A White Christmas

The sun and snow fell on a full house which was waking slowly to a postcard Christmas morning. Outside, the lawn was entirely blanketed in white and trees were coated in ice, giving the illusion of tempered glass. The first out of bed, I made myself breakfast and sipped tea as seven others gradually rose out of slumber.

An ice storm that passed through Toronto following my return had ravaged trees and hydro wires, leaving many people without power. My grandparents and uncle were among the unfortunate and after a full night without heat, they conceded to stay with us.

Gift unwrapping was done in two parts: first with my sisters and parents, then with the whole family. The five of us went turn by turn, un-stuffing our stockings and ripping paper. By the end of round one, I had amassed a good collection of foreign currencies (Australian and Hong Kong dollars) and a pile of new clothes. The major gift was an I.O.U. ticket from Australia to Macau! I had given a designer scarf to one sister and slim, brown driving gloves to the other. For my parents I got a picture frame with the intent that I’ll eventually finish a portrait I’ve been drawing for them. I suppose I also agreed to go thirds on some other gifts for my parents, but I couldn’t say what they were or that I’ve gotten around to paying anyone back...

When my uncle and grandparents joined us, we repeated the process with another set of giant stockings and gifts. This time, I was excited to hand out chocolate bars I had bought in Switzerland. With my grandfather’s was an envelope filled with Euros I was “holding for him,” and on which I had written “for re-gifting.” He laughed and handed me back the money! Among my latest presents were three books: Lead the Field, Let My People Go Surfing, and The Innocents Abroad. If you’ve heard of any of these titles, then you can guess my level of impatience in wanting to read them!

The afternoon was spent on scratch tickets and playing Settlers of Catan. I got really lucky with the tickets and even got a ‘T’ in Bingo! Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to finish our game of Catan before we had to clear the table for dinner.

It is impossible to describe a delicious meal when your mind is entirely devoted to reminiscing about how good it was. The table was sprawled with turkey, stuffing, rice, broccoli, carrots, and to be honest, too much to remember. Everyone had to leave and come back to fit in desert: apple pie and ice cream.

This holiday season was the perfect reminder of how fortunate I am. My Family, my dog, a home cooked meal, my bed! Christmas wouldn’t have been the same without any of it!

This post comes a few days late, so I must already wish you a happy and successful New Year! May you eat well, love unreservedly, and make the most of 2014!