There were a few good things about this holiday. I had breakfast on Christmas Eve with some of my favorite girls. That was definitely one of the best things about this year- reconnecting with this group of friends.
Church was absolutely beautiful. Here are Jen and I posing before church started:
The pastor gave a wonderful sermon, and they had a full orchestra accompanying all the songs. We got to sing lots of Christmas songs, and the service concluded with the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus. There was just one problem. People would not. shut. up. I couldn't believe the audacity. Two teenage boys sitting in front of us were doing their best Beavis and Butthead impression and snickered through the whole service. I thought their mom might stop it, but she was too busy engaging in noisy conversations with her daughter. Seriously, people weren't even whispering! I don't care if there's an orchestra playing; people can still hear you talking! It was especially disrespectful to the soloists. And the conversation wasn't just during the music; it was even during the sermon, prayers, and scripture readings! I looked around at one point during the sermon and saw not just the family ahead of me having a conversation, but an entire row of teen girls talking and giggling in the next section over, a couple behind them talking, and a family behind them talking. It was ridiculous. Why even bother going to church? If you're just going because it's Christmas and you feel obligated, stay home. Not the right reason to go to church. Perhaps that's unChristian of me, but church isn't supposed to be an obligation. I was actually trying to get something out of the service, and it was really hard to concentrate on the implications of the miracle birth of Jesus when all I wanted to do was punch someone in the face.
Apparently I was not the only one feeling this way. At the start of the Hallelujah Chorus, both my mom and Jen (seated on either side of me) were like, "Let 'em have it," implying that I could get revenge by inflicting my voice upon them. Not sure exactly what that was supposed to mean. I tried to sing on the quiet side of normal, but was told afterwards that I was really loud. Woops. Anyway, at the end of the service, I waited till the lady in front of us was within earshot, then started a loud conversation with Jen about how hard it was to enjoy church when people were talking so much during the service. "I mean, I couldn't even concentrate! The constant chatter just ruined everything!" Jen caught on quickly. "I know!" she replied. "People need to learn some manners! If you want to just talk throughout the whole service, don't even bother coming!" The lady had a strange look on her face, so I know she heard us. Plus I think I may have actually been glaring at her during this exchange. I know it was snarky and unkind, but seriously, these people were so obnoxious. I mean, I was so distracted that, at communion, I popped the wafer in my mouth without waiting to dip it in the wine. So now I'm probably only half forgiven.
Anyway, after church it was time to exchange gifts. My mom had this beautiful opal ring made for me. She was so excited about it; I've been hearing about it for months.
My mom asked my uncle for white thread for Christmas. Being the creative person that he is, he threw in one spool of black thread, taking the gift to a new level.
I received some other really nice gifts as well. Jen crocheted a beautiful scarf for me. My uncle got me the new David Sedaris book. Jacob got me a $100 gift card to REI (woo hoo! that means neoprene socks and a life jacket!). And I opened a box from my dad to find this:
My dad found a great deal on a nice tv several months ago, and since I gave mine away when I left Phoenix, he got it for me under the condition I would pay him back. The post-it cracked me up, as well as the fact that he actually took time to carefully cut out the tv and mount it on cardboard.
Whitney got me this adorable ring:
And Kristin got me an Arizona hiking calendar. Such nice, thoughtful gifts.
I will end this post with something that I thought was absolutely ridiculous. On Christmas day, my cousin showed me this picture:
Yes, my uncle actually took his beloved boxer, Jack, to see Santa. And put him in antlers.
Merry Christmas.
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