Cancelled

So, today was supposed to be "Christmas" for our family. My brother and his wife are going to fly to California to be with her family over the holiday, and we decided to move the whole Swedish Christmas smörgåsbord and Santa-arrival (incidentally, the packages were going to arrive "mysteriously from Amazon" on the front porch--more about that later) and present-exchanging, etc, to today. Also included were the Nutcracker and my going to church in the morning.

There was a slight hiccup in the plans when my dad's girlfriend could no longer make it, but we were still four people, and the plans were still on.

Then it snowed. A lot.

The first to go was church. Last night around 10pm I got the call that it had been cancelled due to weather. I do like church, but I got really excited because it was like a snow day at school--the unexpected removal of something out a busy schedule, free time created out of thin air.

This morning I woke up and checked the PNB website. 1pm showing of the Nutcracker: CANCELLED. So I called my dad, and we decided to still do dinner, just meet up here later. He said he'd call my brother to confirm.

About 1 hour later, I get a call from my brother. My dad had talked with him, and he and his wife decided they weren't comfortable going out in the snowy weather. Feast: cancelled. We're going to get together for a little celebration when they get back.

Last I heard, my dad is coming up here, anyway. Either way, I'm content to be stuck in a beautifully snowed-in house with a whole feast's worth of food, Christmas music, and warm blankets.

This made me think: what I really wanted for Christmas was time, or a day off. I love to spend time with my family, go to church, go to the Nutcracker--don't get me wrong--but it is a wonderful gift, indeed, just to have a break. And today I am going to do just that. Break. And have a very merry day, indeed.