We Survived Christmas!
I mean no offense to any of the wonderful family and friends with whom we have visited this holiday season…but Moonshot and I propped our feet up Tuesday night and breathed the sigh of content relief that comes upon surviving another Christmas.
I don’t mean that to sound as grinchy as if might be read. We loved our time with our dispersed families and it was wonderful to gather round the various trees and bask in the warmth of friendship and love. But, having treasured that, the welcome embrace of familiar routine is a sweet, sweet embrace indeed.
On Saturday we traveled north, to Iowa. We arrived at Husker and Panache’s wonderful old farm house just in time to unload, feed Norah and rush back out the door sans child to meet Elsa and Talap in Cedar Rapids, about an hour away. They were visiting family in northern Iowa so we had arranged to meet them half-way for dinner. We spent the first half of the trip to Cedar Rapids convincing ourselves that leaving Norah with the grandparents was very relaxing…not stressful in the least…no, very relaxing. By the time we passed through Coralville, we were starting to believe it.
We were only a little late to dinner and since that’s actually early for us, we felt pretty good about the whole thing. We spent a wonderful evening chatting with our Minnesotan friends between venue hops. Seems everything in Cedar Rapids closes early: restaurants, coffee shops, gas stations (but that didn’t vex us until the return trip), so the “party” kept moving around until we settled into a 24-hour Tippins.
We only called to check on the baby once and we really did relax and have a great time with our far away friends. All in all, it was a great evening and excellent practice for our bed and breakfast coming up in January as a delayed anniversary treat. Baby steps to leaving baby.
After a fitful night of sleep, Norah and I went to church with the grandparents and let Moonshot sleep in. She had not enjoyed the thrill of a truly quiet house to sleep in for months and I was happy to give her the chance. Norah slept through the service and I was thankful for her presence in my arms. She gave me something to focus on while I was conspicuously not responding to the call and answer devotionals. Husker did his best to keep reminding me that I didn’t have to sing, didn’t have to respond, and didn’t have to feel awkward…but you just can’t help but feel a bit out of place when a room full of people are professing in unison a belief that you don’t share. No matter how kind they may be…you’re still the odd man out. But after the service, Grandma and Grandpa beamed proudly as we introduced Norah to the truly friendly folks and drank coffee from Styrofoam cups. One nice lady even pulled me aside to let me know that she thought I write very well. What? Oh right…this blog. I tend to forget that real people other than the ones who post comments read these ramblings from time to time. Obviously, pictures of Norah were the draw for Nice Church Lady, but it was nice to know she liked the words as well. So, if you’re reading this, Nice Church Lady…thanks for making me feel welcome.
Anyway, when all was said and done, church really was a pleasant time. Norah got coo’d at, I got to play both the proud father and the randomly complemented blogger, and Moonshot got to sleep in. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to get out and see the freezing fog (which I now know is called rime) on all the trees. Hauntingly beautiful. (Click to see the finer details)
Later that afternoon, Mouse and FreddyJ arrived and shortly after them came Moonshot’s Grandmother from Nebraska.
The rest of the weekend went smoothly. We lounged. We ate. We opened gifts and then listened to newly received cds, watched newly received movies, and read newly recieved books. Arlo played with Hobbes and we all played with Norah. And then, on Tuesday morning we packed up Zazu the Outback and headed back home. Both our exhausted munchkins slept nearly the whole 5 hours.
And that brings us back to where you found us when you joined…our feet propped up and toasting the successful completion of a wonderful Christmas. With Norah dreaming peacefully in her own bed, we drank our Scotch as we snuggled under our blanket and watched our Battlestar Galactica.
Ah, blessed routine.
10 comments:
Ah, Mo. Sounds like you had a lovely holiday. And ohmygoodness, Norah is adorable. Thanks for sharing your day with us. :-)
And, I'm not sure, I haven't checked but if feels like you haven't been visiting as much. ;-(
It is nice to return to normal in a way, but I miss the craziness already.
Wink - First you mock me for visiting too often and now you bring in some extra holiday guilt because I don't visit enough? Ahhh! :) Don't worry, Wink, you can't chase me away just by drawing attention to my surfing habits. It'll take more than that to shame me ;)
Si - Yes, I pride myself on my child-abandonment skills. However, I leave her everyday for work...so the real challange there was for Moonshot who even has trouble leaving Little Miss with ME. We're working on it.
MG, you can ask anyone who knows me- Simon for instance- I'm not happy unless I'm giving somebody a hard time. It's how I show affection. PD will tell you, I love him A LOT. Lol
Word Verification: BBEDT
"Been Brilliant Every Damn Time"
(you can probably do better...)
Happy New Year:)!
What a great baby's first Christmas, for her and for her parents.
I know what you mean about the church back home experience. You just smile and nod and try to remain nonchalant. Cool that the lady reads and actually said something to you. Quite a way to de-lurk, eh?
Dear Moksha,
Happy New Year...mm'mmm Scotch. So say we all!
Love,
Cheeseburger Brown
About feeling awkward in church...as a veteran of a number of Protestant churches, I can assure you that, seriously, nobody noticed that you weren't saying the liturgy (note the use of the correct term). And if they had noticed, they wouldn't have cared. It's the same situation as when you join a gym, and you think that everyone is checking out the wimpy amount of weight you bench and sniggering, but really they're just there to admire their own biceps.
And if anybody did notice, shame on them! They're supposed to be paying attention to the pastor! There, now you have something to feel superior to any nutjobs who were staring about.
It was good to see you guys!
*sniff* How comes FreddyJ and I aren't in any of the Christmas pictures?? *sniff sniff* It's because I'm too ugly, isn't it? You're afraid the sight of my horrendous mug will frighten your readers away.
You could at least put FJ up...he's quite handsome.
(I'm just kidding, BTW.) :)
Elsa - Thanks, same to ya!
Mark - It gives me some tiny fraction of a taste of what it migh tbe like to be a real writer with fans. To have someone come up who you have never met but who is familiar with your work...it's odd. Reminded me of a time when I was living in New Orleans tha I ran into a guy who had a copy of the cd Matt (aka Goldrunt)and I had made a few years back. Concidering that we had handed out maybe 20 copies of that thing, the odds of me running into a "fan" (let alone striking up a conversation that lead him to realize I was that guy) were astronomical. Ok...I guess it's not really the same as the Nice Church Lady at all...but it made me think of it.
CBB - Right back atcha...and nicely done, sir. So say we all.
Simon - Luckily, Norah is to young to protest my leaving. I look forward to the heartache. Today, however, I don't have to feel it becasue I'm on baby-watching duty. Moonshot is sick, so I'm letting her sleep in. Hoping to make it to work in a few hours.
Mouse - Why are you making fun of how much weight I can bench? That's just rude!
And I never figured that the fine church people were staring at me or preparing the Heathen-Whompin' Stick. Even if everyone is perfectly welcoming, it is a bit uncomfortable to be the sole exception in a room full of devotion. I think that's just human nature.
And I would have put up a picture of you guys if I'd had just one shot where you weren't making some sort of lewd gesture at the camera. It's sorta hard to find the Christmas spirit amidst that kind of filth. Alright, that's not true. The real reason is that I didn't really post Christmas pictures. I posted Norah pictures. And sadly I didn't get a single picture of you or FreddyJ with Norah. It's sad, but I also didn't get a new one of your Mom with Norah either. I got lots of pics of Norah, people opening presents, rime, and Norah with your pop. That's it. Next time, hit me upside the head with my camera and make me get a few group shots.
You mad at me?
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