My Christmas

Self,

I made it to my parents house late on Christmas' Eve, actually it was Christmas Day since it was after midnight, but that's besides the point. I made my pallet of blankets on the sofa and went to bed. Sip on a glass of egg og with a shot of dark Bacardi rum. And then I'm off to dreamland.

I woke up Christmas Day to my dad's special from-scratch-recipe pancakes along with bacon and a cold glass of milk. Not too long after that I have a glass of orange-pineapple juice that my dad had out.

We continue with the morning and in the early afternoon I decide that it's about time for me to get started preparing Christmas Dinner. So I go in the kitchen and start prepping everything. I boil the macaroni, drain it, season it , add cheese, and get it in the casserole dish to bake. I pull out the baby-back ribs from the frig so I can start coating them while heating the oil in the cast iron frying pan.

My stomach flips. I am suddenly queasy. Since I haven't really started I pause and go outseide to get some fresh air. Eventually I raise the stakes a bit with an Alka-Seltzer. I shortly go back in the kitchen to start on the ribs.

I go racing down the hall to the bathroom to stand over the toilet and empty out the contents of my stomach. Good I decide, now it's out the way and I can continue with my day. I let my mom know I want to sit down for 15-20 minutes to recoup a bit then I'll go back to the kitchen.

I'm back in the kitchen, wash my hands under hot water, and I sit out three bowls to start the coating process for the ribs. (flour, egg wash, and Panko bread crumbs.) My stomach flips again! I find it difficult to stand again and my mom suggest that I just sit and direct her on what to do because she wants to make sure we give my grandparents dinner early. So I go sit in the dining room across from the kitchen. One of the same wood-backed chairs that I've spent hours sitting in talking with family is now one of the most UNCOMFORTABLE pieces of furniture I have ever sat in. I bare it long enough to give my mom a few instructions for the ribs, then I go sit on a sofa in the living....after another race down the hall. That was all she wrote, I feel asleep on the sofa and the next thing I knew my mom was telling me to come sit at the table so we can bless the food and eat.

I sat at the table in the den/familyroom, we blessed the food. I took a couple bites of the salad my mom put together. Took a sip or two of the sparkling grape juice my dad poured in to everyone's glasses. I couldn't make it I, pulled away from the table and sat in the dinning room. (alittle closer to the bathroom down the hall. About that time a friend of my brother dropped by with his family and while they were all chatting around the table....I ran down the hall for a third time. Afterwards I passed out on the sofa again, but at some point my mom had me go lay across the guest bed until she woke me again telling me it was after midnight and was I going to stay or drive home. I stayed. She made my pallet on the sofa in the den again. (she was sleeping in the guest room to be closer to my grandparents in case one of them called out for her in the middle of the night.

I woke up the next morning...just peachy. My parents, my brother, and I finally exchanged the few gifts we had under the tree. I had a small plate of the left-overs from the dinner I planned.

That was my Christmas.

Sincerely,
Pharaoh