Spoiler alert: This post has nothing to do with fishing or Canada. Sorry about that.
“A tale for Christmas Eve”
Let me set the scene for you…
Travis and I have the annual holiday tradition of Travis constantly working. Big bummer. He works Christmas Eve, in theory has Christmas day off, and then goes straight back to the grind on the 26th. Every. Single. Year. And he doesn’t even complain! I’m the one that complains. It is way less fun to live with someone who doesn’t get those extra glorious days off at the end of the year where you are expected to do nothing except sleep in, consume extra calories, and visit family and friends. This is the point in my annual sob story where Travis will remind me (and the poor souls I’m talking to) that he does in fact get LOTS of time off each year. About five months in a row. I quickly chime in to say, “Yeah, but you work SO HARD all summer too! Its not like you ACTUALLY get the time off.” Right? I’m totally right.
Anyway, back to Christmas Eve. Another Mack family tradition is that Travis’ dad has taken all the “kids” to all the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie premieres over each holiday break. (That is a significant number of hours to spend at the theater watching hobbits and orcs battle it out – I’m just saying.) I have thus far escaped, ahem missed out, on this tradition. These movies don’t speak to me the same way they do for Travis and his family and in recent years I have skipped town a few days early to maximize time with my family in Missouri.
Fast forward to 2014. Travis and I aren’t headed to Missouri until the weekend (see rant about work schedule above) so tonight, on Christmas Eve, we are going to see the third Hobbit movie with his family. Just a few days ago I had not seen any Hobbit movie of any kind, and I was given an ultimatum. Either I was going to the movie or I spending Christmas Eve all alone. But there was a caveat, I couldn’t go to the movie until I had seen the first two Hobbit movies.
Travis was on a mission: find and rent the Hobbit movies, make it FUN for me to watch them, and (if all goes well) have this mission completed by December 24th. It wasn’t easy. He checked several Redboxes, went to a video rental store – which is like entering a time travel machine with a prepunched ticket to 1997, and stocked up on snacks and drinks and pre-set breaks for each movie. I am a definite wimp. Once 10pm hits, I’m done.
As you know, Travis is not one to fall short on the goals he sets for himself. So as of midnight, last night, I am fully prepped and ready for my Christmas Eve 2014 movie theater Hobbit viewing experience.
All this to say, there are endless ways and traditions about how to spend these next few days. Whatever your traditions may be, new or old, I hope you pause to truly appreciate all the riches in your life. Hopefully the “hustle and bustle” of your holiday season is over and you can just enjoy being with loved ones, enjoy a good meal, and enjoy the gift of time. Its a good one. We certainly enjoy our time with you all each year, so thank you. Thank you so very much. And tonight I will truly enjoy all 144 minutes of the movie.
Happy Holidays,
Travis, Carrie, and Cosmo
Great story.