Dec 25 2008
Did you like your Christmas gifts?
By now most of us have participated in the flurry of unwrapping packages. As an adult do you enjoy this? Another question arises when I ask this? Is it more fun if there are kids in your house?
Every year on Christmas Eve we are invited to a large family Christmas party. It’s not a big house and there are people everywhere. People settle into zones. The cousins and like-a-cousins separate into little clumps of mutual interest, the sisters gather around the table catching up on the news, the men (mostly) cluster around the outdoor bar. Even in LA, it’s pretty cold this Christmas to be outside, so the home owner had hung big tarps around the patio to close it in and another guest had brought a big space heater.
People are everywhere. This year the food was mostly Mexican (the guests are mostly Mexican). I always look forward to the home made tamales (this year purchased as home made). I had a treat in store for me. I had my tamales covered in chile verde. That’s good!
The Christmas Tree was hung with hundreds of lights and ornaments. The number of gifts around the tree represents a major impediment to movement. Baby Jesus was in his cradle and two little girls played mommie next to it.
Every year the grownups draw names for gift giving. The kids seem to get gifts from everyone. It’s a rowdy wonderful Christmas. Most of the gifts are small, but the kids delight in them anyway.
This is how I spend Christmas Eve. I hope yours was happy, that your Christmas is great.
Marilynne 
