T'was the night before Christmas...

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Christmas Eve and my oldest son’s birthday.  It had always proved to be a challenge to balance the two, trying hard to make Jason feel special on his birthday and not lose it in the Christmas festivities that my side of the family celebrated on this day traditionally. 

And then things start to change.  Last year Jason married and suddenly the holidays had to compete with the traditions of another person…his wife’s.  With three other children and now being divorced, I know the holidays will continue to evolve over the coming years.  Here is what I know for sure, though.  I don’t care so much about what day it is or where I am, but only who I am with.  If it means moving gift giving to another day or place (I will surely be living in a different house next year) then that is what will happen.  I will lament for a moment or two that time has not stood still, but get over that quickly as I relish in the present and how good it is to be with loved ones and who they are now.  Who knows what next year will bring and who might be in my own life by then?  If I care for them and them for me, we’ll work that all out as loving, caring folks tend to do. 

I hit Kleifelds for breakfast with Cecilia for company.  She was throwing a party later that day to replace the family celebration we’d once had at our parents’ house.  I was surprised she was there at all, though maybe her preparation time matched my own, which meant as long as I beat the first guest to my house, I was on time and ready.

I drove home and hopped on the trainer for an hour ride and finished in just enough time to clean up and take Heidi and Jack to their grandpa’s house for a lunch of chicken paprikash.  Since we were heading directly to Cecilia’s from there to have more food and because my stomach still didn’t seem to like being fed, I went easy on the stuff.  My father-in-law, one of those pushy types who isn’t satisfied if you aren’t loosening your belt to make room for gluttonous behavior, tried to get me to eat more.  I refused, politely.

I only ate shrimp and vegetables at my sister’s place, passing on all desserts and dairy products.  I think I can safely say that I will survive this holiday season without gaining an ounce and quite possibly losing some weight.

We returned home with cousin Kimmie in tow and decorated the new tree I had purchased earlier that morning, realizing the ‘Charlie Brown’ tree simply wasn’t big enough to satisfy our needs.  Heidi and I concluded the night as we so often do by watching George C. Scott’s version of ‘A Christmas Carol’.  There is no better Scrooge in my opinion, which is the only one that matters…to me, at least.

Bike duration:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  120 bpm.

Calories burned during workout:  850.