Christmas Vacation

So, I should be writing quite a lot since I did not write anything all last week. The one big thing that took place last week was Anna’s Christmas party. She had invited a bunch of her friends to her annual Christmas party. One difference this year was that usually it’s Anna and Gretchen. Gretchen was not going to be able to make it to the party so Anna organized it. A couple of days earlier, Rob had called to say that he was heading through DM on his way back to Texas for Christmas and was wondering if we could meet up. We did meet up and he ended up coming to the party. Two of my friends came which was nice, but the rest of the people were pretty much Anna’s friends. It was my introduction to them and I think it went pretty well. They were all wonderful people. Oh, since Anna was leaving for Maple Grove, MN the day after the party, we had decided to exchange Christmas presents in the morning. I had gotten her a scrapbook since she’s really into scrapbooking, one of my all time favorite books which is the “Alchemist” by Paolo Coelho and the grand gift was season subscription to the rest of the DM Symphony. I managed to snag the single seat next to John and I. Yay! She enjoyed the gifts. For my presents, she had gotten me a gift certificate to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and two wine stoppers which were really nice. The third gift arrived after we came back from Maple Grove. More on that gift later. Her drive up was not too bad. She did say that there was quite a lot of blowing snow, but apart from that, the roads were fine.

I left for Maple Grove on Christmas Eve and apart from some slick and icy spots, the drive was fine. It took me roughly four hours to get to Heidi (Anna’s twin sister) and Mark’s place. They live in a very affluent suburb and have a beautiful house. The house has four bedrooms on the second floor and a fully finished basement which is where I slept since there was a bathroom and shower there. The living, dining room and kitchen is located on the main floor. I was reintroduced to her parents since I did meet them briefly at my 30th birthday party at the restaurant. Not too long after I arrived, Mark’s parents (Jack and Carol) arrived from Bismarck, ND. They too would be spending Christmas at Heidi and Mark’s. It was such a fun and relaxing time with everyone. For dinner, Carol made lasagna which was utterly delectable and decadent. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. It dawned on me that this was the first time in a good number of years I did not have steak on Christmas Eve which had been my personal tradition. That was fine by me. After dinner, it was time for everyone to open their presents. I had brought a bottle of wine for Heidi and Mark and gotten a pewter gift for Al and Karen (Anna’s parents). Unbeknownst to me, Al and Karen got me presents too. I got a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and a wine that was produced by Anna’s cousin who is a winemaker out in Oregon. How thoughtful of them. Joel and I would most definitely be enjoying this bottle of wine. After opening the presents, we sang some carols and had some homemade alcohol beverages which was pretty potent. All of us then pretty much called it a night.

The weather was pretty darn beautiful on Christmas Day and we went to Mass that morning. I am used to going to Mass on Christmas Eve so that too was something new and different. The church that we went to was an amazing church. It was very contemporary and I liked it a lot. The musicians did a mighty fine job with the music and all in all it was a great celebration. We then went back to the house for brunch prepared by Anna’s mom. Everyone kind of sat around and just relaxed while eating brunch. We watched the movie version of Mamma Mia since most of the people had not seen it and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. Once the movie was done, most everyone went for a nap. Al, Karen and I were the only ones who did not nap. So, the three of us ended up playing Rummikub which was a tile version of Gin Rummy. Al won almost all the games since he had a knack for playing the game. I just had fun learning a new game. That evening, we had dinner at Mark’s family in Edina, MN. The host family was such gracious people and there were quite a lot of people at the house. The meal was pretty simple, but it was very, very good. We had salad, wild rice, grass-fed beef and cheesecake for dessert. It was such a good meal all around. I got to meet Mark’s side of the family and were involved in a couple of really good conversations pertaining to my job and the future of the US health system. Everyone truly had a good time at the dinner. I even got to talk about wine with one of the guests which was pretty neat.

The day after Christmas was supposed to be a big day for various sales, but no one really needed or wanted to buy anything. Heidi, Mark, Anna and I did run some errands and in the midst of that did some shopping. Heidi was on the lookout for an artificial tree but did not find one to her liking. I was just content to tag along with them. Maple Grove is definitely a burgeoning suburb and I got to see a lot of it. After coming back, we hung out before going out for dinner at Bucca De Beppo where the Italian food is served family style. Anna and Gretchen’s childhood friend and her husband joined all of us at dinner and I got to meet her. Anna told me a little about her so it was nice to meet her in person. Everyone was more than stuffed at the end of the meal and dinner was on Al. He was just happy that he could spend time with everyone and that all of us had a grand time.

Anna and I drove back to DM on Saturday at around 11:30AM. Heidi had to work at 11AM and we left after she did. The drive was uneventful and we stopped at Albert Lea which is a pretty big truck stop just to stretch a little while Anna grabbed something to eat for the final leg. I could not believe how icy DM was. Her driveway was entirely covered in ice which made things pretty darn slick. We watched the movie, “Seven Pounds” starring Will Smith which was a very good movie. It was a very poignant drama and I can understand why it got rave reviews. After having such rich meals over Christmas, we settled for some very simple food for dinner which was just fine by me.

All in all, I had a very good time in Maple Grove and in many ways, spending time with Anna’s family reminded me of what Christmas at home was. Family got together and just shared a meal and lots of conversation. It’s the simplicity of Christmas that I treasure the most …not the presents and I’m glad I got to experience it this year.