Christmas 2024

From Toronto, Lydia asks when we are going to open presents. It dawns on me that she wants to do a coordinated Beijing/Toronto opening. I don't remember if we did that last year or not. We had a lot going on last year. As we did this year.

I cooked lasagna and a cheesy chicken casserole. The cheesy chicken casserole was an addition to the Christmas menu since it went over so well at Thanksgiving. I think mostly it went over so well because it wasn't Turkey. We had Christmas dinner at Yang's apartment meaning we had to pack up food, presents, Kobe and Amanda. We had Christmas at Yang's apartment because Yang's grandmother is there and for someone that makes it seem more festive. Yang herself is in Toronto with Lydia and Aidan.

When we arrived, I ran down to the supermarket to get sour cream to make dip. Yang's mom loves the dip and wanted to see me make it. Pour in onion soup mix and stir. I thought she would be disappointed but she was pleased with the simplicity.

We had Christmas dinner at 6:30pm, which is when Sabrina's sister and neice could make it. Christmas is just another day here and they had to come from school/work. Elisa's took the day off school as did most of her classmates. The lasagna plus chicken casserole made for a heavy meal. I'm still digesting.

After dinner, we moved on to the movie selection. Elisa had suggested Home Alone 2 - the rare better sequel. We found it on the Mi TV and got to the kid screaming just as Kobe started to whine. I took a break from the movie to walk Kobe and to wait for him to poop. It was cold.

When I got back, we opened a few gifts before Sabrina's sister and niece had to leave. Amanda was transfixed by a fishing game and insisted Sabrina fish side by side with her. At 9pm Beijing, we video called Toronto. Lydia and Yang on one end, Grandma, Ayi, Sabrina, Elisa, and myself on the other end. Grandma has her own stream going and seemed transfixed. Lydia wanted to see a close up of Kobe. Yang peeked in the present I got Aidan - "that better not be a backpack" she said because she had gotten him a backpack. It was a messenger bag. Elisa's gifts were playful/thoughtful. Socks for me because my socks have been getting an incredible amount of holes. Red packets for grandma since she likes to give hongbao (cash) gifts. Sabrina giving everyone the necklases she's been making.

The whole evening left me feeling satisfied and exhausted. It's been an emotional week for me and the Christmas ritual was grounding. It helped to reinforce what's important to me. Family.