Christmas…

Christmas, for me, has always been like New Year’s Eve for everyone else.

Christmas Day has always been rooted in traditions and family, and has only occasionally changed.

I was born, the first Canadian, in a family of Scottish heritage, where the presents were opened Christmas morning, and the primary meal was the Scottish Breakfast… (Another blog, another time !) When I first got married, my wife and I were fortunate enough that her Families’ Traditions were afternoon and evening based… With everyone in her Family going to Aunt Vi and Uncle Ron’s house in the afternoon, and gift opening was an event that followed Aunty Vi’s Turkey Dinner.

The Traditions and rituals stayed the same for many years, until the passing of my Parents, and my Wife’s Aunt & Uncle… all, within a few years.

 Kindly, my sister-in-law invited us to share Christmas in their home, as they had two young children, and with them, we were able to adapt the Traditions of my Wife’s Family into a new set of Traditions.

As I say, only a few changes in my 47 years, and probably the most stable of all the Events on the Calendar, for on no other occassions do I know when, where or how I will be celebrating… but on Christmas, there is a plan, years in the design, and rigid in its’ Structure.  (And we LIKE it like that !)New Years, is the Holiday when most people reflect upon the the passing of another year, and the events that have happened.

For me, because the New Year’s celebrations have included Parties, stay home sick-ins, responding to a Break in, quiet nights at home, and Scottish Hogmanay celebrations… and are usually too varied and often alcohol-laden to include much retrospection, beyond… “why did I drink so much ???”

So, it falls to Christmas, to be the time when I do my mental “inventory”.  My review, of my life, and the interaction and impact my life has had on others.

This year was a tough one, emotionally.  I found myself missing my Parents more than I have in a few years… and a sense of Melancholy was ever present, for me, throughout the Holidays.

I left a job I had worked at for over a decade, feeling that it was time for me to make a new start, despite the daunting times that many Businesses are facing.  Although I am anticipating an uphill climb ahead, I am relishing facing a new series of challenges, and finding a new place where I can help a good team become better.

Around our House we completed a series of projects which were vast in their scope, and successful in their outcome… not the least of which was the completion of the Recording Studio and Black Cat Hockey Lounge/Games Room/Bar in our Basement.

I am blessed with wonderful friends, crazy cats and a couple of Families that we would be happy to have as friends, but are fortunate to have as Family !

And, as always, my wife is loving, supportive, giving, caring, and more beautiful than I deserve…

I think inventory this year has gone well, and I am excited to see what 2010 has in Store !!!

New career opportunities… new friendships being made… old friendships being deepened… The Olympics… and probably other things that I haven’t though about, or maybe don’t know about…

Whatever it is, I’m up for it, and looking forward to it ! 

Happy New Year !!!