Goodbye, Christmas 2006

So, Christmas is over and done with for another year. And once again it was another year of the same: good-natured banter with family, stuffing myself to capacity with home-cooked meals, good-natured family banter downsizing to irritated barbs, growing lazy to the point where sticking my nose outside for the first time in a day feels like an enormous effort, and finally, at week's end, full-blown annoyance with family. I suppose this happens to everyone, even those who, like me, actually don't mind spending time with their family. But there are limits. My dad pointed out that there are too many people in the house (me, my parents, pregnant sister and brother-in-law) and it's true: there's nowhere to escape another person in this place, unless you go sit in the garage or the bathroom, so no wonder we're getting on each other's nerves. And living alone, I'm really not used to having someone constantly in my face. But at the same time, I'm enjoying having people around: Dad going off on his rant-of-the-day, Mom puttering in the kitchen, sister singing off-key to country music radio, even brother-in-law making some dumb joke about me that he thinks I can't hear (because apparently I am an endless source of amusement). It's all a comfort, albeit a frustrating one, sometimes, and I know I'll miss it when I get back to my empty apartment (and mad-as-a-hornet cat). So, I guess I'll just chalk up the urge to scream at them in frustration to the mystery of familial relationships, and go have a beer with my bro-in-law.