchange every year, particularly the excitement of finding out whose name I'm going to draw, but this was definitely my last. Next Christmas I'll be 25, and I think that is probably the limit. At that point, I'm not anywhere near a kid anymore, so I think I need to be done.

My mom and her bf weren't able to come up until after Christmas, so we celebrated with them a few days later at my grandma's. Mom made a huge breakfast for everyone, like she always did on Christmas Day when she was home. My sisters and I were going to frost some cookies together, but Middle Sister needed sleep after being up for 22 hours straight, and the rest of us decided just to relax together instead of rushing anyway. We exchanged presents and just talked for a while, catching up. Since Mom is only in town for a few days at a time, we always need to fit weeks or months worth of talking into just a few days or hours. After a few hours, the rest of Mom's family showed up and we had Christmas with her side. We ate shortly before the Packers game started (don't even get me started on that game) and exchanged gifts after. We don't have enough grand kids on her side to do a Secret Santa, but the siblings exchange with each other and god parents/kids exchange.

Although a little hectic and a little stressful, overall I had a great holiday week. I couldn't ask for better people to spend my time with or a more fun time to have.

WPS Garden of Lights

On Saturday, Man Friend and I went to the WPS Garden of Lights at the Botanical Gardens. It was my first time going, though I had been wanting to go for years. It was one of those things where I said I wanted to go, but plans were never made, and by the time I finally had a free weekend, the holidays had passed. This year, I was determined to go, and set aside a Saturday night to go. I'm so glad we did; I enjoyed it so much that I've already decided that we're going next year too.

We picked the perfect time to go. It was chilly out, and enough so as a gentle reminder that it is the holidays, but luckily for my anti-cold ways, was not frigid. I was afraid I had under-dressed (though Man Friend thought I had too many layers on), but as soon as we started walking instead of standing in place, it was more bearable.

We got there, and to our surprise, there were significantly more people there than we had expected. We ended up parking about a block or so away and walking so we could avoid the crowds in the parking lot. As we drove past the parking lot, I saw the line stretched out pretty long. Man Friend would say this is where I became worried and stressed. I say I'm just realistic. I was upset that the line was so long and wondered if we'd even be able to get in. If we did, would we have to rush through all the displays to be out by the time they closed? Luckily for us, Man Friend was right (I hate that). The line moved surprisingly quick and we were out to start the walking tour within about 20 minutes. Once inside the building, I found it was because they had so many different people taking money for the tickets that the line was able to move smoothly and effectively.

While we were waiting in line, we started noticing how many babies were there. I'm not talking toddlers, or even babies in the walking or crawling stages. I was actually appalled at how many parents were carrying infants. None of these parents (that I saw at least) were there with an older child as well. It was just the parents and the baby. First of all, even though it wasn't frigid, it was definitely too cold to have a tiny little baby outside. Second of all, by the time we got into the tour, it was close to 7:45-8. Let your poor child go to bed. Finally, a child so young will get nothing out of the tour. If you want to go so badly with your spouse, pawn your child off on a babysitter, or wait until your child is old enough to appreciate the lights and displays. End rant.

The tour was shorter than I expected it to be, and I was actually hoping it would have been a little longer because I was enjoying it so much. As we were nearing the end, I was a little disappointed we couldn't see more, but remembered that typically this time of year, it's way more freezing out. Had it been any colder, I would have started growing miserable and cranky and wanted to leave. So, all things considered, it was actually a decent length.

One of my favorite things to do around Christmas time is drive around looking at lights and decorations. I think that's why I enjoyed this so much. The light displays were so beautiful, and there were so many different kinds of displays to enjoy. The brightness and variety of colors was just amazing. One of my favorite displays was a spider. I actually cannot stand the little bastards, but spiders remind me of Halloween, which is my favorite holiday. There was also a display of a flower bed, which was probably the best one. It was one of the bigger displays and had the most colors. Of the displays without much color, my favorite was of "icicles" hanging down. It was so simple, but so elegant.

The tour was a great place for a date, whether you've been together for a long time or have just gotten together. It keeps you talking the whole time, and isn't the typical dinner and/or movie that can get a little repetitive. I'm anxious to see what's in store next year.