Old Time Christmas

I miss Christmas. Not for the 300 days it's not exploding in front of my face, but how it used to be. The excitement was always as much about going to grandma's as it was about the presents. Back then all the kids were still kids (and didn't have any yet themselves) and the rarely seen aunts and uncles were a treat.
Grandma's gone now so the decorations are put away, the gatherings are infrequent, and the treats are fewer. With eating being second to only eating in life importance I get to "see" much of my family on the internet at any given moment. Generally, this isn't as much of a treat as when I saw them as a child... It happens. The fact that I likely can't expect to find a big Barbie Mansion in my living room in the morning also takes away some of the holiday thrill.
You know you're a grown up when a super awesome present is a box of various meats! (Thanks mom!)
I got my share of treats this year, and made some of my own, but they don't seem to have the correct ratio of love that grandma added in to them. She worked over a vat of chocolate for days.

At this point in life, I assume regular people start to make their own traditions and whatnot. Last year my honey and I kept watch over the Hunsicker homestead, watched Batman, ate pizza and mac and cheese, and drank lemon beer. It was pretty delightful. Not terribly Christmasy but it was our first go.
This year we had a fancy dinner with one of the many sides of my family. It was nice. Very mature and stuff. Our alternate plan was Chinese food & movies. Maybe that'll be next year.
I still opened my epic stocking; I don't think I've ever missed out on that one. I got a stuffed pink dragon in a tutu from my mommy! I ate too many delicious things and I wore a t-rex Christmas sweater. Pretty damn festive.

But...without grandma, the holiday spirit is a dull glow of what it once was. Maybe it's just a part of getting older--maybe next year I'll get myself a Barbie Mansion to put together and play with at an obscenely early hour Christmas morning. (More likely it'll be a Lego mansion of some sort.)

Until the spirit returns, I'll always have Solstmas. The cheer pressure is much lower when the Pagans are involved.