Welcome back to this retelling of our Christmas vacation. We’re now on day 4 Christmas Eve. During our time of trying to get friends to hang out with us the night before we had arranged to hang out with my friend Ellen after she got out of work at 1pm. So we were all pretty excited for this day.
Our morning started out fairly well. I made a grilled ham and cheese sandwich for both myself and Dustin. Very tasty but unfortunately we had ham almost everyday so it was beginning to get a bit repetitive. My family had somehow ended up with 4 hams so clearly we had to pitch in and try to eat as much as we possibly could. Good thing we don’t eat ham often.
Amelia spent some quality time with my Mum and Dad. She was being completely adorable with them. Talking, walking, jumping around like crazy it was awesome! They seemed to be enjoying her as well. My Dad constantly had this smile on his face when he was holding her which in turn made me smile. My mother even had some memorable moments with her too, making her laugh and run to her. About the only person in the house that didn’t take to Amelia was my sister. Every time my daughter made a noise even if she was happy my sister would instantly grab her head in frustration. Or if Amelia would drool my sister would immediately tell us in a worried tone so that we could avoid getting it on us. But she’s a baby… that’s what babies do. We had to constantly tell Jackie this but it didn’t help. Anything my daughter did would either frustrate or annoy the crap out of Jackie. I guess that’s 14 year old’s for ya.
Eventually it rolled around to the time that Ellen would be coming to get us. So we bundled up Amelia and ourselves and headed out. She took us to a restaurant called Fuddruckers. I hadn’t been there before but Dustin and Ellen had so they were excited to go. We arrived and partook of the awesome food they served. Huge burgers, potato wedges smothered in cheese, and of course a strawberry shake. I was in Heaven! After that we headed over to the closest mall and had a blast.
Let me back track to the week before we came out to Milwaukee. I was at our Medford mall checking out sweaters and figured I’d stop in Victoria’s Secret to scope out some new bras. It was there that I was introduced to what they called the Miraculous Bra. It was a monstrosity. I’m fairly big chested and that thing made me look like Dolly Parton. I didn’t even bother hooking it up in the back. So now fast forward to the mall in Milwaukee. Both Ellen and Dustin insisted that I show them what it looked like with it on. Thank god no one got a picture though. I put it on and showed them with my shirt back on of course. Instantly we were all laughing at how ridiculous it was. My boobs were seriously a good foot out from my chest. Of course the sales lady had to tell me how she could see a visible change to my posture… well yeah, you’re too distracted by boobs to notice anyone slouching.
After our trounce in the ladies store we took a seat in the food court and decided our next move. It was roughly 4pm and the idea of Candy Cane Lane again came to mind. Wouldn’t you know Ellen was all for it! We looked it up and realized that it started at 6pm, but as we walked the drizzling parking lot to her car we noticed it was already getting dark. So I proposed we go there anyway since obviously you can’t shut down streets where people actually live. It turned out to be a good idea. The houses were already lit up and we got to see many houses decked out in their Christmas attire. Dustin was wowed and I was having a blast hanging out with my friend. Amelia was passed out, which was a huge blessing. Since not being at home meant she wasn’t getting as much sleep as normal.
After a good hour of pretty lights we headed over to Ellen’s house for a brief visit with her Mum and brother. Then it was back on the road and back to my parents house. We got there said our goodbyes and checked out what the family was up to. They were fixing dinner and asked if we wanted anything, to which I was still pretty full from lunch so told them to go ahead without us. This time though they stayed within sight. It was already getting into the late evening so Jackie had decided she’d go to bed early. She wanted to be up early for Christmas and who could blame her! Tomorrow would be an exciting day. The rest of us, however, had other plans. My mother, father, Dustin, Amelia and I all stayed up to watch a British comedy series about some priests. It was hilarious! 3 of us decided to start drinking while Dustin watched Amelia. Eventually, she went to sleep and we finished the DVD. Next my parents put in McClintock. And before we knew it, it was 1am in the morning.
So needless to say we didn’t quite wake up as early as we had intended on Christmas. We did get up at 8am though before my parents. Jackie was already waiting for us down in the living room having been up since 6:30am. We asked her when she wanted to wake up my parents and she was generous enough to give them til 9am. They actually ended up waking by themselves. I was excited as not only was it Christmas but it was also time for breakfast which consisted of Herbie Sausage Rolls. Delicious! After we had everyone awake and primed for presents, Jackie and I set about dividing up the stash under the tree. A good chunk of it was hers, no surprise there. We had to hurry up and get through as many of the presents as we could. We had a webcam appointment at 10:30am with my family in England. Present upon present was opened and we all scored some really nice gifts. Even Dustin got a fancy new watch from my family, much to my surprise. It was, however, fast approaching 10:30 and we still had a lot of English presents to go through. So we skipped over the domestic ones and just focused solely on them. Piles full of chocolate and clothes later we had succeeded!
The webcam was an awesome way for everyone to see each other. My Uncle, Aunt, and Grandmother were all introduced to Dustin and Amelia. And of course he to them. We all had a turn talking to them and seeing them in real time while trying to dart around and get everyone in the picture. Though my grandmother needed a little help with the phone as she was at first talking into the wrong end.
We usually have our Christmas dinner in the afternoon so my mother set about getting everything ready. Before we knew it we had an awesome table of turkey, ham, roast potatoes, peas and carrots, and stuffing ready to devour! It was awesome! My mother had cooked the turkey in a slow cooker and it had come out perfect! Next to our plates we had an English tradition of crackers. Amelia was being passed back and forth between Dustin and I so we could eat food at the table. Amelia had taken a liking to the shiny paper the crackers were wrapped in and proceeded to attempt to eat one side. We interrupted her and gave her a piece of carrot to munch on. She loved it! But unfortunately if disgusted my sister so much that she refused to eat her own carrots. Teenagers I swear! So after we had eaten our food we pulled our crackers and played with the toys. A pretty good Christmas dinner if I do say so myself.
We wrapped that up in time for one of my Dad’s friends to come over. He got to meet Amelia and Dustin and catch up on events with my family. He was also kind enough to give us a ride over to my best friends house. After a good 20 minutes of getting lost, apparently I had forgotten how to get there, we found where we were supposed to go and arrived at Joe’s house. Now Joe and Dustin’s friend Matt have the same timber voice and both also have bushy chin beards. Amelia is afraid of Matt and wouldn’t ya know she was afraid of Joe as well. It took her a bit to warm up to him and as we sat on the couch she kept casting curious yet pouty looks at him. It was pretty cute. Eventually she warmed up to him. We had a good time together. Went out to eat played a game called Munckin. It was almost like old times. We had to leave though as it started snowing and I didn’t want to have my Mum come out to get us in a storm. Luckily, the snow wasn’t too bad and she didn’t have any trouble getting to us and then heading home.
Once home, Dad was watching one of the DVD’s I’d gotten him for Christmas and Jackie was playing on her laptop. Once we settled in from being out and about I suggested we set up the Wii and show them how to play. My suggestion went ignored. Ah well, I thought. I still have tomorrow before we head out to the airport. So I decided to start taking things up to our room to pack. We had a lot of presents to try and squeeze into our suitcases. Unfortunately, it turned out that we didn’t have enough room for everything. So my Mum and Dad were awesome enough to suggest that they could ship it to us. That worked out rather well considering the two presents I had shipped to their house for Dustin hadn’t arrived yet. The night wound down and we retired to bed.
The last day of our trip came about and after breakfast I decided to ask again if they wanted to hook up the Wii. My mother responded with a no and stated that they would be able to figure it out. Wow… really? This is the last day here and some good ole family fun might have been a nice way to end it. Or even show that getting something they wanted was actually appreciated in anyway. Instead I’m barraged with how much better her gift was for Dad. I didn’t know that Christmas was a competition. I thought it was about the awesome family time and the look on people’s faces when they open their gifts. Not so much about the constant bragging. Not to mention Dustin told me later on about something Jackie had said to Jerry, Dad’s friend that stopped over. I had asked my Mum what she wanted for Christmas a month back and she’d stated she needed a new eco watch. Apparently she had told the same thing to my Dad and Jackie so we both ended up getting her an eco watch for Christmas. They looked completely different though so at least she has options for different occasions if she wanted. So, Mum had been telling Jerry that she had gotten two, and Jackie piped up saying that of course they knew which one she’d wear in a matter of fact tone. To me that sounds like she was saying hers was better. Again with the competition? I don’t know about you, but that stuff really really pisses me off. It’s not a damn competition. And how friggen rude is that? Ugh!
So after being rejected again for the umptenth time to do anything with my family barring watching TV and playing cards, I headed up to make sure we had everything packed and ready to go. The ride to the airport was pretty much quiet. We said our goodbyes and headed out to catch our flight.
When we got back to Portland we ended up having breakfast over at the Halls the next morning. Dustin began to relay some of the things that had happened from his point of view. So pretty much the same version as you see here. I looked on over his family and extended family and felt a surge of emotion. Having experienced the disjointed life that is now my parents world, it hurts to know that it’s not what I want in a family. I used to remember when I was little that we’d go over to other people’s houses, we’d do things, and have fun. I’m not sure when that all changed. When they became so reclusive. I do know that I like having a big family. I like having get togethers. I like constantly doing something or having something going on in my life. And to watch the people around me doing just that and smiling and joking and not being so self absorbed I had to choke back a few tears. That’s what I wanted to experience with my family.
Yes I had some good times. I also had some bad times too. But it can’t be said that the effort was not made. At least once a day we’d ask if anything was going on or if we could all play a game. Anything to get them involved with us. And it would always be the same response prompting us to find friends to hang out with. It’s kinda funny in a sad way. I remember telling my mother I was pregnant and Dustin was the father which sparked her angry notion that she had no idea who Dustin was, even though I’d been talking about him for the past few months. Yet here they had the opportunity to get to know him better and only one person asked anything about him and that was Jerry. The one time that he was left alone with my mother he tried to tell her things about himself but they were just brushed aside with her story about her job. Ah well, least he tried right?
I don’t really know what I was expecting. I’m glad they got along so well with my daughter. I’m hoping that they can come out here next time. As I’m not a fan of Milwaukee and I really really don’t want to go back. They say it’s easier for us to get out to them what with them trying to juggle time off at their jobs. But honestly it isn’t. We both work in the same department and it was a miracle we could get the time off together. Plus a baby on airplanes is never really an easy thing to deal with. Oh Amelia was such a great kid and could have been a lot worse, but it’s not just her, it’s all the gear we have to carry along as well. I hope they come out so I can show them how beautiful it is out here. But I honestly don’t hold out much hope.
