Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Eve Wishes


Christmas Eve is finally here. All the shopping and planning are done and it's time to settle down in front of the Christmas tree and enjoy a bit of peace and quiet. The Taller Half had to go back offshore on Tuesday so we had family celebrations on Saturday and Monday. My brother and niece came down to spend the weekend and my mother and her husband came over to share the evening with all of us. Alzheimer's related dementia has returned my mother to a childlike existence so it was a different kind of celebration than we usually have. The biggest laugh of the night came when we gathered around mama for the Taller Half to take our picture. As we put on our biggest, brightest smiles, mama put her hands up to her eyes like she was looking through binoculars. The picture is priceless. Not only are we completely cracked up, the photographer shook so hard with laughter that the photo came out somewhat blurred. It doesn't matter though, none of us will forget the moment for the rest of our lives.

The non-English-speaking-Mother-in-Law, visiting from Prague, was also at the festivities. We tried to explain to her what was happening but she was convinced we are all insane because we weren't being serious about mama's condition. We're just happy to still have her with us - she was always a little pixilated anyway. Monday was the day for the Czech celebration. Brother-in-Law came over for a traditional dinner of potato salad and fried fish. After dinner we opened presents and drank loaded egg nog until I had to excuse myself to stagger around the block with the little red dog.

Now it is Christmas Eve and I am enjoying the evening with the animals and more egg nog. The Christmas Story is coming on later and It's A Wonderful Life is on another channel. Maybe I'll just bounce bewteen them. Later, I plan to watch Blackadder's Christmas Carol for the umpteenth time. YouTube has several clips - and it's worth a look-see.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!

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