Coming back home for the holidays

I was home for 10 days during the holidays. I got to experience life at home again, living with my parents, younger sister, and our three dogs. 

 

Despite my sister trying to convince me to let her take my room (which is bigger) and my mom asking me if I was sick of my family members yet, I had a wonderful time. 

 

It was 70 degrees when I left Denver the Monday night before Christmas, so it felt very good to arrive and see some snow on the ground. The holiday season just isn’t the same without snow, and especially without it being cold. Needless to say, I was very grateful to have a white Christmas. 

 

I tended bar again for the first time in months while I was home. It was interesting. When I stepped behind the bar, I expected I would be just as smooth and automatic about it as I was before, so I was taken by surprise when I was a bit rusty. Thankfully, I fell into it pretty easily. Turns out it's not difficult to remember how to pour drinks and give sass to people. 

 

Of course, there were the regulars who missed me, and then those who didn’t even recognize me. I worked with my sister, and the number of times we got comments asking us if we were twins actually surprised me. Or they thought she was older, although I am three years her senior. It doesn’t upset me at all, it just makes me curious what features she has (or I have) that make people think that. 

 

I asked one regular how his holiday was and he said it was good. “It’s nice when it comes, and then it’s over, and it’s nice when it’s done.” In a sense, I understand. While it’s amazing to be home and with family and enjoying our time together, it can sometimes be stressful. Do I have all the gifts? All the food we need? What if I don’t like a gift someone gives me? And as always, eating way too much good food. 

 

I also attended Sunday mass at Sacred Heart Church for the first time in years. It feels like high school was the last time I went to a mass there, so it was quite nostalgic to step back into the building, sit in the wooden pews, look at the stained glass windows, and sing all the hymns I still somehow know. Although a lot of things have changed since I grew up in that church, it was still the same. My religious journey through the years hasn’t always been easy, but if we need faith at any time, it’s now more than ever. 

 

On my new year’s resolution list is to attempt to find a church I might enjoy in Denver. Hopefully they will have a choir I can join, because my other resolution is to involve myself in music again, most likely in choir. Then again, resolutions are hard, so we’ll see how successful I am. 

 

My Determination: “Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen.” - Kevin McCallister, Home Alone