Christmas 2008

This was probably our busiest Christmas season yet, though I’m certain we will go for the record next year. We had a flurry of Christmas parties (two work parties, one Sunday School party), two church musicals (Children and Adult), assorted school musicals (one for Skeeter, two for Scooter), two family get togethers, and a partridge in a pear tree.

We spent time with my brother Bartolo who is wrapping up his dissertation and looking for a job (in a stellar job market) and his bride Bonita, who continues to encourage him at every turn. We also got to see my other brother Miguelito who is eying college next Fall.

After the family party with them, I had a shocking return to the real world with our notice of budget cuts. These cuts kicked our department’s tail and led to the release of several adjuncts. The number would’ve been greater, but several of our full time faculty offered to teach an extra class (called an “overload”) without receiving additional compensation. We then had to reconstruct the Spring schedule based on all of these changes. I made my last call to an adjunct on Christmas Adam.

We then turned our attention to Christmas Day lunch. We had a house full for our Christmas meal. My parents and Kadie’s sister and her family were coming over, but somehow that didn’t seem enough. I hope that hospitality ranks among the treasure of traits they’ve passed on to myself and my brothers. Growing up, Mom and Dad always had an open house for the holidays, often including others who had no options. We decided to practice hospitality by inviting four families from our university who were from foreign countries and didn’t really have any family in our area.

So we had one couple from New Zealand, one from Canada, one from Taiwan and one from Hungary. The accents (including my brother-in-law’s rural drawl) were fascinating to hear. Factor in all of the kids and we had around 30 people under our roof. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, so we kicked most of the children outdoors to the trampoline and soccer field (a Christmas gift).

Not all of the families are Christians, so perhaps we can build some relationships that might bear fruit down the line. A different, but still an interesting, Christmas. I hope that you enjoyed Christmas with your family.