You'd think that being unable to get home to my family for Christmas would be just the thing to push me firmly over the edge into a Swirling Vortex of Melancholy®. Not so.
I'm pretty disappointed that I couldn't be in Pittsburgh with my family -- especially my Mom, given the sudden passing of my Aunt on Saturday. But to be honest, this Christmas was one of surprising contentment, if a little low-key.
I spent Christmas Eve with Topher. He made a veritable feast for us; black bean soup and edamame & dill salad, and a Christmas ham with stewed tomatoes, onions and basil, all of which were just plain delicious. Sadly, Topher was suffering from the tail-end of a cold, and could barely taste his own cooking. I ended up being the main beneficiary of his labor. The only one, actually.
After we'd cleaned up from dinner, we shambled off to his church, St. Luke in the Fields, for Christmas Eve services. We'd planned on arriving early to get a good seat, but unfortunately misremembered the starting time, and ended up in one of the overflow sections, where we got to see all the backstage wrangling going on. Interesting. And let me tell you, high Episcopalians are really fond of incense.
We didn't get back to Topher's place and to sleep until nearly 2 a.m. (Topher, by the way, has a remarkably comfy sofa... at least for me; I imagine it'd be kinda a torture rack for a tall person). But come Christmas morning, we got up and exchanged gifts, and cooked ourselves some breakfast. We used the leftover ham to make ham & cheese omlettes! All in all, a great time.
I ended up spending most of Christmas day making phone calls and lying around reading while Topher went off to a dinner with his friends; when he returned, I ordered my traditional away-from-home Christmas meal: Chinese food.
Like I said, it was hardly brimming over with joy, but it surely was filled with the comfort of a good friend, and knowing how much I'm loved.
Hope yours was too.
I'm pretty disappointed that I couldn't be in Pittsburgh with my family -- especially my Mom, given the sudden passing of my Aunt on Saturday. But to be honest, this Christmas was one of surprising contentment, if a little low-key.
I spent Christmas Eve with Topher. He made a veritable feast for us; black bean soup and edamame & dill salad, and a Christmas ham with stewed tomatoes, onions and basil, all of which were just plain delicious. Sadly, Topher was suffering from the tail-end of a cold, and could barely taste his own cooking. I ended up being the main beneficiary of his labor. The only one, actually.After we'd cleaned up from dinner, we shambled off to his church, St. Luke in the Fields, for Christmas Eve services. We'd planned on arriving early to get a good seat, but unfortunately misremembered the starting time, and ended up in one of the overflow sections, where we got to see all the backstage wrangling going on. Interesting. And let me tell you, high Episcopalians are really fond of incense.
We didn't get back to Topher's place and to sleep until nearly 2 a.m. (Topher, by the way, has a remarkably comfy sofa... at least for me; I imagine it'd be kinda a torture rack for a tall person). But come Christmas morning, we got up and exchanged gifts, and cooked ourselves some breakfast. We used the leftover ham to make ham & cheese omlettes! All in all, a great time.I ended up spending most of Christmas day making phone calls and lying around reading while Topher went off to a dinner with his friends; when he returned, I ordered my traditional away-from-home Christmas meal: Chinese food.
Like I said, it was hardly brimming over with joy, but it surely was filled with the comfort of a good friend, and knowing how much I'm loved.
Hope yours was too.
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