EbTheRedHead: Holidays are OVER! Part 3

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Holidays are OVER! Part 3

One of my favorite new traditions for the holiday season is definitely an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. At first, I thought it was a hilarious idea to get people together to make fun of each other. But as the popularity grew, I now look forward to seeing my friends--PERIOD. It's hard to see them during the holidays when everyone has so many commitments. This is a perfect guarantee that we could touch base and see how we are doing.
The holidays are stressful for some. It's the end of the year. People reflect back. We sometimes check in on our current situations to see if we're heading towards the right direction. And sometimes we just know what's not working for us anymore.
I noticed my mom was growing very irritated by the holidays. I couldn't put my finger on it at first, mostly because she was complaining about how crowded the stores are, etc. But then she started mentioning how she's not fond of certain people in our circle, and that's when I knew something was brewing. Despite in the past, whether or not certain people were difficult to be around, we still as a family managed to get together during the holidays. This time my mom was voicing her opinion, but for me and my brothers, we weren't having it. I wasn't sure if she was trying to deter us from spending the holidays with others and keeping me and my brothers to herself, Luckily my older brother took over the communication process and my younger aunt decided to host Christmas Eve at her house. I know it seems a bit conniving, but me and my brothers all agreed that we didn't want to separate our family because of my mom feeling uncomfortable. Sometimes I think she's embarrassed or ashamed of being a widow(?) I wouldn't know how to explain her feelings because they are her thoughts, but I'm beginning to learn a lot from her and my family.
This year one of our friends wanted to throw an Ugly Christmas Sweater party at her new house out in the suburbs. It's 45 minutes away from the city, so that alone was a hike. Not to mention, she chose to throw it on a Sunday where no Metra trains run to her town. Being car less sometimes has it's challenges. Luckily my friend was coming also, so we met up in downtown to head south to Oarland Park. To make matters worse, there was a snow storm heading our way. I was hoping it would start later, but sure enough, the snow was hitting us hard during our commute there. My friend has a truck so she was breezing through, but this type of weather could be difficult for smaller vehicles.
Once we got there, the party was just starting. The group turned out to be smaller than intended due to the weather conditions. Yet my friend seemed pretty happy people showed up. She gave us a tour of her new home and we finally met her little son! We had a good time catching up with one another and stayed put for the rest of the day. I was surprised we left so late in the evening but knew it would be safer for us since the roads would be plowed by then. As for the funniest sweater; we had a winner!!