And so it came to pass

It's over. Can I get a "hell ya and yee haw" ? It's Christmas night, and all I can think about is how soon I can take down the tree and get the wreaths off my house and pack up the santas and the stockings and the blah blah blah as Dave would say.

It was, by all accounts, a lovely Christmas. Really, it was. Lots of time relaxing with family and friends, and I worked just the right amount - which is to say, one shift. Christmas Dinner Buffet. A cakewalk.

I had a lovely meal on Christmas Eve to get my holiday off on the right foot. It is a tradition, among Italian-Americans, to have a massive dinner on Christmas Eve before heading to church for mass - the Feast of Seven Fishes. Seven fish dishes, 13 dishes all together. And our friends here on Maui - who's families coincidentally come from both my same hometown in New England, AND (back several generations) the same region of Italy - throw a feast each year that is unrivaled on this tiny island in the middle of the Pacific. Fresh pasta, gravy (tomato sauce that cooks all day) and a seemingly endless supply of seafood. Heaven. With bottle after bottle of red wine, and home-brewed artisan beers, it was quite an evening.

And like all good things, it had to come to an end eventually. As much as I wanted to, I can't just put off Christmas FOREVER. The clock will eventually strike twelve, and Christmas will be upon us. Like a horrible rash in an indelicate spot that needs constant scratching. There is no getting around this. So, resigned to our fate (and resigned to leaving the dinner party) we went home, tucked the children in, set everything up around the Christmas tree, and did some last minute wrapping. We slept. We awoke at a decent hour (decent hour on Christmas morning = after sunrise - my bar is VERY LOW for Christmas morning). My husband made coffee. I was given lovely gifts. People liked the gifts I gave them. Everyone got along. No one got drunk, no one got sick, no one got their heart broken.

It was a Christmas miracle.

And I realized that while Christmas will NEVER be my favorite holiday......it's not as bad as it once was. I am getting the hang of it. It's sort of like getting the hang of an earthquake. Certainly nothing to laugh at, but beyond my control. You don't have to sit around dreading it, and it's over pretty quickly. Then you just have to clean up the mess, and get on with things....things like drinking eggnog for one last precious week.