A Day in the Life of a Retiree

December 28, 2007
Well xmas is come and gone. Enjoyed Xmas Day greatly - it was very special with Rowan here, it made Xmas so much more special seeing it through the eyes of a little one again. He was so excited about everything - he loved our decorations, the little village and the tree, he really liked the angel on top - he kept pointing at her and wanting to touch her.

Rowan arrived with his mom and dad first at about 11:00am and then Katie and Eric came about noon. we opened our stockings first and then our presents. It was a bit of a mad house but that is the fun of it. I hardly got to open mine because I was helping rowan - he seemed to enjoy everything. He got a drum and a xylophone/piano to play and a phone on wheels to pull and a tool bench to hammer and a school bus to fill with little people and a guitar to play and lots of little things to put together and take apart. I told Chuck and Patty that they will need to get a toy box to keep all this stuff together and out of the way!

Dinner was okay - the turkey and stuffing were great but the gravy was too greasy. and everyone was too full to really even take a bit of the pies and the treats that we had baked for the occassion. More for us to eat ourselves, but we certainly don't need any of it! Most will get tossed, what a waste. Next year I will remember to NOT bake anything! But the camaraderie around the dinner table was priceless and we had such a nice time watching the kids interact with each other. It worries me that they don't visit each other on their own, they only visit each other when I have the family together - I wonder what will happen when we are gone?

Tomorrw is the extended Urquhart family xmas dinner. It is at one of Brian's brother's house. Rowan is the only great-nephew so he will get lots of attention. It should be fun - much less stress than having it at your own home! There will be about 30 people there this year. Brian is one of 8 brothers and sisters and most of them are married with grown children who now have significant others to attend. Brian's parents are both gone now, his Dad died in 1989 and his mother in 2001. My Dad died in 1991 and my mother just last year in 2006. this is the first year that my brother did not make the trip from Toronto this year. I can't blame him, he spends his xmas with his friend's family and they are like his own children so it was nice for him to stay in Toronto for the first time ever since he left home almost 40 years ago. Still it shows that things change as families grow older, sometimes for the better but sometimes a bit for the worse with traditions falling by the wayside. Without my mother and brother to share the plum pudding with, it was a bit silly of me to make it anyway and be the only one to take a piece! And my brother is the only one who really enjoys my Scottish shortbread, again I made a batch that no one but me is eating. Oh well, I guess I just have to let these things slide.

Looking forward to our New Year's Eve celebration.