We've already packed up and put away all of the Christmas decorations here. Which is especially noteworthy because we didn't put them up until like 12/23. It just seemed hard to get in the mood this year, and between the house being rearranged for decorations and having company, I could sit real , Istill and HEAR my stress levels rising. So rather than kick out all the company, since I LIKE my sisters, I decided to return the house to some semblance of order (if it were my in-laws, I might have decided differently). I do feel better now, pine needles and all.
Poor Jacob, he's living in a house full of lunatics. I mean, how bizarre is it, really, to get all bundled up one day, go to a stranger's house, wander around his yard for a few minutes while listening to his dog bark bark bark bark bark bark bark, then watch dad pick up a TREE and tie it to the top of the Jeep? And then to bring it home?!? (Following a brief interlude whereby the tree leapt off the Jeep and dragged behind us.) And put it in the LIVING ROOM?!? Really weird. And then no one's supposed to touch it, or crawl around underneath it! The presents made some sense to him, he was okay with presents. But then a few days later we took all the pretty stuff off the tree and dragged it, minus about 10 million needles, into the front yard. Seriously odd behavior from his parents. Jacob spent a lot of time looking skeptical.
Last night, we drove down to Portsmouth to watch the fireworks display - which was at 7:30, a whole lot more manageable of a time than midnight, given the heavy concentration of small people in my household population. I kept Jacob on my shoulders the whole time, which was fine for most of the time except for the fact that he was wearing his slightly-too-large boots... every once in a while, he'd kick, and I'd be standing there holding an empty boot with a bunch of little pink naked baby toes wiggling next to my ear. So I'd kiss 'em and then put the boot back on, it was kind of a nice way to ring in the new year.
Came home, let the kids run around and fuel themselves on hot cocoa, while we all thawed out. Jacob went to bed around 9:30, Emily made it to about 11:45 before she passed out on the living room floor. The rest of us watched Pride and Prejudice (the 6-hour A&E version - Willem definitely earned some brownie points with that one!) and the women knitted while Willem tried to cling to his testosterone. I offered to teach him to knit, too, but we decided there was a definite possibility that his testicles would scrabble right up to his ears if he got THAT in touch with his feminine side.
Then we all shared some champagne, popped several of those champagne-bottle-shaped confetti poppers, and went to bed. Not quite the wild celebrations I used to imagine myself having, when I grew up, but not a bad night all in all.
