Christmas Eves

Last Christmas Eve after the church service I remember driving through neighborhoods with Jean and the kids looking at Christmas lights, and talking with Jean about what the upcoming year might be like – especially in Seattle. That we shouldn't kid ourselves in thinking it was going to be a romantic adventure. It was going to be hard.

And it has been hard. This Christmas Eve seemed to sum up the entire year in the span of a few hours:

Our garage doesn't have a floor drain like our house on hall street does, so there is some standing water in there from snow from the van. Jean was trying to step around the water and snagged her only winter coat on a nail. On our way to church I turn down a side street. It was icy from packed snow. The street is super narrow and there were cars packed bumper to bumper that haven't moved in two weeks – this was obvious because of the 8"-10" of snow piled on top of each car. I started sliding left and couldn't avoid taking out a mirror on a Prius that had been sitting there for a week. I left a note with my name and number on the person's door handle. (who knows which house the car belonged to...) Considering how long the car had been sitting there and the rain we are going to get, the note may just bleed from water and be unreadable. But, I wanted to be honest and not be a jerk that simply hit and ran. Church was sweet. They did the service around a chant of O Come O Come Emanuel, with chants by the choir, singing, scripture reading, a message from the pastor, etc. It was very good for our hearts. Then, I got the van stuck in front of the mail box when we got home. I got out and attempted to push while jean tried backing out. Mud was thrown all over me. It was awesome. I couldn't budge it. I got back in the van, determined to get it out. I did. We got inside and Jean prepared a fantastic smorgasbord – a tradition her parents gave to her. The meal was great, and talked non-stop through Polar Express – another family tradition of ours. the kids were wound for Christmas.

The evening wasn't romantic in an "everything is easy way," yet, it was romantic in an "our family loves and enjoys each other."