Post-Christmas
Christmas for me has no longer become the ritual of staying up until 2:00am because I can't sleep from the excitement, and then somehow managing to wake up at 6:00am and spending the next two and a half hours playing Final Fantasy VIII in my bedroom because my parents can't force themselves out of bed early enough. Unfortunately, Christmas has become a lot of work and a lot of frustration. Especially since I'm married and I'm dealing with Christian in-laws with high-morale opinions.
I spent the beginning of December setting up baby Jesus nativity scenes whilst prancing around in a reindeer hat that lights up, dawned upon me by my own mother-in-law, who, much to my dissatisfaction, enjoys Christmas music that even my own great-grandparents would have said, "Who listens to this anymore?"
A two hour drive to Tuscaloosa revealed that she probably feels the same about our music. On the return trip (which was quite longer because we let her drive home) we found out we had an even bigger distaste for her love of country Christmas carols. It wasn't until I whined enough that she finally pulled over and dug her Glee soundtrack out of the trunk.
Overall, Christmas was nice. I was around family. Not my own, but close enough. I spent the entire holiday trying to pirate the neighbor's wifi to watch Doctor Who on my 3DS. My Christmas haul included two cami tops, three sweaters, a hooded vest type-shirt, a white undershirt, a pair of Aeropostale pants I picked out myself, $100 in cash, bubble bath, $35 Gamestop gift card (you will come to learn my addiction which is videogames), and a sock full of oranges and apples, courtesy of my husbands grandparents. It seems some traditions never end.
And with that, my Christmas came to a close. As well as the bag of Gingerbread marshmallow men I bought from the store that will be sorely missed.