Merry Christmas to everyone. I went to Church with my M & D, and had a traditional oyster stew meal at M & D's house, with sister, brother, their spouses and 2 of their kids and spouses.
I felt crummy all day, I was able to scrape up enough $ to buy last minute gifts for s13 and d17, but the stress of battling the store crowds got to me. But with the family I did a good job of keeping the conversations focused on others, and not emotionally vomiting on everyone else.
One item did get to me - my Dad has taken a lot of Christmas pictures over the years, and he played the pictures on a loop where we were all sitting. And it was great to see how everyone has changed over the years, great pics of our kids. But the were several pics of my W and I. After 2 hours of this, I finally snapped at my brother to close the laptop - enough. My only raw moment of emotion today.
I just got a text from W wishing me a Merry Christmas. I responded "Merry Christmas right back at you", and then discussed when I would pick up kids tomorrow. W said that she is having "friends come in from out of town", and that she wants both kids to spend Christmas and the day after overnight with me. I am looking forward to spending time with the kids, and I don't care what W's plans are. I got a good 2 player video game for s13, and I'm planning on opening a can of whoop b*tt on him. Peace and God's strength to all.
Peace and God's strength to all.