Somethingber 24 / Merry Christmas

Yesterday, driving to my mother-in-law's house for Christmas Eve brunch, we had our annual "I can't believe it's Christmas Eve; it doesn't feel like Christmas" discussion. We have it every year, on our way to her house.

And with the weather doing strange 50-degree yo-yos this week -- from temperatures in the 50s to 2 degrees with a -23 windchill, back up to the 50s by Saturday -- it really didn't feel like Christmas.

With the distraction of an uncertain workplace -- and truly, the distraction of the commercial side of Christmas and the "have-to-do" tasks of Christmas -- every year is different and busy and I find myself on December 24 and it doesn't really quite feel like Christmas.

We were saying that, except for a few distinct moments this month, it really just felt like "Somethingber" -- meaning, some nondescript late-in-the-year month that could be September or could be December or anything in between. Somethingber.

But then the magic of Christmas happened. We got dressed up and sat in a candle-lit church. We smiled at friends and sang songs we don't need the missalette to know the words for. We listened to readings that proclaim the birth of Christ.

We headed home in the dark, to a house filled with Christmas music. We put out a plate of cookies. Husband read a story to the girls. I tucked them all snug in their beds. Husband and I sat in the dark with the tree lights glowing and talked in quiet tones about the coming excitement.

And then, at last, it all clicks into place and once again, it feels like Christmas.

We can't believe how fast and ninja-like December 25 gets here every year. But get here it does. I can imagine that those who don't have traditions that they do every year -- or faith or religion, which gives such built-in and rich traditions -- well, maybe it never feels like Christmas to them.

We go to sleep, weary from the preparations and from the year (and by this time of the year, aren't we all ready for a new one?) -- and in the silence of the night, with the coming of another Christmas day, Somethingber passes away and it's December 25. And we celebrate and commemorate and store it all in our hearts for next year.