The Post-Christmas post.
It's all over. Caroline is leaving tomorrow to head back to Ottawa, work is just around the corner. And so is a brand spanking new year. Sooo ready for a fresh start. I have huge expectations for 2006. Finally, Jimmy and I are gonna get some luck.(at least I hope.)
So in a nutshell.... Christmas Eve was with my family. My immediate family pays our annual once-a-year visit to church and then it's off to my aunt and uncle's where my dad's side of the family gets together, we play 'Christmas' games and then the food follows all the midnight Christmas kisses. Then with full bellies, we head home to bed.
Being newly-weds, this year was different for Jimmy & I. We both ALWAYS woke up at our parents homes and opened gifts separately. While we were living in Ottawa, when we came home for visits, we moved back into our childhood bedrooms. Nowadays, Jimmy and I are living in the same city as our parents. (When I drive, I time everything by songs....my parents live 1.5 songs away from our place and Jimmy's parent's are 2 songs away. Soooo different from Ottawa.) This year, I decided Jimmy and I should open our gifts together with each parent. Jimmy's parents house was the first stop at 8am. The tree looked like it had puked up gifts, there were soo many. And one gift was opened at a time....with everyone else as the audience. Sooo different than at my parent's place. It took 3 hours and Jimmy's father and brother in law got lots of tools. They all looked the same to me.
Then it was off to my parents home. I told Jimmy to prepare for the whirlwind cause we did things much different. Unlike Jimmy's parents who wrap money, my parents give mostly gifts. Soooo, we open gifts and then throw the paper on the ground. At Jimmy's parents, we have to keep the paper money separate from the wrapping paper so as we unwrap, the paper goes into a garbage bag!!!! Seriously, who does this? Anybody else?
After opening gifts, Jimmy and I ate breakfast with my family before heading home to shower and dress for dinner with Jimmy's side of the family. Lots of running back and forth. The things we do for free meals huh?
Finally came Boxing Day. The last party for a few days. Back to my side of the family for yet another free supper. My uncle is the coolest. After his divorce from a crazy woman, he moved into his own house where there are no rules!! Bwa-hahaha. After his two daughters (both equally selfish) decided they'd rather move away to live with their mother and her rich boyfriend (ah yes, money buys happiness for these two morons) my uncle decided there was no point in sitting around waiting for his girls to come back (or even call). Boxing Day is his day and we make sure we all show up, party hard (and loud) and show him that he love him.
I have a REALLY special family. I have a family that most of my friends are jealous of. All my uncles and aunts are suportive, cool and very open-minded. And whereas most kids party with their friends, in my family we party with our parents who are our friends. We're young, we do stupid things....and our parents outdrink the best of us. We spend the weekends with our parents and invite our friends along to join in....and our friends are blown away every time.
So in a nutshell.... Christmas Eve was with my family. My immediate family pays our annual once-a-year visit to church and then it's off to my aunt and uncle's where my dad's side of the family gets together, we play 'Christmas' games and then the food follows all the midnight Christmas kisses. Then with full bellies, we head home to bed.
Being newly-weds, this year was different for Jimmy & I. We both ALWAYS woke up at our parents homes and opened gifts separately. While we were living in Ottawa, when we came home for visits, we moved back into our childhood bedrooms. Nowadays, Jimmy and I are living in the same city as our parents. (When I drive, I time everything by songs....my parents live 1.5 songs away from our place and Jimmy's parent's are 2 songs away. Soooo different from Ottawa.) This year, I decided Jimmy and I should open our gifts together with each parent. Jimmy's parents house was the first stop at 8am. The tree looked like it had puked up gifts, there were soo many. And one gift was opened at a time....with everyone else as the audience. Sooo different than at my parent's place. It took 3 hours and Jimmy's father and brother in law got lots of tools. They all looked the same to me.
Then it was off to my parents home. I told Jimmy to prepare for the whirlwind cause we did things much different. Unlike Jimmy's parents who wrap money, my parents give mostly gifts. Soooo, we open gifts and then throw the paper on the ground. At Jimmy's parents, we have to keep the paper money separate from the wrapping paper so as we unwrap, the paper goes into a garbage bag!!!! Seriously, who does this? Anybody else?
After opening gifts, Jimmy and I ate breakfast with my family before heading home to shower and dress for dinner with Jimmy's side of the family. Lots of running back and forth. The things we do for free meals huh?
Finally came Boxing Day. The last party for a few days. Back to my side of the family for yet another free supper. My uncle is the coolest. After his divorce from a crazy woman, he moved into his own house where there are no rules!! Bwa-hahaha. After his two daughters (both equally selfish) decided they'd rather move away to live with their mother and her rich boyfriend (ah yes, money buys happiness for these two morons) my uncle decided there was no point in sitting around waiting for his girls to come back (or even call). Boxing Day is his day and we make sure we all show up, party hard (and loud) and show him that he love him.
I have a REALLY special family. I have a family that most of my friends are jealous of. All my uncles and aunts are suportive, cool and very open-minded. And whereas most kids party with their friends, in my family we party with our parents who are our friends. We're young, we do stupid things....and our parents outdrink the best of us. We spend the weekends with our parents and invite our friends along to join in....and our friends are blown away every time.
posted by Raina* at 11:48 PM
7 Comments:
awesome!!
every year is different.. this year I passed out presents as quickly as I could and by the time I was doen passing them out they had all been opened. Sweet!
Last year we were all apart, my brother spent Christmas with a family from his church where they did things STRANGE!! He said that one gift was opened at at time. It took 5 hours to open presents. He said that as each gift was opened they would "reflect" on the gift, how they would use it, how much they liked it, etc. and other people would tell stories about the gifts, why they gave it, etc... WAY too much for me to handle!!!
Oh my gosh, how fun!!! It sounds like you had a total blast for the holidays! It's crazy how different the two families are! :) I wanna come party with you! :)
Your Christmas sounds great! The wrapping money thing made me laugh too hard.
Brilliant way of measuring distance by song! I do the same. It takes me 11 songs to walk to my friends' house from here.
Sometimes money and gift certificats end up in the garbage at my in-laws too, lol. There's about 8 of us there for xmas morning.
My Mom's Christmas is a lot quieter and tamer than his side of the family. But then again it's just us with her, her husband and sometimes my gramma.
...Love that you love your fam so much - so awesome.
...So glad you and Jimmy enjoyed your first newlywed Christmas together.
Can you explain to a non Canadian what Boxing Day is please? Sounds fun, I have to admit, but um....
hi raina!
i finally found your blog.
it wasn't hard since everyone loves you so much!
first - your hair is adorable!
i love it!
makes me want to be blonde
second - lovin' the banner!
and finally - i'm so happy that you have such a wonderful family! mine is very similar and they are truly a blessing!
happy new year!
Happy and Healthy New Year to you, Jimmy, Bannerman and your family. I love em all and I love spending time with em. You're right...you're family is a riot and they never seemed to mind that we all hung out at your place!
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