Follow up to my cranky Christmas post

After I had my meltdown on Friday night I made myself put down my phone so I wouldn't call anyone and begin to verbally beat them, I walked away from the computer so I couldn't bah humbug anymore and then made myself some food.

(Let me add here: I fully expected to wake up on Saturday to some nasty comment about how there are starving children in Africa with no house at all and that I should quit my bitching and just be grateful. That's something I've been telling myself since I hit publish on Friday night and I totally would have deserved it. But no one said anything (yet) about how I was being a major brat. Thanks for that.)

So anyway, back to the food. Turns out I was kind of hungry. Ok, like a lot hungry and putting something in my tummy other than Reese's peanut butter cups was a very good decision on my part. Then I sat down in front of the television and put Julie & Julia into the DVD player. It was a gift from my fabulous in laws and I hadn't seen it yet. I LOVE it! The combination of eating good food and watching a movie about people making good food improved my mood considerably. And right about the time the movie was over our water came back on. It just so happens that we are on a well and the pump for the well is on a different power line than our apartment. The power for the well hadn't been restored yet. Not until about 10:30.

At first the toilet was making some seriously crazy sounds. I thought for sure it was going to blow up, which would have just been the icing on the cake that had been Christmas day. So I shut the door to the bathroom and walked away. Next, I called Andy to tell him about the water coming back and the toilet situation and he said, "You just shut the door?" Um, yeah I just shut the door. What the hell did he really think I was going to do about it if the toilet did explode? Being covered in sewage would have completely destroyed the small semblance of a good mood I'd managed to create and I thought shutting the door was a stroke of genius. I told him just that and that if the toilet did explode then at least the mess would be contained to one room.

But, whatever, the toilet didn't explode. So at 11:00 I took a shower, then Andy came home from work and he took a shower and we happily tucked ourselves into bed where visions of working plumbing danced in our heads.

On Saturday I finally got to see my family.

There were several people missing, but it was nice to see most of them anyway.

Highlight of my day:

When my youngest nephew opened his present from Andy and I (a t-shrit with a Mr.Potato head face on it). He held it up to his chest, said, "OH! Thanks!" then tossed it over his shoulder to contiue playing with the toys I'd interrupted him from. I do not have that on video, though I wish I did.

What I do have on video is my family trying to arange themselves for the annual Christmas picture I impose on them.

I thought it might be funny to document, but instead of telling them I just set the camera up on the tripod, pressed record and waited.

Let me apologize in advance for how nasaly and whiny I sound. Apparently that happens when I'm being bossy. I'm gonna' have to do something about it.

What you can't hear is that my uncle Tony is making farting noises at me the whole time. He hates having his picutre taken, like my sweet little husband, and has grown increasingly surly about this photo every year. Also, my grandmother had not had a bath yet that day and refused to be in the photo at first. We got her in there, but she's probably going to tell me not to put the picture on the internet the next time she talks to me. Too late.

There were several missing components to our family because I was there a day late, but I still insisted because there were more than four of us gathered at one time. That's something that only happens on holidays, and after losing some vital people in my family unit I've decided this is absolutely necessary. One day they will all thank me.


It did turn out to be a wonderful Christmas anyway. Somehow it always does. I think it's just the season.

I hope yours was merry and even if you don't celebrate Christmas I hope that you've taken some time out to spend with your family. Even if they drive you batty it's worth it.