Home Alone

7:25 

7:28

8:00

It's 7:00 on a Christmas morning and I have been up since 5:00.  The pink/gray morning sky has just risen out of utter darkness as I listen to a podcast, Best Books From New York Times critics.  It's a quiet morning here on Woodlawn, just a few of us are home and a cold 27º.

Yesterday was a different Christmas Eve, mostly because for the first time in over fifty years, Evie and I will spend the day without our kids or their families, just the two of us. We stayed here at the lake rather than driving to Virginia, as usual,  because our daughter Jill and her family are coming the day after Christmas, from Virginia.  So yesterday was spent, like the previous days, making sure we had everything we needed for their arrival. 

We were mostly ready but never completely ready so after coffee, the blog, and some list-making, I drove off once again to Home Depot and Wegmans.  It was a chance for me to get out of the house because we really didn't need anything until probably Thursday but you never know, right.  Lots of others had the same idea as both stores were busy with last-minute shoppers, stocking up for the next couple of days of family gatherings.  It was fun to be part of this happy, frenetic throng, hoping to get to check out quickly. 

When I got home, Evie had been busy, making another one of our favorite soups, mercimek corba or lentil soup.  It's tasty, satisfying, and healthy, perfect for lunch, so I helped myself to a bowl and toasted a bagel.  I watched my show, then took a long nap, over an hour as I must have been tired from getting up so early. Anyways, it felt good and I woke to feel energized.  Since we were home alone, we didn't worry about dinner. Evie wanted to shorten her to-do list for the holidays, so I got out the scissors and razor and Evie gave me a quick, much-needed shearing.  We both showered, then, getting ready for cocktail hour. 

Our Christmas Tree

We decided to celebrate Christmas Eve with good cheese and a couple of Manhattans, not worrying about dinner.  We lit our tree, which looks better and better, especially at night, turned on Sonos and listened to Christmas carols and songs, thinking about Christmas Eve's past and present.  It was a quiet evening, unlike most Christmas Eve's, with both of us wishing we could have been with our kids.  Neither of us wanted to fuss with dinner, so we had an omelet with feta cheese and tomatoes and toast and it was just right.  We watched some TV, channel surfing but finding little that interested us so we went up to bed early, perhaps the reason I got up this morning at 5:00.