Sort of…

I think Christmas would have been much more enjoyable if I didn’t come down with something (flu? other bug? who knows?).  I felt the start of something on the way home from work on Christmas Eve, and by Christmas morning, I was reluctant to drag myself out of bed.

But, there was an 8 year old, eager to open his presents, so drag myself I did…

Despite the recession, Santa Claus was very generous this year.   DS got a TV for his room (this was more like a gift for me – I can only watch so much “Cartoon Network” on a given day!), plus the Lego Star Wars model that he had been begging for all year.  Separately, Santa (aka DH) delivered Rock Band 2 as his gift for the family.  There was also the usual assortment of books, candy and pokemon cards in his stocking.  My parents sent him another Lego Star Wars model to complement the one from Santa.  I received an iTunes gift card from DH (I spent it this morning, downloading cheesy ’70’s songs!), and a pair of pj’s from my parents.

Later that morning, we headed over to the in-laws, where we opened more presents.  Santa makes two stops each year for DS – once at home, and once at grandma’s.  At Grandma’s, Santa had left even more Lego models, and some games (“Monopoly”, “Sorry”, etc.), together with the usual assortment of clothes.

My MIL surprised me by presenting to me a small box – it contained a gold ring, with 4 channel-set rubies.  She explained that it belonged to her mother, and that I was “custodian” of the ring.  Eventually, it would go to DS’s eldest daughter, when DS (who, after all, is only eight) has a daughter.  My in-laws also gave me a crock-pot (my first!) – which was a change of pace from their usual gift – it’s become a tradition for them to give me a pair of flannel pj’s, but I explained to my MIL last month that I’ve given up wearing flannel pj’s (I think I’m going through “the change”,  ~ sorry if that’s too much information ~ and I get too warm at night, even in the dead of winter of these days!)

From my MIL’s place, we headed up to southern Michigan, to my DH’s aunt & uncle’s place for a wonderful feast.  Because I wasn’t feeling well, I debated skipping it, but decided to go along.  I ate lunch, and then promptly found the most comfortable bed, and slept the rest of the afternoon.

I skipped work on Friday, because I was still feeling sick.  I don’t think I was missed – I think everyone else in the department was off for the day anyway.  But, since I don’t get paid if I don’t work (still being a contractor), I hadn’t planned on taking the day off.  But, I knew if I’d gone in, I would have been miserable.  I wish I could have said I spent the day stitching, but when I’m not feeling well, that’s the last thing I want to do; I mostly just lay on the couch, and watched some movies on TV.

By yesterday morning, I was feeling better, although I managed to sleep in until 9am, which is almost unheard of for me unless I am sick.  We headed back to my MIL’s place (thank goodness she lives about a mile from us), for the Christmas gathering with my (step)FIL’s side of the family.  We had almost 30 people in attendance, and we celebrated with a buffet-style lunch.  I used my new crock pot to make meatballs (I knew there was a reason I was given it!).  DS complained that he was tired as soon as we got there, so went to lay down.  I went to check on him, and discovered he was running a fever (I wonder where he go that from?), so he wasn’t in a festive spirit initially.  However, when it came to gift opening time, he was thrilled with the Legos that he received (more Star Wars models - we kid him that he’s going to be an engineer at Lego when he grows up), and that perked him up right away.

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to just relax today, and maybe get some stitching done.   We’ll see how that goes.