Reflections on Christmas 2017

Christmas 2017 has come and gone, lights and Christmas decorations around the neighborhood are coming down and it's almost time to began the post-holiday winter grind.

Some noteworthy moments for me, some good and some not so good, from the Christmas season -

• As always, playing hide and seek withe Jude and the boys in the Christmas trees at Santa's Trees (Hillsboro HS) was a highlight of the season.  Also as always, I end up wishing we had done it more than once.

•  The Elf on the Shelf.  Moving him every night, which this year was my responsibility, and watching the boys look for him every morning.  It's a joy that they still believe wholeheartedly in the Elf on the Shelf and Santa Claus.  I wonder if that will be the case, for J.P., next year.

• The weather has been nice, for the most part, and too cold until the last few days (14 degrees this morning).  That's allowed for a lot of outstanding running for me, including the other day after work when I saw a white squirrel in Pinkerton Park.

• Our last Governor's Christmas Party at the Governor's Mansion and our last Christmas tree lighting and party at the State Capitol.  We've all felt a little bit special attending these events that last six or seven years through Jude's job as Director of the Children's Cabinet.

• For me, seeing my favorite coffee shops and houses in my neighborhood decorated for Christmas has been great.  It always is.  The share sense of celebration and anticipation is reassuring.

• On a lark, the boys and I going to the Evergreen event organized by my friend, Courtney Little, as a benefit for Renewal House.  It was outside at a vacant lot he owns near Houston Station.  While kids cavorted in the dark and adults huddled around the fire, others (including me) bought handmade Christmas ornaments.

• Spending Christmas afternoon with my side of the family at my sister's house in Franklin was a memory to cherish, especially since I'm not sure how my mom will be doing next Christmas.

• It was great to spend time with James and Megan (Jude's brother and sister-in-law) over Christmas.  Watching them navigate the landscape of having two children 3 and under brought back a lot of memories, mostly good ones.

• I organized our annual office Christmas party and dinner, which was held a couple of nights ago.  Having it after Christmas really worked well.  Drinks at Bastion were fantastic and dinner at Hemingway's Bar and Hideaway was good.  It was a good time, as we recognized Alisha Warner's decade with PNM.

• In what has become, for me, a holiday tradition, I played hooky from work one day after Christmas.  I saw "Ladybird," a great movie, at the Green Hills movie theatre, followed by a beer at the Smith & Lentz craft brewery in East Nashville and coffee at Bongo Java East.

• When - sadly - the inflatable Santa Claus "in a hot air balloon" that the Elf on Shelf brought the boys a few Christmases ago died, I was prepared.  Christmas morning, Santa Claus delivered another inflatable for Jude, since she had sent a note up to him with the Elf ("Cooper Allen Elf," by the way) on his nightly trip to the North Pole.  I think I outdid myself (see below).

• The highlight that topped them all was watching the boys on December 26, when they opened up the X-Box Jude and I had gotten them.  J.P.'s reaction was priceless and I'm so happy I videotaped it.  Knowing that Jude and I are not fans of video games, he was shocked and stunned as he unwrapped the box and realized we had given them an X-Box.  Initially speechless, he jumped up and tackled Jude in a bear hug.  It was priceless.

And, last but not least, our Christmas tree.