oloriel | Christmas was a total overkill, (Reply)

not even in a bad way - Christmas Eve was, aside from the Christmas pageant which was pretty much as embarrassing as I'd expected, and aside from a completely pointless argument between my grandmother and my brother, pretty perfect. But oh dear, so many presents. Total overkill. Felix, of course, got the most of them, but I suspect I come in second. I'm happy and grateful, I swear, but it was rather overwhelming. Also, cue feelings of guilt because if I get so many presents, I should have given just as many. (I don't think I did.) I also got loads of Christmas cards (I sent none and expected none). More guilt! [/graceless grumbling]

Christmas proper and Feast of Stephen had their ups and downs, particularly the latter. It's a massive First World problem, I know, but it can't be denied that on the third day of feasting, you kind of stop appreciating the good food and rather wish that it would just stop. Also, more pointless discussions, this time with my father as (part of) the guilty party. Oh, man. It's so easy to watch these discussions from the outside and think "Dudes, just agree to disagree and find something else to talk about or get away from each other", but if you're caught inside, you just can't find a way out.

Okay, focus on the positive!
- Short surprise trip to Nuremberg, which is a pretty city at any time of the year. Surprisingly enough, the Christmas market wasn't too overrun, either.
- We got the house cleaned - well, to be honest my mother-in-law did most of it - and Jörg removed some hi-fi equipment from the living-room that's been standing around gathering dust pretty much forever. Suddenly, our living-room is twice as large! He also painted a stretch of kitchen wall; funnily enough, this makes the whole kitchen look cleaner and better.
- We actually got that done by the 23rd. And all the shopping was done, too. So the 24th was actually a relaxed day! (Maybe that contributed to the fact that the evening was almost all-around enjoyable.)
- Lovely presents. Books books books books books! And carders and a spindle! And a wardrobe! (!!!) And a bracelet that I've been pining after for a couple of years AND NOW IT IS MIIIIINE!
- Felix loved the present he got from my grandmother. This is especially fortunate as I first had to convince her that it was actually something worth giving - a little indoor slide. She was worried that he would only use it this winter and then be too old. Then it was really hard to obtain, because although IKEA claimed they were bringing it back into sale in December, they didn't. And the used ones people were selling all were in inconvenient places, like Berlin or Munich. (Unlike most IKEA things, this slide can't be packed flat, so all sellers insisted that you pick it up at their place.) Then I found one on e-bay that was for sale in Cologne! And I managed to win the auction! The family who sold it explained that their son (of six years) would have loved to keep it - not as a slide but as a cave - but they had to make room for new toys. So I knew that my grandmother's age worries were unfounded. But I worried that Felix might not immediately take to it - he often takes a while to try out new things. But when Jörg brought the slide in and put it in the living-room, Felix immediately climbed on and wouldn't stop using it for the rest of the evening. (It's a miracle he didn't throw up!) So my grandmother felt that she gave him the greatest gift ever, which is what she was looking for. Phew!
- Lovely cards! As I said, I hadn't expected any, so every single one was a surprise. Thank you, lovely people, and I will try to get back into the Christmas card habit next year. (OH NO IT'S A RESOLUTION!)

In short, all is well. But I feel exceedingly lazy, so I'm not going to read a week's worth of entries on my f-list. If anything important happened in your lives or there's something else that you think needs my attention, be kind and link me there? Or tell me in comments. I'm going to read those. (And react, too!)

I hope you all had a merry and a bright Whatever-You-Celebrate-At-This-Time-Of-Year!

I'll try to be a better (more attentive) LJ friend again now, srsly.