The kind of month that just wears you down.

I love Christmas, I really do. No, it definitely isn't all about the presents, it is just such a joyful time of year. However, over the holidays everyone wants to see you. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, except for when everyone that wants to see you is spread out in a bunch of directions. Our December went something like this:

1st weekend: Isaac's company Christmas Party. It is held at Seven Springs every year, the food is pretty good and it is fun when the slopes are open and you can watch the people outside skiing. Although it does seem weird to be dressed up and then see people walk by in their ski clothes lugging their skis around.

2nd weekend: I think we actually didn't have anything.

3rd weekend: Isaac's friend Scott's bash on Friday night. That is a rather eclectic group of people and that party sometimes gets rowdy. Then get up Saturday morning to drive in to Pittsburgh area (out past the airport) to my sister-in-law's (Bronwyn, Isaac's sister) house. Stay the night and have a big family Christmas with her, her husband, and their son, Isaac's mom, his dad and dad's girlfriend, and then some of Bronwyn's in-laws. Oh and Isaac's aunt and one of his two cousins.

Then even though we saw pretty much everyone at that family Christmas my father-in-law has to have a Christmas Eve thing at his house that he expects everyone to go to (even though there was only one person that was there that wasn't at the event on Sunday.) Then from there we drove up to my mom's that night to celebrate Christmas with my mom, grandparents, and sisters and their families. Then we had two days of nothing really going on. Then on Sunday we had a family Christmas party with all of my dad's brothers and sisters and their broods. (Dad was one of eight kids and I don't get to see any of his siblings very often anymore.)

That same day Isaac's mom's family had a family Christmas party also that we didn't make it too. It was also in the afternoon, but most of the people at that event are local, unlike dad's family.

Tuesday the 30th was the 5 year anniversary of my dad's death. It seems so hard to believe that it has been that long. My dad was always a big John Wayne fan, so I passed the evening by watching some of our favorite John Wayne movies (McLintock! and El Dorado). Isaac of course wouldn't watch them with me though. Dad and I watched those movies together so many times that I have some scenes pretty much memorized and I have the tendency to recite the lines.

For New Year's Eve we stayed in, but we couldn't decide what to do so Isaac decided he would endure the last of the John Wayne movies that I didn't get to on Tuesday (Rio Bravo). He of course picked the one that I knew the least amount of lines from.

Then the weekend after New Year's we had one more Christmas party to go to. This one was with Isaac's paternal grandmother's family. His grandmother was one of three I believe, but her brother had about a dozen kids (I'm not exaggerating, I'm just not sure that is the exact amount) and they're scattered all over the US, and that is one of the two times of year that a lot of them get to come in. This was only the second year I've gotten to go to one of those Christmases, usually they fall on the same weekend as the weekend we are in Franklin visiting my mom.

By the time December is over I'm always exhausted! The trips to my mom's and to Bronwyn's are both over two hour drives. The one after New Year's was another 1hr.+ drive and the trip into his dad's is even a 30 min. drive. It almost feels like the car is our home more than our house at times.

All that being said, it is definitely great to be able to spend some time with family. I love seeing my nephew run around at Bronwyn's, and I'm amazed at seeing my other nephew when I go to my mom's, just because he is already 16 and I was only 11 when he was born. It is always fun to see him interacting with his little sister as well (she's 6 & 1/2 now).