The Calm After the Christmas Chaos

The days leading up to Christmas are typically a little, well, nuts for me. Like many, I usually don’t wrap my Christmas gifts until Christmas Eve. When the boys were younger, this posed a real problem because I had to wait until the kids were asleep before I started wrapping. I remember many times that 3 a.m. was approaching as the last of the wrapped gifts finally made it under the tree. Then was the filling of the stockings – another 30 minutes or so.

Steve was unenthusiastic in assisting me in these chores, although it was an unspoken rule that if there was any assembling that needed to be done he was the guy.

As in years past, on Monday night I did my wrapping while “A Christmas Story” played nonstop on TV. Thankfully the boys are older and there are fewer presents to wrap (yes, underwear does count as a gift) and I was finished by 9:30 p.m.

Christmas Day were sweet rolls, coffee, hot chocolate and FaceTiming our youngest who is in Georgia with the Air Force. He opened the box of gifts that we sent him – all wrapped in CV Weekly newspapers lest he forget what his mom does.

We had a small group for dinner – only 11. Unlike many, our meal is in the evening – around 6:30 – giving us plenty of time to clean up after opening gifts and to cook the holiday feast.

I felt so thankful as I looked around our dining table, seeing the family that Steve and I created as well as his mom and our mutual friends.

Unlike some of our friends, I had to return to work on Wednesday. I chuckle when I recall how some of my acquaintances asked if we were putting out a paper this week; did they also ask the Los Angeles Times if they were printing the day after Christmas? Because that’s how seriously we take our responsibilities and ourselves. The CV Weekly is as eagerly anticipated as any other newspaper – and surpasses any other local paper. However, the office is opening late on Thursday morning; most of the CVW staff is on vacation this week and I decided to give myself a little break.

The office will be open until noon on Monday, closed on Tuesday, and reopen for regular hours on Wednesday.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, took time to see some of the holiday displays around town and have a safe and Happy New Year.

  robin goldsworthy