Vogue, vogue, vogue, vogue...
The holidays were pretty busy, but a lot of fun. Somehow despite our demanding schedule, Forest, Kirstin and I didn't get stressed out.
Christmas Eve Kirstin and I spent 4 straight hours wrapping gifts for extended family and Forest, then ran for our Cinnabons and more scotch tape. We got back just in time for her to get ready for her choir performance.
The church service she sang in was really neat. It was a Children's service, where parents are encouraged not to bother "shushing" their excited kids, and to just enjoy the high level of energy in the room. The whole service was singing Christmas carols, and instead of a sermon, they brought all the kids to the front of the church for a story-teller's version of the nativity story, and to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. I'm not an incredibly Christian person, but I thought it was pretty cool. Kirstin's choir sang "Do You Hear What I Hear" and did a great job. Somehow Forest managed to get out of work in time to make it in time for the whole service, which I thought was laudable on his part. After that, Kirstin went along with her dad to another Christmas, and Forest and I went home. I was sentenced to a nap while he wrapped things, and he didn't wake me up until it was time to go back to church!
You see, my mom said it would "mean a lot" to her if we would be there to see her ring bells at the late-night candlelight service at church. "Mean a Lot" means that she will most likely cry or guilt trip you (or likely both) if you don't show up, so we were punctual. Actually, this is probably my favorite church service every year, and I tend to make an effort to show up. The whole service is comprised of carols, with a little bit of the Christmas story from the bible here and there. Somehow both of my sisters and my brother-in-law were there, along with Forest and my stepdad and mom. It's always fun to sing with my family. Karen's a high soprano, my mom and Laura are mezzos, and I usually sing alto. It's a sound so familiar to me that it takes me right back to my childhood, and makes me feel at home, like singing around the campfire. My sisters were just as happy as I was, it showed. It's hard to explain, but there's something about making music together that just makes my family closer. We don't talk a whole lot, but by God, we sing.
When you are done with the Christmas Eve service at our church, it's Christmas morning. Everyone goes home yawning, but with a lot still to do. Forest and I were like two children, though, too wound up to be sleepy. We fixed some snacks for ourselves, watched the Grinch, and began stuffing stockings and putting presents under the tree. We probably both overdid it a bit, for each other and for Kirstin... but when you have an 8-foot tree, it really doesn't look that bad! Most things fit in the general under-tree area, and when we moved the couch in there and a couple of chairs, it was downright cozy. All of our gifts somehow managed to arrive in plenty of time for Christmas, which was a nice suprise.
After everything was in place, we each gave the other a Christmas Eve gift. Mine was a very nice set of silk PJs from Victoria's Secret, and his was two pairs of PJ pants, one silk and one cotton. The bizarreness doesn't stop there, I'm afraid. Forest and I think a lot alike, and it's miraculous that we didn't buy each other the exact same gifts.
First of all, we didn't let each other see any of the packages beforehand, but somehow we both did silly things with our gift tags. I put a different set of names on each of his, for instance: "From Del, to Tiger", "To Honey from Honey", "To Cheesy From Your Little Cracker", and "To George from Gracie". He did similar things! I don't think either of us put our real names on any gifts. How psychic is that?
We had a terrible time getting to sleep, because we were just plain too wound up. Finally we sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to each other, and dozed off. At 7 AM our alarm went off, and we stumbled into the shower, made some coffee, and were rather cheerful, despite the ungodly hour, while we opened our gifts to each other. The similarities continued.
We each got the other a copy of "The Matrix" on video, and the soundtrack to "Desperado".
He got me some books. I got him some books. My main gift to him was the Tae Kwon Do Wavemaster, his for me was an entire set of pads, headgear, and a uniform for Tae Kwon Do. We each gave the other a new bag for our gym gear, both black. From there the similarities mostly end, but I think that's just plain pretty strange.
I was, of course, delighted with his thoughtfulness, and think he liked the things I got him, too. Admittedly, I was somewhat relieved. We are still new to each other, and you never know what kind of gifts someone does or doesn't enjoy getting until they open them. I think we both did very well for each other. Then again, we practically share a brain, how could we not? I really enjoyed watching him open his gifts, and neither one of us chided the other for the obvious excesses we had both indulged in when shopping for each other.
Miranda and Darcy came by shortly after we were finished, while we were still playing with things we had opened, and cleaning up for the next wave of destruction. We gave them their gifts, and had a good time relaxing while baking Cinnabons and eating the cheesecake they brought. (Cheesecake is pretty rich for breakfast, I know, but hey, it was Christmas.) Soon Bill, Kathy, Kirstin and Allyn showed up, and the true destruction began. As always, Allyn was more interested in opening and closing doors than his gifts, and Kirstin was a bit on the hyper side, but everyone seemed to have a jolly time. By 11:30 AM everyone had gone to their next parties, and Forest and I (though ready to go back to bed) were headed for my mom's house. We spent quite a bit of time just chilling out at my mom's which was a bit of a welcome suprise. Karen and Jim overslept, and were 2 hours late getting there, so Laura, Mom, Sam, Forest and I got to cool our heels, eat breakfast, and open stockings while we waited. It was quiet and pleasant, and we watched the cardinals and blue jays dive in and out of my folks' birdfeeders for a while. Laura basked in front of the fireplace, and Forest and I snuggled on the couch. By the time everyone arrived we were running quite behind schedule. We opened gifts, and ate dinner, and I'm much chagrinned to say that we therefore arrived a good hour or two late to Forest's family's gathering.
One of these days we will get it right, I swear.
At Forest's folks, everyone had eaten dinner already (thank heavens), and they were all hanging around waiting to open gifts. We played some video game I was terrible at on his brother's PlayStation, and then got to it. By this time Kirstin had been to 4 Christmasses already, and was starting to act as though she was up past her bedtime (which she was.) She was loud, and squirelly, demanded attention, and talked back on a number of occasions. Forest and I were fine until the very last few minutes of gift-opening, when we were both about ready to strangle her. So when most people were gone, we plopped her down on the couch, put in Beauty and the Beast, and turned off the lights, and went in the next room to play cards with his dad and cousin Tina. She somehow managed not to go to sleep, but was relatively quiet and tolerable after a good solid dose of Disney Brain Candy.
I hate that Kirstin is almost always a very well-behaved, polite child, until days like Christmas, when she just happens to be in front of my parents (uncles, aunts, and Forest's folks, too.) So they probably all think she's some horrible brat. Then again, as Forest pointed out, if she acted the way she did with another 8-year-old, it would have been a normal Christmas event. That's how kids are. But there weren't any other kids around, so she was having an 8-year-old energy level with a bunch of adults, which isn't so acceptable. I guess it's unreasonable for me to expect her to act like an adult at the holidays. I hope all the other adults understood.
We were pretty tired by the time all of this was over, and tumbled into bed to try to reclaim some lost sleep. Of course, we didn't get right to sleep, either, because we were pretty excited about one of the gifts we'd gotten as a couple and hadn't had a chance to talk of it much. My mom and Sam went a bit overboard (not that I'm not grateful) and got us a weekend stay at The Cloghaun Bed & Breakfast on Mackinac Island. We're both very excited about the trip! I've always thought it would be neat to stay on the island, but have never been able to afford it. I think we're going to try to go in May, before the real tourist season starts, and hopefully catch the trillium season. While we were trying to get to sleep, we daydreamed about riding horses on the island trails, biking around the water's edge, and just being together, uninterrupted by the world for a few days. I plan to leave the cel phone in the car on the mainland.
Sunday after a few hours in dreamland, we piled in the car, picked up Laura, and went to see the Rockettes' Christmas show, which was in Detroit for the weekend. I hadn't been to the Fox theatre since its restoration, and I must say that it very nearly eclipsed the show with its spectacular accoutrements. The theatre is done very much in the excessive 1920's style, and features the hugest pipe organ I have ever seen or heard. It was a treat for the ears when the organist played during intermission and the Hallelujah chorus from the Messiah at the end of the show. The Rockettes were cool, too... but I must say, the experience of the Fox was more remarkable than the show.
After that we had a bit of an adventure in a very bad neighborhood finding the freeway entrance, and then were much relieved to drive to my dad's house. Everything there is always very quiet. My dad always watches a football game, and Suzi always dinks around in the kitchen. We pretty much piled on the couch in a warm spot near the fire, and didn't move except to eat. Upon getting home, Forest and I were ready to be ourselves for a while. We put in some of our new music, kicked each other (sparring) for a short while, and then began the gratuitous fit of cuddling we have been engaged in ever since. Last night was a continuation of that, although we did stop long enough to drive to Lansing and cuddle our way through Sleepy Hollow and return home. There we snuggled through a martial arts movie (in a futile attempt to lighten our minds, after the rather dark and gory Sleepy Hollow) and went to bed.
Needless to say there hasn't been a lot of time for reflection or new relationship development, except that we are both very happy that our first Christmas together was very pleasant, and we're more sappily in love than ever before, both having met all of each other's extended families and coming out unscathed. It means to me that we seem to have the support of all our folks.
It also still melts me to my core every time he smiles. Which was a lot this weekend.
