Currently looking forward to:
Drinks with my favourite, beautiful cousins.
All the rum nog with my dad.
Being somewhere frigidly and bitingly cold.
Staying warm by the fire (probably with rum nog).
Smelling the Christmas tree.
Hearing the crunch of snow under my feet.
Squeezing my grandparents.
Squeezing my little baby niece who gets cuter by the day.
Wrapping presents (probably with rum nog).
Having my mom cook for me.
Spending all day wrapped in a snuggie, sporting cozy slippers.
Cross-country skiing with a friend.
Baking (probably with rum nog).
The noise of a full house on Christmas Eve.
The smell of incense at midnight mass (if we stay awake for it this year).
Christmas music on Christmas morning, eggs Benedict and hot coffee.
Day to day, I don’t have a problem being away from home. Come December though, with the onslaught of upcoming final exams, there is no more potent combination to make me feel sentimental and nostalgic, and ache to go home. Christmas carols on the radio while I drive have me bordering on tears on a daily basis. And I just try to hold on to my sanity long enough to get through finals, pack up a suitcase and get to the airport on time.
My heart always hurts just a little bit this time of year, a bittersweet kind of hurt, and it only helps to make my time at home that much more precious.
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What about you? Will you make it home for the holidays? How do you cope with being away from family at Christmastime?
