A merry married Christmas

Greetings from a very busy press day at the Dublin Citizen! Whenever holidays roll around that means two things: 1. Time off to spend with friends and family 2. Anxiety about returning to work on a shorter time table and moments of frustration where we ask if it was worth taking the time off in the first place These frustrations are fleeting, of course, and the answer is always yes, it was absolutely worth it.

What made it worth it this year was spending several days with Wyndi, my parents and an aunt and uncle who were like second parents to me while I was growing up.

Our Christmas break was spent visiting over several meals including Christmas lunch where I grilled steaks to have with asparagus, potatoes, rolls, cherry coke salad and layered salad (these last two are staples of holidays with my mom’s side of the family).

We even got to share this meal with Cindy and it was very filling but not as complex as Christmas meals in the past.

I had asked to make it simpler and was grateful that it was. We still had two pies and a large variety of cookies (including amazing Earl Grey shortbread cookies baked by Wyndi). We had also asked to keep things simple for the gift exchange... Well, the meal was simpler at any rate.

My parents and many of my family are far too generous and the five requested gifts seemed to multiply when all was said and done.

Wyndi and I had already announced our main gifts to each other. She got me tickets to the Beetlejuice musical in Dallas while I got VIP tickets for her to Dancing With the Stars Live when it comes through the area. We also got cool books, music, clothes and more. We know that not everyone can be so fortunate so we are grateful, but as cliched as it sounds, my best gift was witnessing Wyndi and my family continuing to gel so well together. It was a great Christmas and a promise of many more to come!

—Paul Gaudette can be reached at publisher@dublincitizen.com.