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It was a good Christmas. Exhausting, but good.
So the whole thing with B2 and the stepbro and the stepdad didn't end up being that much of an issue - the cousins that B2 wanted to spend time with didn't make it up to the parentals in time to go to the beach first. (No wonder: they have four children from 14 to 5. It would be a zoo.)
Out of 12 in my generation, 9 attended - #2 was visiting her boyfriend's family in Victoria, #12 went away with her fiance and a couple of friends over Christmas, and #10 had to work the next day and needed a day off. They were missed and discussed a little, and notes and requests passed on for their attention.
There was food and plenty of it. In fact there was some serious overcatering. I made four pavlovas (small-ish, and two were vegan), but we only ate two. I think everyone was still pretty full from the previous day and so we didn't stuff ourselves. There were boxes of leftovers and we sent them with whoever we could find to take them. This is not unusual in our Christmas.
For gifts, I got money from the parentals, a gift card from the stepbro, handcreams from one set of cousins, a "summer salad grow kit" from another set of cousins, and a few other bits and pieces. I'm pretty 'eh' about presents; for me, the pleasure in Christmas is equal parts the food and the chance to catch up with the family.
#4's wife invited me to go visit them on the other side of town. She's been issuing this invitation for several years and I'd really like to go, but I'm worried about imposing. Intellectually, I know that it's not - as I said, she's been inviting me generally for the last few years - but I kind of hate just saying "hey, I'd like to turn up on these dates, is that okay by you?" I mean, I do that with overseas friends, but that's...somehow different. Or maybe I'm just anxious after an online friend once said "Yeah, that's fine" only when I turned up, it turned out not to be quite so fine and she kind of palmed me off to someone else. (Ask culture vs. guess culture.)
Anyway, I think I'm going down sometime in January, pending sorting out when and where and stuff. She's been writing the last couple of years - a novel - and I've spoken to her a bit about my own writing, but not much. It can be hard to explain fanfic to normals. And the stuff I'm writing is either paranormal romance or urban fantasy, while I think she's more into YA and NA genres. (I tried my hand at it, but felt like I was writing adult brain in teenaged bodies. It just didn't work for me.)
One of the big discussions was whether #12 was intending to invite the collection of cousins to the wedding/reception or not. She's still pretty young not even 30 yet, while #1 would be around 48. So she's not necessarily as 'connected' to the cousins as the midrange group of us (me - #3, down to cousin #8, but #1 and #2, while older, were both still involved in family gatherings for most of their adolescence) but...well...we were hoping to be invited. The last wedding was cousin #4 and that was 20 years ago! Nobody else has gotten married; although most of us have dated, we just haven't mated. So this is a pretty big thing in the family - and it would be nice. I mean, if we're not invited, we'll send a present and that's that - what else can you do?
Otherwise, I chatted with aunts and uncles, with cousins and my stepbrother's girlfriend (who seems pretty serious seeing as she went to his Christmas Day stuff with his mum and to the Boxing Day Christmas with us), served food, cleaned up plates, corralled small (and not so small) children and generally had a good time.
By 5pm, once everyone had left, though, we were plumb tuckered out.
A very good Christmas and (hopefully) a Happy New Year.
But before then, I have a friend's birthday party tomorrow, and the max temps the last few days have hit 39C, which has made doing anything a complete nightmare. It cools in the evening, but that's not until 6pm...
So the whole thing with B2 and the stepbro and the stepdad didn't end up being that much of an issue - the cousins that B2 wanted to spend time with didn't make it up to the parentals in time to go to the beach first. (No wonder: they have four children from 14 to 5. It would be a zoo.)
Out of 12 in my generation, 9 attended - #2 was visiting her boyfriend's family in Victoria, #12 went away with her fiance and a couple of friends over Christmas, and #10 had to work the next day and needed a day off. They were missed and discussed a little, and notes and requests passed on for their attention.
There was food and plenty of it. In fact there was some serious overcatering. I made four pavlovas (small-ish, and two were vegan), but we only ate two. I think everyone was still pretty full from the previous day and so we didn't stuff ourselves. There were boxes of leftovers and we sent them with whoever we could find to take them. This is not unusual in our Christmas.
For gifts, I got money from the parentals, a gift card from the stepbro, handcreams from one set of cousins, a "summer salad grow kit" from another set of cousins, and a few other bits and pieces. I'm pretty 'eh' about presents; for me, the pleasure in Christmas is equal parts the food and the chance to catch up with the family.
#4's wife invited me to go visit them on the other side of town. She's been issuing this invitation for several years and I'd really like to go, but I'm worried about imposing. Intellectually, I know that it's not - as I said, she's been inviting me generally for the last few years - but I kind of hate just saying "hey, I'd like to turn up on these dates, is that okay by you?" I mean, I do that with overseas friends, but that's...somehow different. Or maybe I'm just anxious after an online friend once said "Yeah, that's fine" only when I turned up, it turned out not to be quite so fine and she kind of palmed me off to someone else. (Ask culture vs. guess culture.)
Anyway, I think I'm going down sometime in January, pending sorting out when and where and stuff. She's been writing the last couple of years - a novel - and I've spoken to her a bit about my own writing, but not much. It can be hard to explain fanfic to normals. And the stuff I'm writing is either paranormal romance or urban fantasy, while I think she's more into YA and NA genres. (I tried my hand at it, but felt like I was writing adult brain in teenaged bodies. It just didn't work for me.)
One of the big discussions was whether #12 was intending to invite the collection of cousins to the wedding/reception or not. She's still pretty young not even 30 yet, while #1 would be around 48. So she's not necessarily as 'connected' to the cousins as the midrange group of us (me - #3, down to cousin #8, but #1 and #2, while older, were both still involved in family gatherings for most of their adolescence) but...well...we were hoping to be invited. The last wedding was cousin #4 and that was 20 years ago! Nobody else has gotten married; although most of us have dated, we just haven't mated. So this is a pretty big thing in the family - and it would be nice. I mean, if we're not invited, we'll send a present and that's that - what else can you do?
Otherwise, I chatted with aunts and uncles, with cousins and my stepbrother's girlfriend (who seems pretty serious seeing as she went to his Christmas Day stuff with his mum and to the Boxing Day Christmas with us), served food, cleaned up plates, corralled small (and not so small) children and generally had a good time.
By 5pm, once everyone had left, though, we were plumb tuckered out.
A very good Christmas and (hopefully) a Happy New Year.
But before then, I have a friend's birthday party tomorrow, and the max temps the last few days have hit 39C, which has made doing anything a complete nightmare. It cools in the evening, but that's not until 6pm...
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Sorry to hear it's been so hot over there for you! We've been skating by a little cooler over west, and the hottest days just before Christmas I was down south for so I escaped! I hope it eases off for you a little!