12 Days of My Christmas
For the last fifteen of the 25 years that my hub has been in the NFL, I have stayed put for the holiday season. I was pregnant with our first child 15 years ago and once she came into the world, I became a mom so I didn’t travel anywhere for the holidays because logistically, it didn’t make sense. However, this year, for the first time since I became a mom, I am not home for the holidays.
Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Christmas and New Years - the holiday season - there is time in between all those holidays and that time can be used in so many different ways. We can be productive - to get stuff done before the year ends. The time can be used for recovery; relaxing and resting up for another major holiday. The days in between the holidays can be used for visiting friends and spending time together or it can be a time to get away from everyone - to be alone - before it’s time to re-group. There are so many more ways but those are just a few examples of how we can spend that time in between the holidays.
If this was a typical holiday season for me, I would be home right now and I imagine that I would have cleaned up everything from Christmas. I imagine that I would have gone shopping at the after-Christmas sales and scored some great holiday items at half-off. I imagine that I would be scurrying around trying to tie up loose ends and close out 2021 as best as I can. But instead, since we only ate Christmas breakfast in Denver then traveled to Vegas, I couldn’t really do much cleaning up after Christmas. And instead of shopping the after-Christmas sales, we went to an NFL game that was played in a brand new stadium. And instead of being productive, I learned that the game announcer’s drawn out call, “Rai-ders” is very annoying to us rivals but brilliant for community-building for their fan base. And instead of finishing up 2021 as best as I can, I was able to reconnect with one of my best friends (my former roommate), chatted with a relatively new friend that I have become close to within the last three years and got to spend time with the hub’s godson. How cool is that?
One of my besties, Janet, has been a Raider fan her whole life. Let’s just say she wasn’t thrilled when my hub took the Broncos job. It was really good to see her and hug her!
I got to chat with the author of the books May it Be and What Nature Knows. Chrissa and I met because our sons became friends at the NFL Owner’s Meetings years ago. She is AWESOME! Just so happens that her hub works for the Raiders.
Clayton is the godson of my hub and we have been cheering him on his journey to the NFL. We got to sit with him and visit a bit.
After the game, I had nothing pressing that had to be done. No one to cater to or clean up after. I watched the Sunday Night NFL game, ate Indian Tandoori Chicken + naan and drank beer. I slept early and woke up late. Today my kids got a chance to meet my Tita Sonia, the aunt that I always admired for her fashion sense, her expensive taste in purses and her great gifts. My kids liked her right away. She is fun and knows what boys like because she has two of her own and four grandsons; no girls! Nonetheless, since she is a fashion queen and she researched a restaurant that served vegan Asian food, my daughter gravitated to her too. It was a win-win visit.
Tita Sonia was married to my dad’s brother and moved to Vegas after my uncle passed away. She stays busy and very active. She treated us to Korean hot dogs from Cruncheese.
And here Tita Sonia is treating us to Somi Somi ice cream.
After those two fun spots, she took us to Chef Kenny’s Asian Vegan Restaurant because she knew my daughter was vegetarian. Highly recommend this place!
We didn’t want to say goodbye to Tita Sonia because we were having too much fun. She sent us home with great gifts for everyone, including my mom and my hub! I love her license plate - Pellisr - which is short for Pellicer.
I mention all of this because the time in between the holidays, so far, has been a total gift. Everything that I’m describing is not crazy or extraordinary but to me, the slowness of the day, the non-urgency of time lines, the discovery of new things - all of these, are gifts. Not in the sense of thoughtful pinches - little tangible items. But rather more like messages from above.
Christians believe that there were twelve days between the birth of Jesus and the arrival of the three wise men. The 12 days begin on 12/25 and ends on January 6th and that time period is called the Epiphany or more commonly called Three Kings Day. For the longest time I thought the twelve days referred to the days leading up to the 25th, now I know the twelve days are after.
Many of us go nuts with all the preparations that go into celebrating Christmas with gifts, food, decorations etc and all of it is supposed to be in honor of the birthday of Jesus. Because of this trip during the holidays and the luxury of time, I found myself thinking about Mary giving birth and trying to figure out what it meant to be the mom of a “king”. Then twelve days later, three men, who were respected for being experienced, showed up bringing extravagant gifts. This gesture somewhat confirmed that she indeed gave birth to someone special. What a wonderful time that must have been for this family.
This year, I hope that on each of the twelve days between my Christmas and January 6th, I am able to recognize and acknowledge the extravagant gifts that are brought to me. Sure I would love a partridge in a pear tree, eight maids a milking and five golden rings. But in reality, I’m already seeing some gifts that I will treasure much longer than seven swans a swimming.
On the first day of Christmas = precious time in a new stadium.
On the second day Christmas = two full hours of Tita Sonia.
Even though it is catchy song, the Twelve Days of Christmas is a concept that I think would get me counting my blessings in a new and different way. It sounds corny but the more we look for these “gifts”, the more we appreciate this holiday season and what it is really all about. I cannot wait to see what days three thru twelve bring me.
Pinches,
Barb
