Hallejuah!

I have gotten so frustrated with being the family planner and matriarch of sorts that after the dreadfulness of my Thanksgiving I decided that I needed a break. The Monday after the holiday I slaved and cooked away for, I was plagued with phone calls by those asking about Christmas. What are we going to do? We should do this. Are you going to do this? I couldn’t take it. I hadn’t even cleaned out the old leftovers from my fridge and already my attentions were to focus on something nearly a month a way?

“Mom, how about this Christmas you guys plan the entire holiday and just send me an invitation, okay?” I finally said this when I could take thinking about Christmas no longer.

I didn’t actually suppose that I would be off the hook however. I never really believed that they were capable of planning it without me, since I have PLANNED EVERY FREAKING EVENT SINCE I MOVED BACK TO SEATTLE (big deep breath).

Today I got an email describing a Christmas “banquet” to be held at my aunt’s house. Immediately my hackles were raised. Banquet? They hadn’t asked me about any banquet. What the heck? I began to get mad. Why wasn’t I being consulted about this? And then I remembered my plea. I smiled and nodded my head. It worked. No more calls about Christmas. None. And to top it all off gift giving has been cancelled as well. We are going to concentrate on the meaning of Christmas and the joy of being together.

This is going to be the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER.