Our First Christmas Away

I think I'm supposed to be depressed today.  After all, I'm away from my friends and extended family for the first time over Christmas, and we don't have a tree or any other decorations up for the season.  But I can't quite find it in me to be bummed.  We are in San Diego after a grueling 7 hour day on the road yesterday. It's just under 60 degrees here today, and this is the coldest it's going to be for our month-long stay in this area. Back in Minnesota, they've had a few record cold days and quite a bit of snow.  I keep thinking about how grateful I am that I am not driving around in that.  Between taking the kids to school, their activities, and driving to my own classes and private appointments, I was in the car almost as much as I was at home. Today, we're all hanging out together, talking about our plans as we watch the Green Bay Packers play the Minnesota Vikings.   If we were up north, we'd be on the road to see one of our families, the car full of presents, food, baggage, sour tempers and harried parents.

Instead, we are headed to the Holiday Bowl on Tuesday to see our kiddo march in the U of M band, and we made sugar cookies today. 

So we didn't have a big, holiday feast. And there are no presents under a beautifully lighted tree.   There was no running around, buying stuff we probably would never use. I didn't wrap presents only to have the floor littered with packaging as my kids tore through one present after another. I didn't spend much time in the kitchen at all, actually.  Even if I had, I'd still have been in the same room as the rest of the family.

...I am so much more relaxed! Don't get me wrong. I think all things have a place.  We have had many of those busy, packed holidays. They are great.  What we're doing now, though, is right for us at this point in our lives.  I'm happy to say that the kids are just as excited about having stockings stuffed tonight as they ever were about 10 presents under the tree.  They had just as much fun decorating and eating cookies as they did when they were little and for Santa (this year, they're just for us). 

I am feeling just as grateful this year as any other I've ever experience.  After all, this is our campground for the month:

Merry Christmas indeed!