A Wicked Holiday is Coming!

I mentioned to someone (a few someones really) how excited I was that our kids were coming home this week. Yes, this week. Not next week when there is an actual holiday on the calendar.

Alex is still in Denver. Cole is now in Scottsdale. The kid who doesn't usually make plans without double or triple-checking with others went ahead and booked a flight for the week before Thanksgiving to save himself some snaps.  I can't blame him, but was concerned that it wouldn't work for Al. Cole must've had a vision, because it did happen to work out. The kids will be here for that wonderful time known as the week before Thanksgiving. 

Everyone with grown children understands how tricky the holidays can be, especially when kids live away from home and have jobs with various time-off policies and have partners who also like to see their own families. So, this year I put my tree up earlier than ever, flipped the lights to orange, wrapped a few gifts in fall-like wrapping paper and put a pumpkin next to it. The celebration will begin when they arrive. And I have plans! 

1. See Wicked for starters -- get those advertisers for the movie off our backs. 
2. Eat at the new Mediterranean Restaurant for some Shawarma. 
3. Repeat the word Shawarma as often as possible. 
4. 
   Sneak our way in to a spa for a mother-daughter manicure while boys do something else fun like...cow chores.
5. Have a few cocktails and hope that Alex whips up something that uses a frothy egg white to entice the relatives to come over. (Last phrase was sarcasm. They don't need egg whites. They know our fridge has libations aplenty.)
6. Make prime rib and/or another non-meat protein that will be surprisingly delicious even to Doug.
7. Discuss the current state of cinema and the literary scene.
8. Avoid politics.
9. Eat some bar food to remind the kids of their roots.
10. Cheer on the Hawks! Or, if you're Alex, read a book during the game.

On Sunday, the kids will head home and we will embark on a more untraditional holiday season. We'll duck out of Thanksgiving at the in-laws early and head to Iowa City for a big game on Friday. We'll scurry back for a wedding on Saturday night. We'll host a Christmas for any family who's around the Saturday before Christmas. We'll catch Mass on Christmas Eve before we take off for Scottsdale on Christmas Day. Christmas night we'll celebrate with Cole and Anna and Facetime Alex and Leo as they celebrate in Oregon. Then, to top off the holiday season, we'll attend another wedding on New Year's Eve. 

It all seems a little unorthodox for a structured person (aka me) who relishes in repeating traditions. I think about all the pageantry I tried to create at the holidays to make it special for the family. I definitely created unnecessary stress. As we transition into a new phase of our lives with grown children, I realize it's not the traditions I care about. It's spending time, doing anything at all, with my people. And the cat, course.