DAC is HERE!

Thank heavens! It’s over! I think the Day after Christmas (DAC) is my favorite day of the year. Now I can just enjoy the rest of the year knowing I have 364 days before next Christmas.

During the Christmas festivities, my mom did her usual “say whatever critical thing comes into your head without thinking and then wonder why people get annoyed.” I had asked my husband before we got there not to argue with her, and he was pretty good about it. (They’ve had some run ins in the past, and the possibility always adds another level of stress to any visit.) In general, the day was mostly nice. It was good to see my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. With them there, it creates a bit of a buffer for me. I did overeat a bit, but not extremely so. I usually drink a bit too much, too, but this time I only had a 2 glasses of eggnog and 3 glasses of champagne. (This might sound like a lot. When I'm in that situation, believe me, it’s not).

After we got home, I did have a few cocktails and pieces of candy as my husband and I opened our (1 each) gifts to each other. Bless his heart…he ordered me a Pajamagram. Unfortunately, he ordered a Large, and they were WAY too small. I don’t wear a Large, except sometimes for clothes from Penneys or Sears where the clothes run bigger. I wear an XL or even an XXL. We’ll have to send them back.

Yesterday, we just hung out and watched old Andy Hardy movies on TCM and straightened up the house. I took Buster to the park for about 45 minutes. He had fun running through the snow, which has melted down quite a bit. He definitely needed a bath after we got home, he was so wet and muddy.

Last night, hubby and I went to a movie in the new big mall nearby. We had never been to this mall since it was built a couple of years ago, but we decided to give it a try. It was quite the fantastic place. It was packed, probably due to it being the DAC. I don’t like feeling like I’m being engulfed by mindless hordes, but once we got into the theater, it was very nice with big, comfortable seats. We hadn’t had much to eat yesterday, and I was so hungry I wolfed down a large popcorn. The movie was ”The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Save your money.

Afterward, I was expecting us to go home as usual, but hubby was hungry. He decided he really wanted to go into this nice restaurant at the top of the building. They serve Oysters Rockefeller, which he loves. I felt kind of awkward because I had only dressed to go to a movie, not a nice restaurant. I was in sweats and had no makeup on. Plus I had already eaten all that popcorn and was feeling a bit bloated. I really didn’t want to eat anything else. I was originally thinking of telling hubby I didn’t want to go. He had even asked me if I was okay (“What’s wrong, baby, you seem kind of sad.”). Then I recalled reading on Chubby Chick’s blog about taking any opportunity to do nice things with your husband. So, at that moment, I put on a big smile and said I was just fine. They seated us in a lovely table next to the window. Fortunately, it was dark in the restaurant, so I didn’t feel too conspicuous. I told hubby to be honest I wasn’t very hungry, so we just ordered a couple of appetizers, including the Oysters Rockefeller (which I don’t like, so he had them all to himself). I had a beer and he had a glass of wine. In retrospect, I’m so glad I made the effort to make my husband happy, and I also had a good time myself.

This was just one more experience to file away in my brain to remind myself of what’s important in life.