Unusual Christmases

Before I got sick I thought the most "unusual" Christmas that I could possibly endure was being married and having our own little bit of Christmas and then going over to my in-laws house which was never part of my Christmas tradition and learning about theirs.

Ever since I have gotten sick I haven't had one "normal" Christmas. Some of that is "my fault" with moving to Colorado to pursue my dream job, but others have been pretty basic: things aren't "right" because I'm sick. I'm not complaining about the lack of "normal", the Lord knows my life has lacked that for a long time now, I think I am trying to find something here.

This year we had Christmas morning to ourselves. Cinnamon rolls, BACON, a variety of oranges on a plate, and then a few gifts sent to us from under the tree. We then made some dessert for the place we had been invited. Then we drove out to the place we had been invited. I think perhaps the invitation to be let into another person's "normal" Christmas was what ended up touching me the most. The nurse who is head of my study at MDA invited us over to her parent's house for Christmas dinner.

We got to meet her immediate family as well as her extended family. There was tons of food, both in the savory category as well as the sweet. After dinner we talked a bit and then I spent the remainder of our time on the couch with her son showing him some tips and tricks for making Windows XP behave. (A favorite pass time of mine) Lisa learned to play Bunko and took a walk around their farm. Overall I felt like we had a really good time and while we couldn't spend that time with our own family(s) we were accepted into another family's traditions and they made us feel welcome. Which was a very nice gift for us.

Otherwise I think our big contribution this year will be in the formation of our "home-made" gift to our friends and family. (AND even to you, dear reader, if you want one!) I can't say what it is yet, because I don't want to spoil the surprise (as everyone gets the same thing), but we put some serious hours into it. We're proud of the finished product and we're excited to be able to show it to you here on the blog.

So yeah, overall, it's been a strange holiday season, but really, how can you connect with new people without going outside the "normal" every so often? (or every day) Coming to you from Houston, where we never thought we'd be, we hope your New Year is outside the normal.

~B.