Christmas Come and Gone

As a child my mother used to say, “You’re as slow as Christmas.” I understood fully exactly what she meant because it always felt as if Christmas would never get here. Waiting for Santa took forever. I have never gotten over my love of Christmas.  
I was up this morning at 5:40 too excited for the festivities to start. You would think I was waiting to see which list I was on. Like I don’t know that I am always naughty.
My family was coming from the farm to open gifts and have a late lunch. This made for a very long and leisurely morning. Carter opened Santa gifts, I cooked and Russ walked Shay. Almost when Carter couldn’t stand the waiting any longer the family arrived in many cars laden with gifts that took many trips to get into the house.  
Circled around the tree we opened and opened. Everyone was surprisingly happy with each and everyone. The funniest gift was from my mother to my father, a dozen white envelopes each labeled with the name of a local establishment he frequents; Midtown Market, Barber shop, Lowes… and inside were not individual gift cards from each of these places, but $20 bills. We all got a big laugh out of that one.
After the gifting our friend Rich arrived to join us for the Christmas feast. The ham and salmon satisfied all, but I think the broccoli rice casserole I made specifically for my sister Margaret was my favorite. We licked the cups of our ginger ice cream clean and did the dishes.
Half of my family departed for naps at the farm and my sister J and Sophie stayed and I taught Sophie how to needlepoint since that was part of her Christmas gift. We talked and laughed and when they left I looked around at all the mess and decided just to leave it until tomorrow. It was a happy, harmonious holiday. Carter reported on Facebook that no fighting took place, for which we are all thankful. But now I have 365 very slow days to wait for next Christmas to come. I can hardly bear the thought.