I had an eventful weekend-before-Christmas weekend, and the fun started with a little car ride on Friday with one of my favorite furry friends.
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That’s right, I was dog-sitting, and I took the dog to go see Christmas lights. We loaded into the car and I held on tight to Baze The Dog as we drove out to Rock Springs Park in Alton. Baze, ever the enjoyer of car rides, wagged his tail and hung out of the window as I cranked the heat.
The Grandpa Gang does a fantastic job decorating Rock Springs Park every year. We joined the long line of cars and inched our way through the park, marveling at the lights. Baze, who had never seen anything like this before, stared.
I think it was honestly probably a little overstimulating for him. The park was so wonderfully decorated with literally millions of lights. I was starstruck, and surely the dog was too.
Eventually, he lay down on my lap and fell asleep, overcome with the Christmas wonder. I don’t blame him. It was beautiful. I thought about waking him up to visit Santa at the top of the park, but ultimately forewent that visit and took him home, where we could both sleep peacefully with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.
Fast forward a day, and I was excited to celebrate. My friends were coming over for a little Christmas dinner, also known as Friendsmas. I spent Saturday making buffalo chicken dip and cleaning my home. This was the first time some of these friends had been here since I moved, and I wanted to make sure it looked perfect.
Of course, I needn’t have worried. My friends, who are all wonderful and fun people, were mostly just excited to hang out. We put on “The Santa Clause” and chatted the night away, sipping wine and eating pizza.
I wrote recently about my goal to connect more intentionally with my friends. This was a perfect example of that. Christmas is all about being with people you love, and my little Friendsmas party was really just a ploy to see all of my buddies.
And they fell for it! Those suckers came over and spent all night with me, chilling and vibing. Success! [Insert evil laugh.]
As we come up on Christmas Day, I look forward to seeing more people I love and hanging out with Baze The Dog and generally just being surrounded by love. What a gift that is.
I recognize the holidays can be complicated. This winter is a little complicated for me, too. But I’m trying to focus on the fact that I am loved, and I love, and that’s what the holidays are all about.
On Christmas Day, I’m hoping to see a whole bunch of people I care about. It might not look like the Christmases of my childhood. It might not have the same magic attached to it, and it might be a little bittersweet at times. But it’s a gift to have people who want to spend time with you, and I’m honored to say I have people I want to spend time with, too.
I tried to create some of that old Christmas magic this weekend by spending the night with my friends and looking at lights with a sweet dog. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good. It was really, really good.
I’m choosing to focus on the good.
Merry Christmas, Riverbend.
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