Well, Christmas was fun. A bit hectic, but fun. See, normally on Christmas day, people get up (or get woken up) anywhere from 10:00 AM through 12:00 PM to have breakfast and open presents. The grandparents and any other family usually come over for this, and a good time is had by all. After everything's been opened and whatnot, there's time to relax and play with our new toys. I usually help out with dinner in some way or other, but that's not until evening.
This Christmas was a little different. Being Sunday, we got up and went to church at 11:30 AM and got home at about 1:30 PM as usual. Already things were shifted forward an hour or two, but that wasn't really any big deal. But my grandpa had a stroke a little while before Thanksgiving, and is still in a rehab facility, so neither he nor grandma were here. That kind of put a damper on things. We opened our gifts with only the immediate family present, then soon afterward, we went up to visit the grandparents at the rehab center and bring them their gifts; we stayed and visited for probably a couple hours or so before coming home.
When we got home, evening was drawing close, so I of course had to peel potatoes for dinner. After that was done, I did have a bit of free time before dinner was ready, which I used to hook up the new TV I got. (I'll have to get a picture of it some time to post up here. It's amazing how much better it looks after using that other old piece of crap for so long.) That consisted of much untangling of cords and sweeping of dustballs, then hooking everything back up to the new TV. To try it out, I played a couple matches of SSBM before stopping for dinner.
Some extended family, including grandma, were able to make it for dinner. (Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes -- basically the same as Thanksgiving dinner, which I think is great.) Talking over dinner, then desert afterwards, was nice. Finally there was some time to relax after what seemed like the busiest Christmas I've yet seen. Most of the time things are very layed back around here on Christmas day. . . . Well, besides my mom sometimes stressing just a little more than necessary over getting everything cooked on time. This year, things just didn't feel quite the same.
With Christmas gone and past, I now get to look forward to my birthday, which is only nine days afterwards (January 3). This year is kind of special I suppose, as I'm turning 18 and -- gasp -- becoming an adult. Things are changing, yeah; I'm going to be a legal adult and I'm going to graduate from high school this spring. But I have no idea what I'm going to do from there, so I'm not exactly looking forward to it. As much as I've disliked high school, not having a clue as to what I want to do afterwards is even worse.
I suppose I should look into getting my driving permit after I turn 18 here. I never took driver's ed so I couldn't get it before, but now I think all I'll have to do is pass the DMV's little test to get it. Then my mom will probably make me drive her everywhere, to give me experience before getting my license. But then the funny thing is, once I do get my license, I won't actually be able to drive anymore. Neither I nor my parents can afford to buy me a car at this point, and I don't think their insurance will cover me driving their cars once I've got my own license. Yay.
Seems like, each year, I become just a little more withdrawn and pessimistic. So here's hopin' the year 2-0-6 turns out better than 2-0-5.
