It's New Years Day and I'm sitting at PM w/Sleeping Joe by my side, drinking a Czann's Blonde and watching people walk, run and bicycle up and down Belmont Boulevard on what has turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon. Classic rock-n-roll is playing in the background (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc.) - the songs of my youth, literally. Now playing is Steve Miller Band's "the Joker," which was on the second album I ever purchased (Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits).
I'm feeling mellow and a little nostalgic today, as it feels like several parts of my life are coming to a end. 2013, certainly, is gone. My favorite time of the year, October 1 - January 1 is over. The Christmas season is over. My boys are growing up, too quickly it seems. J.P. starts school next fall, which officially marks the end of innocence for him. My weekend afternoon interludes w/Sleeping Joe are almost over. In all likelihood, we'll move in 2014, leaving behind a house and a neighborhood that has enriched my life beyond belief for the last 11 years. Hell, I'm 47 years old, so the end of my 40's is staring me right in the face.
All right, enough nostalgia. On to Christmas 2013.
____________________________________________
(One of my favorite Stones' songs of all time is playing now - "Wild Horses." What a fantastic song. So rich and soulful, like molasses. Mick Jagger at his finest.)
This was pretty close to a perfect Christmas in our household, given the boys' ages - J.P. (5 1/2) and Joe (22 months). Joe didn't quite get Santa Claus, but he's close. Next year will be a big, big Christmas for him.
Now, for the highlights of Christmas 2013:
- Elf on the Shelf. Without question, Elf on the Shelf was the #1 highlight of the Christmas season. Although he was a little late in arriving (I didn't find him in the basement until December 4 or 5), the boys were absolutely enthralled by his appearance every morning through Christmas Eve. It was a race to find him every morning until, finally, J.P. would yell at the top of his lungs, "Daddy! Come look! I found him!"
- Cheekwood, where the boys sat in Santa's lap and, more importantly, got to watch the trains run on an electric train exhibit set up outside that included, much to Joe's delight, a "Thomas the Train" train. The look of unbridled joy on Joe's face every time Thomas the Train made his way around the track was priceless. He couldn't stop smiling. That may well have been my personal favorite highlight of the Christmas season.
- 45th Anniversary dinner w/Jude's folks, Jane and Jim (aka "Jimdad") at "blvd.," one of my haunts on Belmont Boulevard. The boys were a little wild that night, as boys tend to be, but we had a great meal. Jude's folks have been such a tremendous help to us this fall and winter. When our nanny, Carley, missed six weeks or so to deal with an illness, they stepped in and took care of Joe and, in the afternoons, J.P. It would be impossible to thank them enough for helping us hold down the fort when Carley was out.
- Picking out a Christmas tree at Santa's Trees on 12th Avenue, always a highlight of the Christmas season. Watching J.P. and Joe run through the "forest" of Christmas trees, laughing, was a delight.
- Christmas morning, of course, was memorable. J.P. was completely jacked about Santa Claus coming. Joe isn't quite there, yet, as evidenced by the fact he was more interested in climbing on the futon in the playroom to watch the birds in our backyard than seeing what Santa brought him. Big hits for J.P. were the iPad mini (hard to believe), bracelet loom form Jane and Jim and the Nerf walkie talkies from James and Megan.
- Attending the Vandy-Ga. Tech basketball game with Russ Allen and his son, Cooper. J.P. is a diehard Vanderbilt fan, which I have mixed emotions about, for obvious reasons. I wish he was a Tennessee fan, like me, but I'm glad he loves sports enough to commit himself to one team. Also, I can't deny the fact that I was a huge Vanderbilt fan as a child, too. The Vandy-Ga. Tech basketball game was a blast, as the 'Dores rallied to win in the second half. Afterwards, Russ and I took the boys to dinner at San Antonio Taco Company ("SATCO"), then for ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. A perfect night with the boys in "Guytown," as I like to call it.
- A night out with James and Megan, while they were in town for Christmas. We finally got to Patterson House with them, which was awesome. Dinner at the Southern was only okay, unfortunately. We really didn't have many options for dinner, as it was a Monday night and most of the happening restaurants were closed or already booked.
- Christmas dinner at my mom's house. It's so much fun to watch all of the kids playing together. Almost as soon as we arrived, they headed outside to play football in the backyard. My sister's children - Kaitlyn and Matthew - are so good with J.P.
- Watching, in horror, as the long promised renovation project began in earnest at Bongo Java with the demolition of the front deck. Okay, that's a lowlight, not a highlight and deserving of a post all its own. Our friends at Bongo Java treated us like family throughout the Christmas season, as they always do. I dropped off a Christmas card, a couple jars of "Phil's Manly Pickles" a few loaves of pumpkin Jude and J.P. baked.
It was a nice Christmas. We're blessed, no doubt. Now, if I can just get through the next 8 months until October 1 gets here again.
