And, We're Done.......

Well, it's Tuesday, December 27th and we've all made it through the holiday mayhem. I can remember two weeks ago realizing that Christmas was a mere 2 weeks away and wondering how the hell it was going to happen. But somehow, it did. The presents were bought & wrapped, the house was deocorated, the cookies were made and dinner was had by all. In the meantime, hospital visits occured, doctor's appointments were made & kept, work was done, and I survived without getting sick. Miracle upon miracle.

By 3:00 on Saturday, I had all the presents wrapped & under the tree, cookies made, in containers & loaded in the truck ready to go, the house was clean, everything was in place for dinner that night, I was showered, dressed, make-up & hair done, presents to go to my Mom's the next morning loaded in the truck and was sitting in the chair with an ice cold beer. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment. The next morning we were up by 7:30, made it downstairs, turned on the tree lights, got something to drink, had a morning smoke and woke Nik up by 7:45. We left for my Mom's by 9:30, had breakfast, opened presents, and started work on dinner. Had dinner, opened more presents, ate cookies and visted for awhile. Got all the presents and food together to take home, and then all energy left my body. Nik didn't make it 7 miles before he passed out, but I stayed awake the entire ride home. Blissfully, I was able to sleep in the next morning and did nothing all day yesterday. The perfect end to a perfect weekend. But thank god it's over! But in the midst of it all was that feeling that we all pulled together and made it happen. We actually all played nicely together and Mom didn't get worn out in the process. She helped some, but didn't completely wipe herself out to create that "Norman Rockwell Christmas" that never really gets pulled off anyway!

Within an hour of each gathering with the family, boxes and paper were strewn about; a mere memory of all the work & lost sleep it took to make it happen. But the family was all together for one more year, no tempers were lost, no feelings hurt. Amazing, but true. Luckily, we had one day after to chill, straighten up a bit, not get dressed and not leave the house for an entire 24 hour period. When this morning came, it was almost a blessing to tell everyone goodbye and head back to work. Normalcy has returned to the valley once more.

In the midst of all the drama & mayhem, it was actually one of the most enjoyable Christmas' I've ever had.

So happy holiday's to all and to all a good night.

The Beautiful Princess

It was an elegant ball with everyone dressed in their fairytale clothes. The beautiful princess was there with her boyfriend. The one she believed to be the one, but still had lingering doubts about the ones that had gotten away, and the ones yet to be. The day-to-day events would get her down, allowing the doubts to magnify & multiply in volume. But at magical moments like this, he was without a doubt her true love. Her dress was golden in color, a far cry from her typical costume of all black. Her hair was elegantly swept up. A simple choker of jewels surrounded her neck, the only jewelry necessary to complement the dress and the wearer. The beautiful princess turned to speak to a past love who was also at the ball (only to be polite) allowing her true love a moment to observe her. Suddenly he turned to me with questioning eyes. "What's going on Denise? How long has this been going on? Tell me what's happening!" I pretended not to hear his questions or see the fear in his eyes and blended into the crowd. He was unrelenting, determined to have an answer to the question he feared most. I came to a clearing in the room and found an old wing back chair, suitable to be the throne I need for this conversation. I calmly sat down, jestering him to the seat beside me. I slowly lit my cigarette and took a swig of my drink and turned to him (at this point I'm thinking to myself that this thing he thinks he's seen and knows, was over so long ago that a comment about it is almost ridiculous!) In the moment it takes me to think about this, a vision of clarity overcomes him. He jumps out of his chair and declares that he knows what needs to be done and dissappears. This affects me no more than the flowers growing outside or the earth moving around me. It simply happens. Now I'm sitting in a hospital lobby, amazed that people are allowed to smoke in here. Hospital administrators, nurses and various other people are walking around smoking and extinguishing their cigarettes in actual indoor ashtrays from days long ago. Then the princess reappears. She had thought her true love had deserted her and had resigned herself to accept a proposal from her past love. I am now but an observer of a play, no longer an active participant. She enters her suite with her past love, her servants trailing behind her. Before she has returned, her true love has set the stage. He has taken the portrait of the beautiful princess in her elegant golden ball gown and put it in the family heirloom frame. His way of telling her that she is the one and only for him and that she is betrothen to him and his family. He has left a simple velvet box beside the frame for her discovery. The beautiful princess is studying this as her past love sifts through a box of bow ties, looking for something suitable for his upcoming wedding to the beautiful princess. Almost oaflike, he looks at the servants and states that it is his wedding day. The servants smile at him in the manner you would a small child. The princess opened the velvet box and unveiled a beautiful diamond ring. It had a 2 carat round cut stone in the middle with 1 carat rounds on either side set in white gold. It was hard to determine which had a bigger sparkle, the ring or the princesses eyes. She looked at the ring and the portrait beside it, mesmerized by the power of love. She noticed her past love in the background as a distraction; as one would notice a gnat or fly. She looked at him with no recognition in her eyes and ordered her servants to remove the stranger. She now knew that her true love was the one meant for her and they lived happily ever after.

This was my dream last night. I present it to you, my friend, to read on those nights when the princess has doubts about her true love.

Remember that happily ever after has many forms. It's not always wine & roses and castles with white knights. Sometimes it's a beer & pizza and a shared laugh over a stupid sitcom. Sometimes it's bitching about picking up the god damned underwear off the floor once again. It's wondering how someone so stupid can actually function alone in the world without you there to guide him along in one breath, and wondering how someone so loving and thoughtful found their way into your little part of the world. It's loving someone when they're as sick as a dog (and closely resembling one too!) and they love you back when you look the same. It's being broke together and dining on spaghetti-o's as if they were filet mignon and not wanting to be anywhere else but where you are.

So my gift to you this holiday season, my love, is that you enjoy this wonderful ride you are on - the ups and the downs. It's a hell of a ride, but worth every bump!