Monday, December 27, 2010

Well, it's probably no secret that this was a rather thin Christmas for me... money problems have shown their ugly face, so I didn't have the where-with-all to be buying presents, and seeing as I'd been stuck in the house due to a truck in the repair shop, I didn't really have the ability to go shop anyway... I made a few calls, with apologies and planned to spend this holiday much as I'd spent the last one. Midnight Mass, then spend THE DAY curled up under a quilt, with purring cats, reading a book.

Now, when I tell people this, it makes them crazy. What most people don't understand is that I grew up in a house with an unmedicated bipolar sibling, and Christmas wasn't so much a holiday as it was prime staging for a fit, so I don't have a huge fund of warm fuzzy Christmas memories to draw upon. I truly PREFER a quiet holiday. If I do go to a party, I find myself doing what I always did at our families Christmas dinners... namely, sitting in a corner, sucking all the joy out of the room while waiting for the inevitable tempermental explosion. So, rather than torture my hosts or going into long-winded explanations about it, usually I just tell people I have plans.

The church guys however saw through it.

So, I was finally confronted with an invite that I couldn't get out of.

And to be blunt, I'm really glad I went. True, I showed up at somebodies house without a present in hand, which is very un-Southern and enough to make the ghost of my Grandmother rise up and come get me, but I did have a nice holiday dinner... actually, a traditional Mexican holiday dinner, complete with home-made tamales, carnitas, barbacoa, guacamole, hand made tortillas, stuffed jalapenos, and the list goes on and on and on... all complimented with my church friend Hectors mama shoving plates under my chin and demanding, "EAT!" I didn't spend my time worried about how to act or if I was depressing anyone, because I was too busy chewing.

So, I shouldn't need a full meal for the next 4 days...

And, I got the recipe for those stuffed jalapenos. SCORE

5 comments:

  1. Claude,
    Glad to hear you had a good time and the way it sounds some really good food. Hoping that the coming new year brings you more of these wonderful times. - G

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  2. CelticRose6:29 AM

    Glad you had a happy Christmas. :)

    I completely understand about preferring a quiet Christmas since I've disowned my family because they're dysfunctional at best and abusive at worst.

    I spent the day watching Star Trek and cross stitching and was quite happy. :)

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  3. You know, I think A LOT of people can relate to what you are saying here!!! Spending time under a quilt with a kitty cat sounds devine! I despise parties! Glad you got a wonderful meal and scored a good recipe! Maybe you're gonna share??? :)

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  4. Sometimes the real family doesn't hold a candle to the ones we adopt and are adopted by. I'm glad you have some good memories from this year to build on.

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  5. It was especially cold today here, so I spent the day in my PJs, robe and slippers, working on crafts. I also prefer quiet holidays and gave up decorating 7 years ago. And I like it that way.
    Happy New Year!
    Aiyana

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