There have been two times since I've left the States that I have had a hands-in-face, tears-soaking-through-my-fingers, knees-up-to-my-chest, weird-noises-that-I-didn't-think-I-could-make, sobbing crisis moments. Christmas morning was one of those times. Even though the moment after I got off Skype with my family was fleeting, I could feel it in my chest for the rest of the day. When you're missing something that is such an integral part of you it's hard to shake it off quickly.
Christmas was... well, nontraditional. In every sense of the word. We had Christmas dinner, sure, but was the turkey done? Nope. Did we eat it anyway? Yep! Did we have dessert? Couldn't be bothered. Did we listen to Christmas carols? Only if Eminem's "Stan" counts as seasonal. Did we say grace? Well, we sloshed our drinks around and cheered to each other. Did we spend it with our families? Not by blood, but by everything else - yes. Did we get presents? Bogan ones. That consisted of a fake boob, a Backstreet Boys t-shirt found at an op-shop, a diary with cut out letters and tape that says "The Adventures of Emily Meyers Part 1", wine, santa shorts, and matching bracelets. Did we all sleep in one room per the Meyers family tradition? Absolutely. Was it comfortable? Not really. Was it the most memorable and amazing Christmas to date? No doubt about it.
The best Christmas present I received was having one of my best friends fly all the way from across the world to come spend 3 amazing weeks with us. Kyle is one of those people you meet and you can't believe you survived without them. We just get each other. From our long discussions about life, love, and adventure while climbing down Mount Kosciuszko to our late nights staying up leaving video messages on our friend's walls to our early morning walks down to St. Kilda pier - we just click. It was incredible to have someone here from home to celebrate our first Christmas away and to bring in the New Years with. He was a trooper as we ran into a couple of unseen setbacks and at many times was deemed "the strongest link". So shout out to you KMell aka Wreck. J-Peck loves and misses you!
Christmas day stretched out for three days. Day 1 ::: Christmas Eve consisted of us shopping for Christmas dinner and getting ready for our Christmas Eve pub crawl! In fact, we were so concerned about Christmas dinner that we completely forgot to have Christmas Eve dinner. Good thing there is Subway! Anyway, I can't wait for everyone to see the pictures of this ridiculous night. I was in a red dress and a matching santa hat, Patty was in a white dress and a santa hat, Josh and Chris were decked out in their Christmas presents which were ONLY red fuzzy santa shorts with white trim and santa hats, and Kyle was jolly in his Santa Suit we found at KMart. As we bounced down Acland St we looked rather silly but had the most fantastic time. Jeremy was able to meet up with us at the end for a final festive drink as we brought in Christmas morning. The night ended back at Chris' after he read us "The Night Before Christmas" in his English accent. Perfect.
Day 2 ::: We woke up Christmas morning in what looked like a pile of puppies. There were pillows and blankets, legs and arms, strewn about everywhere. As we made our way to the kitchen we ate Josh's scrambled eggs (which still had the shells in them - I think it's one of those strange Canadian traditions) and listened to the boys play guitar all morning long. It wasn't the same as waking up to my Mom's blueberry coffee cake and listening to classical music but it was definitely a different kind of wonderful. :) The rest of the day was spent on the beach sunbathing and having swimming races. The boys even dove off of the pier which resulted in Josh having bruises ribs. Smart guys. Chris holds the best moment of the day when he poured all the empty ice/water left over in the cooler on Patty and myself. Finally, confused by the time we wandered home to make our makeshift dinner and continue the Christmas celebrations.
Day 3 ::: Boxing day came and went in a blur. It was us cleaning up, getting thrown in shopping carts, trying to pack for our big trip, jumping on trampolines, talking to our families for their US Christmases, hiking our way down to Republica for some dancing and strawberry daiquiris, and trying to figure out of Christmas had actually happened or if it was just some weird aussie joke they were playing on us. As we twirled about and saw the lights still hanging up in Abbey Road we looked at each other, shook our heads, and were thankful that even if we didn't have everyone we wanted... we still had each other. And that was enough.
How's that for corny Josh?
