Liz and I opened a bottle of champagne on New Year’s Eve, and mostly just hung out watching TV. We were flipping around the local TV stations when it got closer to midnight, but there was nothing good on… so we ended up switching over to YouTube at some point (I honestly can’t recall the last time we actively tried to watch TV or cable outside our Playstation).
After over 10 days away (visiting three families in three different cities), we finally arrived back home. I thought it was funny that in the kitchen, we still had Christmas wrapping supplies on the table.
We were in the midst of preparing veggies and things when everyone arrived. So much of the time, we all just hung out in the kitchen – cooking, drinking wine, and visiting a bit.
I got a kick out of the name, in that it seemed like something that did not really pair with the holiday season. In my head, all I could hear was someone in a death metal band growling “Merry Christmas” over and over again.
Liz and I joked that this would be our fourth Christmas, since we had already celebrated in Detroit, then in Indianapolis, and then again with just the two of us.
One of the gifts I got her for Christmas was a collection of all the classic Star Trek movies (which also included TNG as well). Despite being a huge fan of Star Trek, she hadn’t seen any of the movies.
I love the symmetry of this gift. A long while ago, the husband created this slide for his wife. And many years later, my wife created a print of that slide for me. I’d like to think that we are furthering a tradition here, and will continue to fill that little house with love.
Candle service, close to midnight. The lights go dim, and everyone sings “Silent Night.” There’s a part of me that wishes I could record this moment each year, as it’s quite lovely. The whole room darkens, and the candles flicker their light against the walls… and everyone sings softly, as we near the midnight hour.
Going out for a big meal like this is not something we normally do. But then again, an 80th birthday isn’t something that happens all that often, either.
Late in the evening, several of us took turns in the basement to wrap up Christmas gifts. With three families to celebrate with, we’re doing Christmas slightly early here tomorrow, so tonight’s the big night.
Around the tree in the sitting room, Kirt had set up an old model train track. The train cars themselves were all pretty substantive, and suggested to me this was an old set.
We rolled into Detroit a bit later than we planned, but the nice thing (and the thing I’ve een struggling to remember) is that we are officially on our holiday break. There are no strict schedules, and no timelines beyond the ones we wish to keep. If we’re running a little late, then so be it – we’ve got the time (which is still a novel concept).
I’ve been going in to work a bit early, the last few days. This morning I happened to look over as I walked by the loading area for Treasure Island (which closed down a while ago).
It’s been a pretty busy last two weeks for us. And it wasn’t until tonight that we had a small breather of time to actually get a house night in.
Happened across this fun video of Rémy Métallier, riding in the Medellín Challenge in Colombia. It’s been several years since I’ve seen my first urban downhill race, and these types of videos are still breathtaking.