Celebrating Our Holidays

Christmas Day and Chanukah...It's been a relaxing day. I haven't been painting recently, just matting and getting ready to frame, reading and doing whatever I feel like. Today, I slept beside Autumn Kitten till after twelve, until I smelled the fried potatoes and spinach and cheese omelet Harry had waiting for me. Harry made Lamb Chops, couscous, and sauteed brocollini for dinner, with wine. We ate by candlelight. It's been a very nice day, but Harry does cook most days. Tomorrow, he'll be cooking for Chanukah when our family will be here. Today, Honey is in New York doing the Schvitz with her friends, and Brian is in very South Jersey with Christina at her parent's house.
I'm looking forward to the possibility that Brian might someday soon commit to his four year relationship with Christina and we can spend Christmas eating lasange too. (I'm prepared to reciprocate. And the Jewish Passover is big fun!) I miss my Christmases that don't seem too long ago with my Dad's best friend Uncle Otto and his family, decorating the Christmas tree, and the next day with our whole family in Havertown having a good time with my cousins. Our family of course has shrunk, with the older generation dying off and the young people moving away. My brother called from Port Orford, Oregon today. His house is there and he lives in LA during the winter, teaching (and dining on the cornicopia that is the City of Angels.) With sixty mile per hour winds and driving rain, I'd rather not share Christmas with Bruce in Port Orford. It's a wonderful seaside town in the Spring and Summer, but winter there is for ducks.
This week is the in-betweener when people shop for bargains and get drunk with their friends. I can't get drunk anymore but I do want to shop for left-over Christmas cat toys, bathroom rugs, and maybe cards. Being retired, I don't need any more dresses, shoes, or coats. And if I can keep losing weight, every five pounds I'll have another wordrobe. I love the Christmas lights and decorations; I wish they could stay up for the whole winter. But after next week, the winter starts in earnest. I have to make a decision about whether to attend a tea in North Jersey, order frames, and get on with the rest of my life.