Monday, January 01, 2007

Christmas Weekend

Ah, it is so luscious to have J working a job where she actually gets weekends and holidays off! Friday night of Christmas weekend, she was home by 5 o'clock and was off until the following Friday. We had a quiet night at home, with meatloaf for dinner and Christmas shows on t.v.

I had a busy Saturday, baking up a storm. I made some candy, too. It was a wonderful way to spend the day. J got into the action with some gingerbread people and "worm balls," her family's traditional Christmas treat. They are more commonly (and appetizingly, perhaps) known as haystacks, a butterscotchy chow mein noodle concoction. Recipes at www.lunacooks.blogspot.com. I made cut-outs, chocolate rum balls, caramels, peanut brittle, fudge and cheese crackers. We pizzaed the boys for dinner. After they had gone to bed, we made a pot of cheese fondue and sat by the Christmas tree enjoying it.

In the morning, we went to church. This turned out to be a horrific event. There was no Sunday school and the boys were gearing up for a visit with their father. They were in no mood to be in church, much less be good in church. My insistence that they at least be quiet, if not pay attention or participate, infuriated Boot as I shushed them several times when they were talking. He wrote me a note telling me that if I looked at them one more time, he was going home. Since it is incumbent upon me as a parent and as an intern in the church for them not to disturb the rest of the congregation, I was about to look over at them with a finger to my lips when they started laughing loudly. Before I got the chance, Boot got up & stormed out. Pie showed us a note he had written to Pie saying he was leaving if I looked over there again. The whole saga is long and painful, so I won't bother with all the details. Suffice it to say that after church, we looked for Boot on the route home, at home, in a drugstore on the way. Not spotting him, we returned to church. He was furious & irrational, threatening to call the cops on us, calling us all kinds of ugly names, just being nasty. Once we got home, he was threatening to hit me, kicking my car, shoving over furniture & breaking things in his bedroom, telling his brother he was going to kill me. I am so sick of his abusive behavior. And, as Pie put it, "It's Christmas Eve! Christmas Eve!" He cannot gain his majority soon enough. He managed to make New Year's Eve unpleasant, as well, with his surliness and irritation with Pie. Ugh. I have never been treated as poorly by anyone & would not stand for it if he wasn't the child of my wife. But, something's got to give.

Luckily, they left about 1 to spend the day with their father. We spent the day wrapping gifts, J in the living room watching "Tipping the Velvet" and other Logo channel shows. I watched Christmas shows, starting with "Miracle on 34th Street." Another Christmas has passed without me ever seeing "It's a Wonderful Life." I have seen bits & pieces, but never the whole movie. Isn't that odd?

When the boys returned, they were very sleepy and Boot was in a fine mood, thank God! We opened our Christmas Eve gifts (an Ironman t-shirt for Pie, Santa boxers & hat for Boot since his Black Panthers t-shirt had not yet arrived, a silky nightshirt for J and a gorgeous sapphire & diamond ring for me...that took me by surprise!), then they went to bed. I spent the rest of the evening cooking and hanging out with J. We went to the 11 p.m. service at a Presbyterian Church. I really enjoy the candlelight portion, with the sanctuary darkened & hushed, everyone singing "Silent Night" in reverent tones. I think we humans are at our best in moments like that. It was a delight to be able to return home, have our Nochebuena feast and go to bed at a reasonable hour. I felt very Cuban munching on pork and black beans and yuca after midnight.

Christmas morning, the boys also let us sleep in until a reasonable hour. Boot managed to be pleasant all day, which was a relief after the angst of the previous day. We all got some great gifts (lots of clothes & cooking gear...my very own Wüsthof knives even!) and had a nice morning. Both boys were very pleased with their gifts for me. Boot got me a hot pink folding chair with a mosaic back and seat I have been coveting at Marshall's and also some very pink & girly notecards. Pie chose jewelry with enormous pink stones. We spent the afternoon relaxing with our new gifts (I got a great book called The Barn at the End of the World by Mary Rose O'Reilley) and cooking. We had a very tasty reprise of Thanksgiving for our Christmas dinner.

2 comments:

Andi said...

You deserve to be treated better by Boot. You have always made every effort to treat him with kindness and respect. You wouldn't allow anyone else to treat you the way that he has. Just like you wouldn't dream of treating him (or anyone) as poorly as he's treated you. I wish that there was a magic wand that could be waived to show him the error of his ways.

You need to see It's a Wonderful Life It is a classic for very good reasons. As trite as some of the elements may seem all these years later, Capra's execution is brilliant and there is a lot of the movie that is still very relevant.

Maybe we can watch it sometime when you're in town and you will have the benefit of seeing it outside the context of the holidays.

Gandksmom said...

I am so sorry about the ongoing behaviors of boot. I really am. Feel free to e-mail me anytime if you want to talk or talk strategy!