Christmas with the Wallaces

Seasons greetings!

So Boxing Day draws to a close and with it the end of the Christmas celebrations in the Wallace household. Whilst the cheese and cracker selection will no doubt last for a few more days (along with copious amounts of alcohol and cold meats), festivities are drawing to a close.

Christmas Day was somewhat quieter than normal, I couldn't sleep at all, partly down to it being Christmas Eve, partly because I was uncomfortable and partly because my cat was being unusually friendly and rubbing against my face for quite some time. After I did grab an hour or two of sleep my brother came in and woke me up. Seven o'clock sharp. Presents were opened and I had the pleasure of unwrapping two leather bound hand-made journals, a fusion pro-glide for my beard and a Somalian scarf I've wanted for months. With the promise of £60 I might also go and buy myself either some new clothes or a cigar selection - family permitting. We didn't spend an arm and a leg this Christmas and personally I prefer it that way. Instead of having more presents than you know what to do with you spend more time with your family.

So I watched my brother play Far Cry 3 for a while and then we sat down for Christmas dinner. Probably the pinnacle of the day. It was just the four of us, graced with turkey, carrots, parsnips, potatoes roasted in goose fat and brussel-sprouts which repeated on me throughout the course of the day. We all slipped into reverie as we ate and it was fantastic to sit down as a family in comfortable silence and just enjoy lovingly prepared food.

Family life has been getting better over the last week quite remarkably, my father bought my mum some designer shoes - really saved up for them - and my brother and I chipped in to get her Jamie's 15 Minute Meals and Miranda: The Autobiography, as such she was in a pretty good mood. Even beyond that though we seem to be coming together much better than normal, stupid arguments are at an unusual low and even the quiet animosity between my brother and I that usually festers has curtailed temporarily. That's not to say we don't get on usually but nevertheless, it's a nice change of events.

Today we went up to my Uncles and shared dinner with my aunt's side of the family who are relations by marriage. I have a cousin that I didn't know existed and ... what I would guess is a Granddad in law? I've been thinking about that a lot over the last hour or so. I've never had a Granddad. All the older generation in our family lived in the far-flung outposts of the British Empire or died here relatively young. My great-uncle for instance, died recently in Zimbabwe, he stayed there from when it was Rhodesia. It was really great to listen to the guy's war stories; he was in the RAF and spent two years in Cyprus before moving around to the Suez Canal and the base on that island between African and Spain that I forget the name of. I feel like I've been deprived of that over the years, I've never had the privilege of hearing that sort of thing from anyone in my family and it gave me a sort of warm feeling inside if that can do any justice to describe it.

This has been a great week, I've forgotten or at least pushed away, all the problems that have been mounting over the last weeks and months and I feel enormously calm, like whatever happens, happens and there's no point in worrying about it right now. It's a much needed break. I'm glad for my family.