It’s Christmas and I slept in.
I stayed up til around two last night, watching Bad Santa with my Dad and sending a few texts and emails. Eventually everyone went to bed and I was the only one left awake in the house.
So I talked to a friend in a similar situation on the phone for a while, until the reception on my phone proved too poor to continue.
Then I read.
When I finally went to sleep, I was out for the count. The room I’m staying in had just the right temperature and the sheets were clean and warm.
When I woke up some eleven hours later, I felt fantastic.
I came out into the living room where my parents were cooking and was instantly handed a cup of coffee and a wedge of pannetone. I stood in the kitchen and talked to my mother while she peeled shrimp and cut carrots.
It may not be any of our homes we’re staying in this Christmas, but some things never change.
My sister and her boyfriend are on their way over for an early dinner of rib roast and salt knots and roasted vegetables in an hour or so.
And then we’ll sit around and open presents and drink coffee and eat dessert.
Later, after the folks get sleepy, I might borrow the car and go see a couple of friends.
That’s really it for Christmas – time with the family, time with friends, a nice meal and a couple of presents thrown in for good measure.
Friday one of my best friends gets here for a day of museums and pollo a la brasa and Saturday we’re getting tattoos.
Monday, I’m back to the world of San Francisco, my home.
And then it’ll be New Year’s Eve before I know it, my first one working since I got sober, and after that I’m just going to try to settle into a routine of yoga, work and writing this book I’ve got kicking around my head.
But right now, I’m not thinking much about anything except the family in the next room and the food on the table.
So pardon me while I cut it short again today and go spend some time with the people I came three thousand miles to see.
And eat some of Dad’s shrimp.
Merry Christmas dear readers – I hope your day is as full of love as mine has been.
