Time To Get Up

OK well family time was good while it lasted, now I'm all family'd out and ready to move on to the next thing. That sounds awful, I know, but everyone gets what I mean. At some point, when we we halfway through Ridicuously Large Dinner #2 (#1 was Christmas Eve), we all kind of got tired of it. Well, the kids did, at least. I mean so many good things happened today - we all recieved great gifts, we enjoyed staying in pajamas till mid-afternoon (which would never happen otherwise in this house) and we even enjoyed watching the dog run around with jingle bells on his neck, astounding us with the delight he took in being so noisy. It was a good holiday, and yet I was aware that these holidays will also change. I think we're all ready for it, too, because we're old pros at pulling off these kinds of Christmases.

They'll change soon enough - Teagan will be out in the real world next Christmas, maybe even flying home for the holidays for a brief break from real work. I plan on making my own changes, and though I have no idea which ones will have occurred by next Chrismas, I know some will have. It sounds bad to say it, but maybe my grandmother won't be around anymore, which would change a lot. What happens when we start having Christmas at one of my sibling's houses, with new additions to our own families? I like thinking about it, because every set of traditions needs to be fixed up from time to time. To me, Christmas has always been a time for being with the people who mean the most to us, and I could see at the table tonight that for my brother, my sister and I, there were a few people missing. I know we're ready to move on because we now know that family extends beyond genetic similarities.

Now that Christmas has passed, it's the post-holiday daze that ensues - everyone gets sick of their family after a while and is ready to get back on the road. I'm still worried about that road, because it's not as cheerful as some other peoples, but now I have a direction to head towards - change. If I've learned something since last Christmas, it's to seek what makes you happy. I know I go on and on about how difficult that is, but I know for sure that it's always a challenge worth facing. I don't want to pretend that I have an inevitably rough path ahead of me, because I'm choosing it myself. Yet I know that last year I wouldn't have known enough to make that choice, to decide what's best for me when it's not the obvious answer. Maybe I'm wrong, too, but I'm also willing to make mistakes if they'll bring me closer to the truth.

As for my parents, they're probably a little more wary of these changes - they've walked in our shoes before and know, to some extent, what lies before their children. But they see the need for change too - they see that our family of five could use a little expanding in the future, that a little more drama might make the holidays more exciting for all of us.

We're still on vacation for a few more weeks, which might get to be rather long if I spend too much more time in this house. To quote my uncle, who will be arriving on New Year's Day for some more family time (ack!)... "Let's Get Crackin'!"