The White/Blue Christmas

This year's trip home for the holidays was more of a mix of positive and negative than it has ever been. 

We flew up north on Tuesday night, so I was back in the W-I for nearly a week.  Lots of time with family, but also some changes -- and I'm notoriously bad with change.  Once, for no apparent reason, my family decided to shift where we all sat at the kitchen table for our meals.  I think I was in about 7th or 8th grade.  I started sitting down at the table more than half an hour before dinner and refusing to get up just so I could ensure I got "my" original seat.  I hated my "new" seat and was very angry I'd had to endure a meal sitting there.  And interestingly, I still revert to the same seat position at our family table (though it's a new house (formerly our lake house used only for vacations) and a new table -- if you look at the positioning of the table in relation to the windows, I still take my 7th grade seat. 

So the plan was to spend Tuesday night and Wednesday in Milwaukee -- hoping to visit my baby brother and his wife, definitely visiting my next youngest brother and his wife and their kids, finishing shopping, wrapping all the gifts we bought, brought or shipped, visiting my grandfather, going out for ice cream.

Thursday the plan was to leave Milwaukee shortly after lunch (sometime between 12 and 2), drive north about 4-5 hours to my folks' place (formerly the lake house), enjoy dinner cooked by my mom.

Friday we'd hang out up there, doing things like going for walks, finishing any remaining wrapping, visiting at home, playing board games, baking cookies, etc.

Saturday my husband was to fly back to Dallas, and I was to spend the day hanging out at home with my family, having dinner at home, then going to church with family Christmas Eve at 9. 

Sunday's routine is gifts at home in the morning, followed by an awesome brunch, then I leave sometime between 12 and 2 and drive to Milwaukee for another family Christmas celebration, the highlight of which is Santa's visit to the house (especially for my nieces and nephew because they're the best kids in the world so Santa comes by after his rounds when he's on his way back to the North Pole). 

Then Monday was to be a day of packing up, relaxing, more time with nieces and nephew, and then flying back to Dallas. 

Anyway, it seemed the trip this year was a big mix of positive White Christmas things and bummer Blue Christmas things.  For example:

White Christmas:  Home from Tuesday through Monday.

Blue Christmas:  I had to work remotely Wed all day, Thurs all day, and half-day on Friday.

White Christmas:  At least I have a job where I can work remotely!

Blue Christmas:  When contemplating things I wanted to do, I neglected to factor in the fact that I was working -- and I really was working.  That meant that my husband and I never went to visit my grandpa together, my husband had to wrap some family gifts, some shopping was cut short, I didn't get to work out, and I only got to go to my favorite ice cream place once (I usually go at least twice).

White Christmas:  Husband helped by wrapping all my nieces' and nephew's and brother and sister-in-law's gifts so we could take them to their house Wednesday night.

Blue Christmas:  My baby brother and his new wife didn't come home for Christmas and I didn't get to see them at all -- they went to see her family instead, and it made me incredibly sad.  I will be so very unhappy if they see her family again next year for Christmas. 

White Christmas:  The temps were milder than usual (highs into the 20s or 30s).

Blue Christmas:  It was still cold!  I'm a warm weather person. 

White Christmas:  We had a white Christmas.  Not tons of snow on the ground, but it was thoroughly covered. 
 
Blue Christmas:  Of course I had a car accident in the freshest snow. 

White Christmas:  Wednesday night we went to my favorite frozen custard place BEFORE we ate dinner.  That's my kind of meal!  We actually ended up getting Chipotle for dinner and taking it home because we'd been in a hurry to get to my brother's house before the kids went to bed (again, I was working all day, so we were rushed) and then we went for ice cream before they closed, and Chipotle right as they were closing.

Blue Christmas:  It was too late and we were too full after dinner on Tuesday to hit up my favorite frozen custard place. 

White Christmas:  Husband agreed to drive us up north on Thursday so I could work in the car.

Blue Christmas:  Husband listened to me when I said we should wait until we were out of the city to get gas, and then we didn't see a gas station and we ran out of gas on the side of the road.  Husband was pissed at himself for listening to me.  We called 911 (there was no exit in sight), were transferred to a wrecker service that came out with 5 gallons of gas 20 minutes and $100 later. 

White Christmas:  We had cell phones to call for help!  12 years ago, we would have been trying to flag down traffic on the very busy high speed road, or we would have been walking to an exit miles away.  And I didn't have tennis shoes with me (I keep spare pairs at all the houses I regularly visit, but that meant none in my luggage).  And better yet, our phones have maps so we were able to say exactly where we were for help to come.

Double White Christmas:  I can afford $100 emergency gas.  12 or more years ago, as a student, that would have struck me as a huge expense. 

Blue Christmas:  Risk my folks would eat without us because of the delay in getting fuel.

White Christmas:  My mom held dinner just for us, though it was very inconvenient for them because they had to get up very early for work on Friday.

Blue Christmas:  I drank a lot at dinner and had a bit of a headache on Friday. 

Double Blue Christmas:  Because we arrived so late, we had to unload the car in the dark and someone (not me!), turned on the dome light in the truck and left it on.  So dead battery on Friday morning!

White Christmas:  We had no where to go on Friday by car, we had jumper cables, and my folks saw the light on so we knew to charge it up.

Double White Christmas:  I got a lot of work done during my half-day on Friday.

Blue Christmas:  Again, too many other things planned for the day since I forgot how long work would take.

White Christmas:  I got all my wrapping done on Friday after work.

Blue Christmas:  I also had to wrap all the gifts TO my mom from my step-dad, so it took longer than expected and I didn't get to go outside for a walk with hubby while it was light out.

White Christmas:  Hubby got to walk a bit and I joined him at dusk, and though we couldn't really take any pictures, it was fun and cold time together. 

Blue Christmas:  Hubby had to work on Christmas, and he had to fly back to Dallas early on Christmas Eve because of a general lack of flights.  He left the house at 4 a.m. on Christmas Eve.

White Christmas:  My step-dad drove hubby the 2 hours to the airport and came back alone so that I could sleep in and enjoy the day with family. 

Blue Christmas:  Hubby missed out on all our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions.  I know, I know, I know that someone has to work on Christmas.  People still have accidents, people still have heart attacks and croak, people still fight and try to kill each other or themselves, and someone has to be there to help them.  But why can't it be someone other than my husband when we have to travel so far for Christmas with my family?

White Christmas:  He hasn't had to work a Christmas since 2005, so we've been in Wisconsin for all the others, and next year he will hopefully get it off. 

Blue Christmas:  I cried at Christmas Eve church because I missed him so much.  I was wondering if maybe I should have gone home with him instead (though that would have meant I spent Christmas completely alone, while he worked all day).

White Christmas:  I was with my family for Christmas.  We played games, walked in the snow, cooked, ate, drank, exchanged gifts, and made merry. 

Blue Christmas:  Baby brother not home for any of this.

White Christmas:  I got lots of cool stuff.  Among other things, a new shirt for work, my favorite kind of shampoo (Philosophy), a new Vera Bradley wristlet, a road ID for my shoe while running, a subscription to Vegetarian Times, some travel things (reusable bottles, a packable backpack), a special necklace to commemorate my Boston marathon this past year, a jigsaw puzzle, cookies and baked goods from my mom, a gift card for clothes, Netflix, a new immersion blender (mine melted or somehow broke this year), a few ornaments, an awesome vegetarian slow cooker cookbook, a scarf, a lightweight running jacket, home use yoga cards, and a juice pack for my phone.

Blue Christmas:  Hard to see a downside to the gifts...  I guess because of the blender and shampoo, I had to pay to check a bag to fly home.  But no real blue Christmas aspect.

White Christmas:  Everyone seemed to like what we got them.

Blue Christmas:  Hubby didn't get to see all their reactions.

White Christmas:  I was able to film little clips and send them to him while he was working. 

Blue Christmas:  Since there's not service where my folks live, I'm worried we may have an out of control cell phone bill on its way!

White Christmas:  We had my favorite Christmas Day brunch -- creamed chipped beef on toast (well, creamed chipped vegetarian sausage for me), eggnog, fruit salad, bran muffins, and stollen, my mom's German Christmas bread.

Blue Christmas:  My stomach didn't hold as much food as I hoped.  I wished I could have just kept eating all of that!

White Christmas:  I got my stuff packed up, said goodbye, and set out for the drive to Milwaukee even a little early -- I try to leave between 12 and 2, and I left at about 1:50. 

Blue Christmas:  The car accident. 

White Christmas:  There were no other cars involved and no police involved.  Just me, some damaged trees, and the damaged vehicle. 

Blue Christmas:  The damage was severe enough the car couldn't be driven to Milwaukee that night.  A local mechanic checked it out yesterday and confirmed that the a/c unit punctured the radiator and there is a hole in the radiator and it is cracked. 

White Christmas:  I was close to home when it happened so family could come rescue me quickly and no Christmas day towing service had to be called.

Blue Christmas:  Digging and pulling me out of a snow bank was not how anyone in my family wanted to spend Christmas afternoon.

White Christmas:  I didn't get hurt.

Blue Christmas:  The car did, and it has no comprehensive insurance, and it was my fault for driving too fast on unsafe roads in a vehicle I don't know well.

White Christmas:  I was able to hitch a ride about 5 hours later than planned to Milwaukee with my middle little brother and his wife.

Blue Christmas:  I missed Christmas night traditions with my next youngest brother and his family and all of my Milwaukee family. 

White Christmas:  Since the accident was near home, rather than being stuck on some random roadside, I was able to wait at home until my brother was ready to drive after Christmas dinner.

Blue Christmas:  Since my mom hadn't expected me to be home, it was not a vegetarian-friendly meal.  Goose and sauerkraut soup with meat. 

White Christmas:  The potato dumplings, sweet-and-sour cabbage and black forest cake (German Christmas theme this year!) were all vegetarian and delicious.

Blue Christmas:  Didn't get to Milwaukee until long after Santa was gone, arrived just before midnight.

White Christmas:  My dad waited up for me and my stepmom got up and we exchanged gifts at midnight.

Blue Christmas:  Among my gifts was not a new radiator!  Haha.

White Christmas:  I got to go to my grandpa's house on Monday morning to give him his presents and spend some time with him.

Blue Christmas:  Hubby didn't get to see Grandpa at all this year, and while he's still sharp as a tack and doing well physically, he's getting older and is having some random problems (currently it's knee issues).

White Christmas:  I got to go see my nieces and nephew for a while on Monday before flying back to Dallas.

Blue Christmas:  The extra time with the kids meant I didn't get to make my planned last stop for a second (or ideally, it would have been my third) frozen custard. 

White Christmas:  Hubby left work on Monday a couple hours early to pick me up at the airport, and I'm now safely home and driving in dry snow-less conditions in my little Beemer with no front end damage!

Blue Christmas:  I have to figure out what to do with the truck in Wisconsin, how best to get it into drivable condition and back to Milwaukee and then permanently repaired. 

White Christmas:  The car can likely be repaired and I can likely afford it.

Wanted to end on a positive note there!