First Christmas

I can't believe how quickly it came this year and truly it didn't really feel much like the Christmas holiday. I'm not sure if it was out of utter exhaustion or knowing that we wouldn't be at our house or even with family on Christmas day but I just couldn't quite get into the spirit of the holiday. Lucky us, we spent our very first Christmas as a married couple in a hotel room. That's right- the a Marriot hotel in Orlando, Florida. Some may say- that is so fun, you don't have to deal with the stress of dealing with family, you don't have to cook or clean up the house after opening gifts, but it also didn't have a Christmas tree (and I thought about bringing one, but there was little room left in the car), no lights, no place to hang the stockings and we really didn't want to put out the gifts until Christmas day for the cleaning staff to have to step around.

Then came Christmas morning, Brian got up and went to a meeting, I went to the gym (because remember gyms at hotels are open 24-7) then we went to breakfast and then on to a service held in the hotel- instead of waking up at 7 to make it to Christmas mass which by the way I am still feeling a tad bit guilty about. After the service it was off to more meetings for Brian and I got to hang out in the room- which would have been nice if I was in the mood to just relax and be by myself, but it was Christmas! There was just something missing. Once Brian returned from his meetings it was time to open presents- which was a bit anti-climatic at best. You spend all of this time thinking up great ideas about what to buy or make for your spouse and then you sit on a hotel bed opening packages with the NCIS marathon playing in the background. The presents were very nice and generous, I did forget to mention that while I was sitting in the room by myself I may have made myself a few glasses of mimosa, so I was a little more tired than excited. So what came next you ask? Well, for anyone that knows my husband they know exactly what came next, but I promise if you don't know him I know what you are probably thinking- unfortunately for all of you that thought the day got exciting are going to be dissapointed as we utilized the feather topped mattress for a nice long nap! Woohoo! An hour or so later I arose with a bit of a champagne headache and got ready for our Christmas Buffet at the hotel- which was actually pretty tasty and again I didn't have to cook which made it that much more delicious. The only disapointment with dinner was that the apple pie was still frozen. Guess you just can't have it all.

After dinner we went to visit one of my best friends who was in town from London for the holidays. Only moments after arriving I had a glass of wine in my hand and looked down to find a picture of a sonogram- and I guess that was this year's big christmas suprise, one of my best friends in the whole world is going to have a baby!!!! It was a terrific Christmas present, although I was definitely in too much shock at the time to really show my excitement about it all. But Che- if you are reading this, I am so very happy for you!

In the years to come I realize that we may spend many more Christmas days in hotel rooms, I just need to learn how to make it more special for my husband and I- to celebrate the day and not allow it to drift by feeling like every other day of the week. Next time there will definitely be a Christmas tree (even if it is 2 ft. tall) in our room and I might even bring lights and garland to make the room feel a little more festive! But I can always hope that next year we will be checking into the hotel the day AFTER Christmas, right? :-)