Christmas 2024

I’ve fallen out of love with Christmas. When I was a kid it was a magical time. I’d put the lights up around my mom’s house. I’d put out the nativity (Three white plastic figures) that my mom and Dad purchased from Grants or some other now long out of business chain store. She painted them up one year. Joseph had a blue jacket or maybe it was Mary who had a blue dress By my teens they were well past their prime. I’d put up lights in my room, looking forward to the first Christmas special, usually ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ on channel 2, CBS. Then the search for ‘A Christmas Carol’ with Alester Sims would begin. In the 1980’s I got a VHS copy of the movie and thought I had a copy of the movie and could see it any time I wanted to. RIP all the VHS movies I collected.

When we adopted the girls, I tried to start traditions. I told them a story about how I met Santa Claus one Christmas Eve. They were very impressed with the story the first year I told them. They were so impressed with the story, when I asked them about the story years later they didn’t remember it.

Those early years helped to keep Christmas fresh and new with the excitement of the girls those first few years, but like everything and everyone one, they grew up and one year I’m sitting next to the tree at the very late hour of 9AM, with my camera (remember them?) and they are still in bed. They know it’s Christmas, they know Santa (yeah, Dad, we don’t really believe any more.) has been there the night before (yeah,he did eat the pinwheel cookies you baked.) but sleep is more important. This past Christmas we waited for Nancy at eleven. One of the great stories KJ and Amanda will come over later.Teri tells the story about every time KJ sees our Christmas tree, this year, he stands in front of it and goes “Wow!”. Teri said it melted her heart. She always says she just loves him to death.

There were no big announcements this year, like two years ago. Presents are opened and Prime Rib is served for a two o'clock dinner, that is served at three-thirty. Sean’s family is serving their dinner at two also, so he isn’t there. We find out later they ate some time south of four o’clock. I guess more than just us are running on Muller time.Right now I’m running on Muller time. To tell the truth, since my name is Muller, I am forced to run on Muller time all the time. Teri doesn’t understand.

Back in August or September I suggested we should go to Disney, not during Christmas, but give the gift on Christmas of going to Disney in the Spring, so we didn’t have to buy gifts for people who don’t need anything, that rampant consumerism that forces you to spend money you don’t have on gift that most people don’t need. Teri thought it was not what she wanted to do. After cooking Christmas dinner she was talking about going on a cruise next year instead of doing Christmas. I guess timing is everything. I made a Vanilla cheesecake with raspberry swirl and a tres leches cake. If you want the recipe for either email me, they are both great. My boss at work, Paul, had a piece of it a few years ago and loved it. After that the day was over. Sean arrived back at home not too late. Like everyone else he had to be at work on Thursday, the 26th. Below is a recipe sort of for hot chocolate chip cookies