The past couple of weeks has been busy for us, not just in terms of holiday commitments, but with work and other life stresses. We put an offer on a home, so we had a whack of paperwork to do. It’s been non-stop! Last year, M was injured, and the year before, I was away and M had strep throat. We haven’t done much Christmas-ing in a while.
But, finally, we are settled, and I’m remembering what the best Christmases look like:
Inside, with hot coffee, and no where to be. We might go out to buy ingredients for a hot cheese dip, we might not. We might stay inside and watch the snow fall or some TV. It’s anyone’s guess.
Last night we watched a little HGTV and I remembered something I often forget: M has stronger opinions about home design than I think he does, which usually makes me laugh. He’ll say: “Your call”, but then I’ll actually show him what I’m thinking, and he’ll make a face, like: “I don’t know about that.”
This was first discovered this when I mentioned my passing interest in chinoiserie. “I love just a touch of that, you know?” Like this:
Which I think is elegant. But M?: “Tacky.”
When I told my sister, her eyes opened wide: “You’ve got your hands full with him.”
During last night’s episode of Holmes Makes It Right, about a post-fire restoration, the team put a fireplace in high on the wall. So the fire would be where a TV would go: mounted high. Like this:
M: “What is that?!”
He has a point: I want to curl up next to a fire when it’s next to my feet, not next to my head. If someone re-did my house like that, and put a fire next to my face, I wouldn’t say: “Oh, thank you Mike Holmes!”, that’s for sure. It’d sound a little more like: “Really, you wanted to put the fire up there?”
We laughed for about 10 minutes – my sister and I at M’s commentary, but also at some of the confusing design choices on the show. “Really, a lime green backsplash with those ivory cabinets?”
But that’s it, my favourite part of Christmas: being lazy and cosy and curling up to shoot the breeze. Taking time to enjoy each other.
Merry Christmas! I hope you are having as much fun with your family as I am with mine!
