A Different Christmas

This is an unusual Christmas season for us. Normally, we would be planning to travel to Louisiana to visit my side of the family, but the calendar just did not cooperate this year. Christmas is falling on a Saturday, and the girls’ school Christmas break started on Friday and ends on January 2. Since hubby has to be here for the Christmas Eve service on Friday night, and it is a two-day trip out there and back, we just wouldn’t be able to stay long enough to justify the travel time. So, we are staying here for the holidays.

This is the first time since 2002 (I think) that we haven’t been with my family for Christmas. I’m handling it okay right now, but I have bouts of homesickness occasionally. Holidays with extended family have been a big part of my life, so this is a change for me.

So, Christmas 2010 will be one where we make memories here, with our family of 5. We’ll go to the Christmas Eve service on Friday, and then spend Saturday opening gifts, reading the Christmas story, and eating a kid-friendly Christmas dinner. (Kid Friendly=plain green beans instead of casserole, no dressing because hubby and I would be eating leftovers for the next month…you get the idea.) For once, our kids will be able to spend all day playing with their Christmas toys if they so desire, instead of us saying, “What do you want to take with you?” so they can play with them on our trip. So, there are positives, and I fully intend to make the best of them.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t miss traveling home…