There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays

This time of year is hard on me.  I freely admit that.  While I love Christmas with all its rich traditions and the true meaning of the season, I'm usually exhausted by the time the blessed day arrives.  My parents divorced when I was seven years old, and I got used to celebrating most of the holidays twice.  Christmas was never a big issue because my dad's family holds to the Scandinavian tradition of celebrating on the twenty fourth, so my sister and I always went with him to my grandparents' house and celebrated there, then came home, stayed up late together watching the old Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol together, went to bed and then woke up and spent Christmas Day with our mom.  Growing up, we had it made!

Now, I find myself married and in the beginning, working in one extra Christmas celebration wasn't too bad.  After I got married, both of my parents remarried as well.  We've also been thrown work parties into the mix.  My husband has three siblings with birthdays in December and my sister's birthday is a few days after Christmas as well.  December is now an incredibly busy month for us.  There's no weekend that doesn't include a party or two.  This past weekend we had my dad and stepmom's big family celebration on Saturday and my stepdad's big family shindig was on Sunday.   Christmas Eve will find us with my dad, stepmom and sister while Christmas Day will find us with my husband's family and in the afternoon we'll join my sister at my mom and stepdad's house. 

There's also the fact that we need to go and shop for gifts for all these parties as well.  That has left us very little time at home.  This evening, Bunny let me know in no uncertain terms that I needed to be at home with her.  As I sit here writing, she sits with her paws hanging on to my leg and her head on me as well.  Lilac has been over, laying her head on my arm as she stands beside me (although I did have some Christmas cookies at the time).  Blueberry came over to wipe her snot off her nose on my arm numerous times.  It's as if they can't believe that I'm really home tonight.  I confess, being at home with them tonight is much better than going to the movie we were thinking about going to see. 

As we sat at my mom's house this afternoon, I watched her two dogs.  They aren't well-behaved.  The more they barked and threw tantrums, the more I wished for the quiet of home and my own hounds.  It's nice during the hustle and bustle of the holidays to be able to relax a bit at home with those who love you the most.  There's nothing like the greeting of a dog who's missed you, no matter how long you've been gone.  Sitting on the couch with my hound is better than any tub full of Calgon.  That's the best gift of the holidays as far as I'm concerned.