Silent Night, Holy Night ...

Up and adam before the sun broke the horizon. I didn't want to miss a single moment of Xmas Eve day. After all, for me, Xmas Eve day has become the "real" holiday -the fun day , the most exciting day of the holiday season. Mindy having spent the night, chose to sleep a little longer. My goal was to be exercised, coffee'd, have Ykraps walked, and have completed my run before 900am. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Later I would comment to Mindy that it seemed like a spring morning as the sun was shinning in a clear blue sky while the air temp was comparably warmer than its been all month. And to add to the sensation, birds were singing brightly amongst all the trees nearby. Birds you don't typically hear this time of year. To that end, I was 100% successful. I was done by 830am. By that time Mindy was up and stirring about. First we enjoyed a cup of coffee quietly together, then found our way to the Xmas tree to do our own little gift exchange. Phase 1: For no real reason we decided that Mindy should open all of hers first. She did. I must admit, her pile was big and pretty. I always take great care to wrap gifts in such a manner that they themselves become part of the Xmas decorations but hers this year were extra beautiful done in all silver foils with silver ribbon and bows. They were lovely! Anyway, Mindy got plenty of cool things from me. I tried to touch on several key elements; things she's mentioned or I have observed that she needed/wanted, clothes, jewelry, and something made or crafted from the heart.. I thin I was successful, at least judging by her smiles! Next it was my turn to open gifts. Mindy did an incredible job. She had a Christian oriented picture made with countless elements from my life included in the picture including all of my siblings, my children and grand children, my passions, and hobbies. Certainly a gift that no one else could possibly have. The next gift I opened touched my heart like no other gift I have ever received. Mindy made a music CD where she sang me a love song, You are the Love of My Life. It almost brought a tear to my eye. It was/is beautiful, and she definitely has an angelic voice. Enter phase 2: The day moved on with as you might of guessed, more wrapping. We picked up where we had left off the night before. Mindy wrapped the remaining 20 or so gifts while took a trip to the Grandview Kroger to pick-up additional items need to pull off the perfect Xmas celebrations. I love going to Kroger on Xmas Eve, and I always have. Something about being at the grocery store lifts my spirits to higher highs. Upon my return I finished topping the two cheesecakes and deep fried the sauerkraut balls. The two delicious treats were for Bob's later in the evening and Mindy's mom's the following day. Phase 3: Next, it was time to ready some snacks for my own little family celebration that would mix Me, Mindy, Ashley, Lindsey, Lil' Rocky, and Kaileigh. I made meatballs, little baby sausages, and hot wings. Perfect!!! The girls arrived around 1pm and Kaileigh just a little later. We hung out together for about 3 hours. We had fun eating talking and opening gifts. Soon it was time to ready for phase three- Brother Bob''s Xmas Eve celebration. We loaded up all the gifts destined for the extended Wright family and headed that way. It was 5pm on the red nose. At Bob's we were the first one's there, but not for long. Soon Ash and Lindsey showed up, along with brother Shawn, Sheila, and Dad. Not long after,. Shawn's children, Lil' Shawn and Brooklyn arrived. Too, April's daughter Christie was there who I haven't seen in like three years. That was nice! Mindy and I couldn't stay long. We were committed to attending the 7pm Xmas Eve mass at her church, Cross Roads Methodist , which is located at the corner of Hague Ave and Briggs Rd. We passed out gifts for those that were present ( I didn't miss anyone!) then headed out by 630pm. We stopped briefly to pick-up her mother who lives in Holly Hill, along with her two children who had spent the day with her ex. Enter phase 4: We arrived at mass right on time. The mass was nice and the church even quainter. And boy do they love to sing on Xmas! In the hour long mass we must have sang 10 Christmas carols and every possible verse known to man. Did you know that Silent Night has about 23 verses? The last one goes something like this ( I couldn't quite make out the words for bad eye sight) ... Violent Night, Violent Night, ... and Away In The Manger, is like the song that never ends. It goes on and on my friends. After mass we retired to the Church banquet room ( I'm sure they have another name for the room- just not certain) for punch and cookies. These aren't Catholics so there was no alcohol! :( We hung out there until almost 9pm. We had fun and I met so many people from Mindy's life. They were all wonderful people and certainly very nice to me. Come 9pm, we headed to Mindy's house to get her children to bed in preparation for Santa's arrival. Once they were in bed and asleep, Mindy went about playing Santa while I prepared a breakfast casserole she had arranged earlier. Come midnight we were both exhausted from a day that consisted of running from here to there. ...Sleep in Heavenly Peace!