We started Christmas last Saturday at the Massey's. Jack and Rhonda served up a holiday supper and we spent some time with the Massey group, except for Aaron, but we hope to see him and his daughter sometime this week.
The next Christmas event was to watch Carmen's program at her church, and this is something I really enjoy. Her church is Apostolic, which is scary to some folks. And I'm not saying that I agree with everything, but I'm not sure I agree with everything any religion values, and that includes the Methodist church that I belong too. The program is a cantata, and most of it consists of presenting Christmas songs, which is the part I like the best. I had supper with the congregation afterwords, which was fun and enjoyable. Carmen's church is full of wonderful people, and I enjoy seeing them each year around this time. Plus, it's nice to see Carmen sing a couple of songs as well, even though I tell her each year to smile more.
Next up was Christmas with the Kiddoo-Bizarri kids at our house on Christmas Eve morning. Amber has developed a tradition of wearing pajamas, which I'm admittedly not a big fan of, but I'm trying to let it grow on me. My pajamas simulate a Santa suit, and it's red and in past years when I've been heavier, I felt awful - like a Santa that had a belly fully of jelly but no white beard to go along with it. And I'm just not ready to be a jolly old fat Santa yet. I'm not going to lie...being thinner this year helped. Now I just looked like an skinnier "middle-aged" dude where Santa pajamas. Unfortunately, Chase wasn't in attendance, which was a disappointment, but all the other Kiddoo and Bizarri children joined us - their spouses and children included. And extra special this year were the grandkids all in the fun - Ava, Tucker, Brooklyn, and Brinley had a nice time, and I can only imagine Christmas getting crazier and crazier as the little ones grow older.
In the evening, we packed up and headed to Grandma Cathy's house. Chase was at this gathering, so at least we got to see him and give him his gifts. We also got to see Kaylee and Peyton, and Greg joined us too. More food, featuring oyster soup and ham sandwiches, and more gifts handed out as well, were the events of the evening. Amber and I then headed home and crashed; I think we were sleeping by nine o'clock.
In between our family events today, Carmen and Cole and I watched Hallmark movies, which was fun. Carmen and I (and Amber) are sold are the movies, but Cole is a bit of a skeptic. We will keep working on him.
Christmas Day itself is pretty much like a "leftover" anymore. All the kids are spread out to their "other side" families, so Amber and I had a relatively quiet day. We went over to Kourtney's and then stopped by the casino on the way home...no luck there, though. Surprisingly, there were more people there then I thought. I wonder if that's a signal that other folks are like us...all Christmas complete. I hope it's not because those folks just don't have a Christmas to attend.
Yesterday and today, Amber and I traveled to Dubuque to check out the Diamond Jo Casino and just have an overnight get-a-way. We lost...again...but the buffet was really good last night, and we enjoyed seeing a different casino and playing games that we weren't familiar with. I think my new favorite slot game was Farmville. We went back again this morning, but that didn't go well either...dang it!
So today we returned home and put away Christmas '19. It's a bit of a process to get all the boxes out from the storage closet in the basement, and pack back up all the decorations and ornaments and of course the tree. After a couple of hours the recent remnants of Christmas were stored away; left only with the memories of the holiday.
And honestly, it was a wonderful holiday! By working pretty hard at officiating in November and December, I was able to purchase gifts for all my close family and friends and stay in my budget. Plus, I was able to take Amber on the quick overnight casino escape up to Dubuque; she took care of the hotel room, and I took care of our casino spending money.
Unfortunately, there was no white Christmas this year, which was a bummer. On the other hand, taking down the outside lights today and driving around to families and events and Dubuque sure was a lot simpler without snow on the ground and roads. We had three inches of snow on Halloweeen, and record setting high temps and no snow around Christmas...crazy.
So the Christmas break is over, and it's back to officiating tomorrow. Then a Sunday off and back to another game on Monday. It's a good thing I'm doing a little officiating...Santa's shopping and no luck at the Diamond Jo is leaving this guy a little light on the wallet. Working a few games over the next couple of days perhaps can save me until my next paycheck arrived in mid-January.
Bring on the New Year!
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