You've Come A Long Way, Baby...

Christmas was good.  A lot better than I had anticipated/expected.

My mum said her favourite bit of Christmas was on Christmas Eve late at night when my brother came back from the pub and we all randomly ended up playing drink while you think only without the drinking part...

it's a word associate type game they played down the pub and you have to drink whilst trying to work out what to say - someone says the name of a celebrity/famous person and then the next person has to say someone whose name begins with the first letter of their surname.  So for example if Ben said Vinnie Jones then I could say Julie Walters and Soph could say William Shakespeare, Mum would say Sarah Ferguson and Dad could say Farah Fawcett.  Add in various rules about double letters and one word names and you have the game.  It was fun.   And surprisingly, more difficult than it seemed it would be.

I ate too much.  I had serious attack of the giggles.  I didn't drink very much alcohol but what I did have seriously hit me (although that was the same day as the giggles).  I didn't get so stressed out and out of control that I threw up or felt ill.  I didn't shout at anyone (beyond repeatedly shouting for mum to come rescue me in the loo when the equipment we set up to help me failed whilst I was using it oh, about three times, or when someone else had moved it).   I didn't argue or otherwise fight with anyone - no one did.  And I didn't shed one single tear.

In short it was everything possible it could be, and it was good.

I know this probably doesn't make sense to anyone else but for me I think the best bit was when I got home late on Wednesday night and thought things through.  It hit me then.  No shouting, no feeling ill and stressed, and not one single crying spell or even a tear.

That's the first time in about as long as I can remember (at least since 1999) that Christmas has been that "easy" for me.  And I enjoyed it.

At the time I didn't realise it - because it was unremarkable.  But then I came home thought things through and the realisation became the best part of my Christmas.  I've come a long way, baby...