Well folks, I took some time off from the blog, mostly because my work had me at a location ridiculously far away and left me ridiculously exhausted all week last week. Plus I was working on a three part series detailing my Thursday Night Football game experience between the Bengals and the Eagles, but the tragedy in Connecticut greatly affected me. As a parent of a child who falls in that age group that was taken away, no news story every almost made me cry when I read it. Seeing my girlfriend react emotionally to the videos of parents and other family members showing anguish in their loss was also difficult to withstand. With that said, I will skip twenty-six spaces in the only form of a tribute I feel I can do to the twenty-six innocent lives lost in that school, on December 26th.
Okay, now, not to be crass or heartless, I must say I had a fantastic Christmas. For years, Christmas day to me meant the last day I would have to hear Christmas songs on the radio. I do not like Christmas songs with the exception of the Mariah Carey "All I want for Christmas is You" and now some new Paul Simon Christmas song I have heard on my RCN Holiday hits for two weeks straight now. It put me in a good mood as I heard it about 2 times a day. I spent several years in an unhappy marriage or in somebody else's home for the past 10 years, and this year I finally got to spend one with my own family in my own home - albeit under unhealthy conditions.
The Christmas festivities actually started when I took Rocco out with me on Sunday the 23rd so that Kim could complete all the wrapping she needed to. We went to Brandon's house to give his daughter a gift. Unfortunately my baby friend was in a nap and I did not get to see her open her gift. Alas, they provided Rocco with a gift of Beyblade and Beywheelz. Rocco absolutely loved them. They also provided us several soft cookies that were worth their weight in gold. On the way to my brother's house next Rocco said, "I always thought Brandon and his friend [Mandi - his wife] were alright before but now they are awesome!"
I went to my brother's because he said that he had something for us for Christmas we needed to have before Christmas. We went there, Rocco played in the backyard with his dog and his sister-in-laws dog. He then came back in, continued to play with the dog and my niece Leah as well. I got to see Leah's preschool Christmas concert on video taped by my brother who was apparently caught in a tornado/earthquake combination. It was nice though to see her singing and dancing her little heart out and can only look forward to more in the future.
We got back home and Kim was already home, not having had enough time to get the wrapping done she needed as she spent almost 2 hours in line at my local Kmart, which sucks. Rocco's friends from down the street came over for a sleepover so that their parents could finish their Christmas chores. Needless to say they were up till after 11 and we did not get much sleep. The kids had a blast though.
On Christmas Eve Kim, Rocco, and I and her parents went to her brother Joe's house. Joe and his wife have two kids - Joey and Natalie. Kim's parents got Joey a Camaro car and we got Natalie a Minnie Mouse powered ride-on. Natalie was very cute in her winter stepping out gear and Joey was thrilled to see me as I heard him yelling "Duba Duba Duba" through the glass of the front door. I think kids loving saying Duba or DooDoo when they see me. Joey was a little timid to drive the car, so Rocco hopped in the driver seat and took Joey along as a passenger. Rocco drove like a guy who is named Rocco would drive - with reckless abandon, but Joey loved it. One lap around the block was not enough for them. I followed the kids around another block as I slowly felt that burning pain behind my nose/face that usually leads to a horrible sinus/bronchitis bout. Rocco received a Lego Ninjago Samurai kit from Joey and his wife (Kim) that he absolutely loved. We put together the mini figure at Joe's house so that we wouldn't lose any pieces.
Once we got home, I began preparing bacon wrapped scallops as Kim baked the ham. I unfortunately got bay scallops instead and had several small bacon wrapped delights. They are very fishy. Rocco's friends and their parents came over for dinner as I battled being on the verge of sickness. After dinner, the kids got to unwrap a group gift from Kim and I - LAZER TAG! We suited the kids up, I reviewed the rules and how to play, and then we turned most of the lights out and let them run amok. Despite having painless lazers (actually infrared beams) and needing to play from a distance, I still heard several instances of the kids gear banging into each others gear. Next they opened a gift from his friend's parents - Nerf Guns! Their dad quickly demonstrated the power of the gun by accidentally shooting his son in the nuts and we immediately made rules as to where they can and can shoot the guns as well as what not to target on each other. They had a blast. As the night wound down and Christmas day quickly approached, his friends were playing with random stuff as Rocco focused on the Samurai. He got most of it done before his friends left and wished his friends and their parents the merriest of Christmases.
Rocco's friends brought him a special package of reindeer food/glitter that he tossed all over our balcony. He also prepared a plate of Christmas Oreos, a candy cane from our tree, and a glass of egg nog with ice in it. He had no problems going to bed or to sleep as it was maybe about 1030ish at that point. Once he was asleep, Kim and I exchanged our gifts. We left one each for Christmas day - a gift from me and Rocco to Kim and a previously purchased tool kit that Kim got for me in Kohls that I was present for. The best gifts I received were, at long last, a Brian Dawkins #20 Eagles Jersey! My favorite player ever finally retired earlier this year and it was safe to have his jersey. The only jersey I ever got was a Javon Kearse jersey, and the following season he tore like every knee ligament. This was by far the best gift ever. Other notable great gifts included a new jacket, other assorted Eagles gear (including the official team practice shorts), dri-fit underwear because my ass sweats a lot, hair clippers, and a sweet multistage, multitemperature long-handled massager, to name a few. As far as Kim goes, she got the the Uggs, earrings, and camera she wanted and I also apparently picked out a prize-winning purse for her. It should be noted that I wrapped her gifts in paper with "Ho ho Ho" written all over it and she got my joke.
We quickly cleaned up our trash, exchanged Christmas pleasantries, and then put on our Santa hats to unload the gifts from the basement storage to the Christmas tree. Once everything was stacked and stuffed animals in place, stocking stuffed, and Oreos consumed, we chugged Nyquil and went to bed. I tried sweating out my oncoming illness best I could and woke up very smelly and grimey.
Rocco woke up at maybe 6 a.m. to use the bathroom. We had told him not to go to the Christmas tree without waking us up. Fortunately, at 6 a.m. it is still pitch dark out so he went back to bed. He woke up again about 7 and stood in our doorway innocently and excitedly chanting, "Merry Christmas!" over and over. Kim needed a minute to get herself awake, but Rocco went into the living room. He quickly freaked out at his Skylander's Giants stuffed animal of "Tree Rex" sitting atop his gift pile. He ran into the kitchen to see 1.5 Oreos were consumed, 1/2 a candy cane, and a lightly coated glass with egg nog at the bottom in the kitchen. He wondered why the reindeer food was still out there, so I told him it was wet and it probably would have made the reindeer bloated.
So then the fun starts. We had everything stacked in an order that was quickly dismissed. He opened up some packages that included a Skylanders Giants figure - Legendary Bouncer. He quickly panicked that he did not have the game yet. He eventually found the Skylanders Giants game and all subsequent Lego Ninjago mega pieces he got. When he was on camera, he opened his great grandparents' presents and put on his best excitement for his gifts from them. It was sweet. His tally included Skylanders, Ninjago Epic Dragon Battle and Cole's Tread Assault and Character Encyclopedia, Gremlins, Gizmo, Wii Games, and numerous other things I can't recall. Santa also dropped off a pair of walkie talkies for me and him to use together plus Reece's Peanut Butter Cup candy canes. Rocco gave Kim the gift from both of us (it had two bows). It was pictures taken from a session we did on Saturday while she was out doing her own thing. We had matching outfits on and I picked a picture of us with him leaning up on me. There was also a "funny" picture set we took in a photobooth together before our portrait session. I also purchased the copyrights to the picture so that we could give her the whole session. She actually teared up at how nice it turned out. Making mommy cry on Christmas made my heart melt. I opened my toolbox while Rocco and I tested the walkie talkies. We played Skylanders Giants as Kim prepared breakfast. I started feeling ill again.
Kim's parents came over. Her dad, also named Joe, drove his work truck because it had Rocco's mega gift - the Green Machine from Hot Wheels. It is basically a powerwheels-type bike with peddles and handle bars to shift the wheels. Rocco was just a little too short to reach the peddles comfortably but by the time the weather gets nicer he should be able to reach them. Joe wanted to show Rocco how to work the controls. He got a full head of steam up the hill that is our road and spun out, then back down the hill and spun out. He repeated this a couple times. He got greedy once and allowed himself to accelerate for like 5 seconds down the hill and went to spin out again. Only he fucking FLEW OFF the bike. His feet literally sailed over his head while he was in the air violently flying off the mean Green Machine! He rolled down the hill for like the length of two houses. Rocco looked upset at first until he saw his pop-pop stand up laughing and we all had tears from laughing at this Christmas Fail. It was seriously the funniest thing I saw all year.
We went in for breakfast and Kim in a panic asked me to get orange juice from Wawa. I rushed over there but forgot my wallet, which I realized when I went to check out. I sure could have used some though as that burning behind my nose got worse and worse. We had a breakfast hodgepodge of leftover ham, eggs, peppers, cheese mixed with cheesey hashbrowns while I snuck in some pieces of chocolate covered bacon. We exchanged gifts with her parents that included several Wii games. Joe was recently tipped with a Wii for a job well done by one of his customers. Later that night Kim's mom called and she thanked us for all the games they played together all night. It was nice to hear.
We were supposed to go ice skating at the River Rink in Penns Landing, using the free guest passes my brother and sister in law provided us, but alas I did not feel up to it. I felt like my heart was beating outside my chest as all I was good for at that moment was laying on the floor building Legos with Rocco. I was also supposed to go to my brother's at 5 to meet my family for Christmas, but by the time we needed to start getting ready I just felt so awful moving around. With two young girls at my brother's house and a hellish short work week coming up, I did not want to risk getting sicker or anybody else sick. I called my brother to tell him and he informed me my oldest niece had like a 103 degree fever! What a crappy way to have Christmas for her! Hopefully we can all catch up this Saturday.
I continued to rest on the floor in Legoland and we decided on getting Chinese food and watching Gremlins. Rocco was a little bored at first, but once the Gizmos and Gremlins came about he was loving it. I told him it was the best Christmas movie ever. He held his stuffed Gizmo throughout. Soon thereafter he went to bed at 8:40, and Kim and I were right behind him.
Before I fell asleep I turned to Kim and told her that I think I finally realized what Christmas was all about. Seeing Rocco so happy and nice and thankful at his gifts, while sharing in the experience of building them for him and playing with them with him, truly made me appreciate this holiday for what it really was. From seeing Kim excited about her gifts to Rocco's cheering every gift he got, to the breakfast and Chinese food, Joe flying through the street, and the soon to be smiles on my niece's faces, I truly appreciate and am grateful for my family's Christmas cheer.
Coming up, my Dubannaul Year in Review!
No comments:
Post a Comment