Boxing Day

It's actually December 26 and the big Christmas rush is over. You can read Ben's account on his blog. For me it was a great and fun time, exhausting and blessed as well. Everyone got along, I got to see lots of family and share my sweetheart with them all and they were all great. Gifts and food were in abundance as well. I was so thrilled to get my stained glass Santa from Ben. I left it there so I wouldn't have to move it and move it and move it. Tomorrow starts the moving process in earnest as I aim for a final move date of January 3 (more or less). It is a daunting task that I was dreading up til now. I came home tonight and as I did, I thought, "I won't have to do this commute much more and soon Ben and I will be together every night." I got a little excited (Yes, about the last comment, but over the whole thing of moving). I don't look forward to all the little details (phone, computer service, address changes, and the myriad of tasks -- not to mention the packing, sorting, unpacking and the moving of furniture. Thankfully, it's not THAT much stuff to move, just more than I moved in with two years ago. It will go well, and Ben is as excited about me being there as I am about being there. Back to the Christmas recap. As you know my Mother had surgery on Thursday and got home on Saturday. She was there and ready for Christmas, but somehow she seemed so much older than before. I believe it's primarily the effects of the surgery and the fairly heavy meds, but it brought parental mortality (and my own) into real plain focus. We spent the night there last night, and about 6 this morning, I heard bagning and pounding. I dashed up the stairs from the basement and found Mom sitting on the bathroom floor where she landed when getting tangled up in her robe (scared the stuff out of me). I went and got Ben up and together we helped her up. Then it took a good while for her to regain some composure. I am hoping and praying that as the new year looms, she will start to feel better and get a little of her old ZIP back.

Her mind was pretty "zippy" this morning as I came out from getting cleaned up, just in time to hear Mom and Ben in conversation. She was saying something like, "I didn't pick Nick's lifestyle, but no one picked mine either." I kept right on moving in order to let them chat about the gay thing and anything else. Actually, I am told it went quite well, and all is well. Mom is a really great lady -- no, she's not wild about me being gay, but she has accepted and welcomed Ben, and I rejoice in that. Our next hurdle will be adjusting to co-habitating full time. The only other biggy to deal with then will be me meeting his family. THAT could be fun, but that will be next year and the likely subject of a bunch of blog posts. I trust that all of you who celebrate Christmas had a wonderful day. Keep the spirit that is Christmas in your hearts and lives every day. Be good to yourselves and take a day to regroup. You might notice that I've reset the Christmas countdown clock for 2007. Ready or not, it's ticking. God bless .....