(no subject)
D and I headed up to his parents house for Christmas on December 23. We left later than planned, and got up there around 8:00-8:30pm. We didn't do much that night at all. By the time we got up there, I wasn't feeling well, and neither was Dan's brother, Bryan (hi Bryan). Fortunately, I felt better the next day, and I think Bryan felt better as well.
The 24th was a pretty lazy day. I'm having problems remembering exactly what we did all day... Oh yeah. We did family pictures. Dan and Bryan were misbehaving and Mark, their dad (who is a professional photographer), took some pictures of Bryan making funny faces, which I couldn't stop laughing at. I seriously hope I get copies of them and I'm going to post them then. After that, I ran to Target to get a couple of Christmas cards because I was too lazy to make them. We had dinner once I got back (lasagna), and then we opened presents afterwards. And for the life of me, I can't remember everything I got, but I'm going to try. From Dan's family I got:
*Money
*A book from Bryan
*A calender
*Hot pads and kitchen towels
*Party Light candles and candle holder
*Earrings
*Candy
*Battery operated toothbrush
*I know there's more, but for the life of me, I can't remember.
After we opened presents, Dan, Bryan and myself sat around talking until about 9:30 or so. Dan and I went to watch some TV, and Bryan headed to his room. We watched a couple Christmas episodes of South Park, and then at 11:00, I headed to Hibbing to go to church. Normally, I'm not a church-goer, but I like going on Christmas, because churches are usually decorated to the hilt, and I love the music. Plus, I hadn't been to a Christmas mass at the church I grew up in in years, so I wanted to go. I got to Hibbing around 11:25, and drove past the church, and it was oddly deserted. I was really surprised, because I thought that midnight mass was always so popular. So, I drove around some more, waiting for it to be closer to midnight. I finally headed back to the church around 11:45, parked, and went inside. It was very pretty inside, and I found a seat about 1/4 of the way up. (My childhood church is gigantic. When my grandfather died in February, I was told there were over 500 people at his mass, and yet, the church wasn't full. At all.) There were maybe 100-150 people in church, total, if that.
I went to church 3 times in 2006; twice for the funerals of my grandfathers, and once at Christmas. And that's more than I usually go. Growing up, I went to a Catholic elementary school, and went to church every school day, and then Sundays. Not to mention, taking religion classes on a weekly basis. By the time I hit junior high and my parents got divorced, I was "churched-out" so to speak. As I've gotten older, my views on religion, and God have definitely changed... I don't feel the need to go someplace once a week to worship God. I find most organized religions hypocritical, and it seems to me that people don't go to church for the right reason. They do bad things all week long, go to church for an hour once a week, and call it good. Thanks, but no thanks.
Like I said, however, I like going to church at Christmas. I love the Christmas story, and the Nativity... I love the music, and the lights. I love how the anticipation of Christmas is finally over, and everyone can take a deep breath, and hopefully remember what Christmas is all about, and forget the material bullshit.
As I was sitting in church, waiting for it to begin, I saw the father of someone I use to be friends with. They weren't Catholic, so when he came in, I immediately thought to myself, "What the fuck? He's not Catholic." And then thought, oh nice, Anne... swearing in church is really going to help your case. :-p
On that note, I remember going to my grandparents church with my mom's side of the family to Christmas mass on Christmas Eve 2005, and the minister said the phrase "goats and ass", and I started to laugh to myself because she had said ass in church. I later told my mom about it, and she said it made her laugh too, so apparently I'm not the only one who has a maturity problem.
Anyhoo, after mass finished, I drove around Hibbing looking at lights, and then finally headed back to Eveleth. Dan was still up watching "Planet of the Apes", which isn't really conducive to falling asleep. He eventually shut it off, and went to sleep, but I wasn't able to, because my legs were really really restless. I have restless legs syndrome, and let me tell you, that shit is NASTY. If you've never experienced that creepy, crawling feeling in your legs, considered yourself blessed. Due to my insurance lapsing briefly in the month of December, I had run out of my medication that costs $265 for a month's supply. My copay for this medication is $3. I'm a very lucky girl with my insurance. Without the meds, my legs twitch and move until I get up and move around, or until sheer exhaustion sets in. Thankfully, it set in, and I was able to fall asleep, but it was a long road there.
Christmas morning, I got up around 8:30, and got ready to go so we could be on the road by 11. However, due to the fact that Dan is slower than molassess in January, we got going around noon. We headed down to my mom's side of the family in North Branch.
We got there around 2:30, and then ate a little bit later. My grandma made both turkey and ham. After cleaning up after dinner, we opened presents. From my family I got:
*Gift card to Bath and Body Works
*Electric toothbrush
*Paper shredder
*Popcorn popper
*Renewal to AAA
*The 3rd Harry Potter book
Dan and I headed home that night. Once we got home, we had a couple other presents to open. My from aunt and uncle, I got this beautiful sweater, and a poncho scarf. From my friend Amy, I got an angel for my collection of Willow Tree angels, and from Dan, I got a $100 gift card to a salon/spa.
All in all, it was a really nice Christmas. I was planning on including New Years Eve in this update, but I need to get to bed. So, there's more to come...