So it's December 27th, and I'm a pretty happy camper. We made it through Christmas, we had a good time, and now it's the week after and we're still having a good time. Christmas on a Friday has got to be the best -- I never thought that before, but it's true, because then you get the weekend. There were many days in my working life when I had to go back to work on December 26th. Now I'm not working, but how nice it is that many people don't have to go back to work for two extra days. For example, Rocket Boy. Of course, if you work on the weekends, as many many people do, none of that is relevant. But still.
Next year, Christmas will be on Saturday -- which is OK, too, but I think Friday is the best. Anyway, the calendar goes round and round, and every year something's on the perfect day and something else is on the worst day. It all works out.
It was a very good thing that Rocket Boy made it home, because I was starting to unravel and failing to cope. I had to do almost as much work after he arrived as I would have by myself, but having him here was a safety net. I knew that if I collapsed, he would do the work. That made it easier for me to do the work. So perhaps when I feel that collapse is imminent, it's mostly just fear of what could happen if I do collapse. I should think about that more.
I ended up making only five batches of cookies -- panocha squares, those weird chocolate gingerbread cookies, those odd peppermint meltaways, sugar cookies, and fudge. No date crunch this year, no candy cane cookies, no spritz, no Norwegian holiday cookies. A strange year, in so many ways. The kids helped a lot with the sugar cookies, which made them almost worthwhile. Jeez, sugar cookies are a lot of work! And they disappear so quickly! It's OK. My fudge didn't set properly, and the butter didn't incorporate fully. I'm going to try making it with less than a cup of butter. Maybe in Colorado you need to make it with one and a half sticks.
We ended up not having anything as a main course for dinner: we had Barbara's potato dish, broccoli, rolls, and a small fruit salad. Especially the second day (we ate it for Christmas Eve and Christmas), it seemed very skimpy. I should have cooked a squash too. Or something. Have to think about that for next year.
The twins got up at 7:15 Christmas morning, which seemed very reasonable. I had given them warm Christmas pjs the night before (probably the last time I'll do that), and Kid A said they were too warm to sleep in. I said fine, but you have to put them on again in the morning -- and he did. It's so weird to me when they do things I ask them to do. I had put out all the presents the evening before, so the only thing I had to do after they went to bed was fill the stockings. Again, very reasonable, low stress. No assembling Thomas train sets at midnight. But I still miss those days!
I told Rocket Boy I didn't need anything for Christmas except him, which was true, but I guess there's a difference between need and want. I didn't get him much -- a shirt, a DVD, and some chocolate -- but it was something. His gift to me was a GPS holder that goes on my car's dashboard, because my GPS keeps falling off my windshield. It's not something I worry about, but HE does. So really this was a gift for HIM. I was reading the comics -- the Baby Blues dad thinking of getting his wife a flannel nightgown, Garfield's Jon getting his girlfriend a cheese log -- and laughed to realize that my present this year fit right in. And I made the whole family watch the Saturday Night Live
Christmas morning sketch, just so they know to do better next year. But this year it wasn't a big deal (and I know that if I want presents I have to make that clear, and give them specific suggestions).
One present that was a big hit was the game I got Kid B --
Bye, Felicia. I really just chose it because the name was funny (he used to have a group of friends who called themselves the Felicia club), but it's actually a very funny game. Someone rolls the dice, reads off a category, and then everyone has 30 seconds to write down things in that category. Then you go around the circle and read an item from your list. If no one else wrote it down too, it's "Bye, Felicia" to you. We've played it twice so far, and it's just really really funny. Last night I laughed so much I went into a terrible coughing fit that ended the game. So, OK, that's not good, but it is a funny game. I recommend it.
Today Rocket Boy has taken the twins to the Denver Museum and I have a few hours to myself, which seems luxurious. One cat is asleep in the living room and the other is asleep in the twins' room. The wind is blowing outside, but I'm snug inside. We did not have a white Christmas -- all our snow melted away a few days before, and I'm already so sick of snow that I was thrilled. (More snow is due tomorrow. It's fine, it's fine.)
Yesterday was the first day of Kwanzaa, and I really thought hard about how I could celebrate it, because of course I like to celebrate everything. It's a holiday that's specifically for the Black community; it's not about white people. And then it occurred to me: I can give money. I was always planning to support Black Lives Matter this summer but never did. What better time to do it than Kwanzaa?
So I decided to give some sort of donation to some part of the Black community each day of Kwanzaa, according to the theme of each day. Yesterday was Umoja, or "Unity" day, which is about helping Black families and communities stay together. After a good deal of thought, I gave $25 to the United Way of Greater St. Louis, because of Rocket Boy's connection with the area. Today is Kujichagulia, or "Self-Determination" day, and I gave $25 to Movement for Black Lives. I haven't decided what I will do for each of the other days, but at least one day I plan to patronize a Black-owned business. Another idea I had was to buy some books by Black authors -- paying full price for new copies -- not from Amazon. We'll see. I'll take it day by day. But I feel really good about this. It feels like exactly the right way to celebrate Kwanzaa, and the right way to end the horrible Year 2020.
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