The big news for this week is, of course, Christmas. I went up to see my family, including my brother who's serving the army in Oklahoma. I spent most of the weekend making pies and other holiday foods. Then, finally, it was time to celebrate.
My mom's side family has a Christmas Eve tradition of getting everyone together at my uncle's house and partaking in a Christmas game. This year we had two: a game from my brother Tyler and his wife Shantel and a game from my cousins Alyson and Kevin. Tyler's game involved pictionary, putting together puzzles, dressing tiny dogs, and trivia. The thing we laughed at most was when he had a present wrapping contest--which involved wrapping present's for his wife's emminent birthday. We laughed at that. I came in third, but I got the best prize: a twenty dollar gift certificate to Wal-Mart. Alyson and Kevin's game involved trivia, charades, random "Minute-to-Win-It"-esque stunts. Such as sucking up ornaments with used-up rolls of wrapping paper and hooking it on a string. My team lost that, as we do every year.
As we've aged, my family's grown further apart, but these games unite us in a positive way. It's becoming increasingly rare that we all find something to participate in, something to laugh over, something to look back on for years to come. It's also poignant because we have no idea just how long we can all of us come together like this. My brother's in the army, my aunt's in Seattle, and two of my cousins work odd holiday hours. We never know if this is our last game.
Christmas Day was more subdued. We ate cinnamon rolls and drank hot chocolate, as per our tradition. I got approximately eight different books and a couple new shirts, which I consider a successful season. We had ham for dinner, and I spent the next two days transforming the leftovers into soup and quiche. And we still have two containers of hame left. Good thing we have a dog to help us out. :)
I was surprised how much writing I squeezed in alongside holiday preparations, social activities, and plain old laziness. Between waiting for my pies to bake, I edited a couple of chapters from my Team Rocket fanfiction story. This wound up being good practice for editing an actual chapter from my novel. I also did a lot of soul searching and reflecting, resulting in a couple new blog entries which I will post shortly.
I saw Lincoln with my dad today, which is chock full of good old-fashioned, nasty insults. Not only did it inspire me to take a look back at U.S. history, it made me want to think of how to tear someone apart while keeping the language PG. I finished The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal. Last but not least, I cut my hair. For the first time since elementary school, I now have bangs and I already want to grow out--at least a little. It is sort of fun, though, combing my fingers through them and flipping them back.
That's all for this week. See you in 2013.
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