Sunday, December 31, 2006 | by nathan

2006 - Fin.

"Hey Nathan: how was your Christmas?"

It was great, thanks.

Brian and I got to spend the whole day and most of Christmas Eve together, which was fantastic. My dad, my grandparents, my aunt and uncle and my cousin Emily and her son came to my mom’s house Christmas Eve and we all hung out for a bit. Chambers brought his new boyfriend and his roommate Justin by to leave for midnight mass; this has been our Christmas tradition since 1998. We had planned to go get a cocktail after mass was over but I ended up having a horrible stomach ache and left right after the Eucharist.

My dad stayed with Brian and me that night, and we got up early the next morning to make it down to mom’s for breakfast. So we did the pretty-normal breakfast-presents-Christmas dinner order of things. Brian and I got mom a new gas grill, and I got John a Nintendo DS. Fun times. Mom got me a new bike, which was actually one of the things on my Überlist: get a bike.  Brian got me a new 88-key electric piano I can hook up to my Mac. That was great; I can practice more now. In college I practiced every day, sometimes two or three times a day in the practice rooms in Scales Fine Arts Center. I’m hoping I can surpass the level of mediocre skill I achieved back then.

For Brian, I booked our honeymoon: one week in San Francisco in June. I knew we had enough frequent flyer miles for one domestic ticket but not two, so I booked the other and bought him some travel guides and a bunch of good travel gear. Then we get home and find out we DON’T have enough miles for another ticket. Gooood job, Nate. Still, we’re stoked about the trip and are currently looking for cheap-ish - but nice - places to stay in San Fran. Anybody got any leads? 

All the extended family were gone by 4 p.m. Mom, Bri, John and I celebrated "The Best Christmas Ever" - or at least, the most efficient - by drinking wine and watching  Little Miss Sunshine, for which our friends the Flynns joined us. 

A couple nights ago we double-dated with Jaye and Laurie to the Chickasha Festival of Lights, kind of an Oklahoma Christmas must. Pictures of that - including one of a light structure of creepy Santa peeking in a little girl’s window - are forthcoming.

The best part of the holiday is that it is the first time EVER that Brian and I have had an entire week off at the same time. We’ve been hanging out with each other a lot, getting some things done that have been put on hold all year, like allergy-proofing our bed, shopping for new couches and making some plans for 2007. Mostly, though, we’ve played a whole lot of Katamari Damacy and I’ve tried to get over the rattling cough I got on Christmas Day.

I rewrote a few items on my Überlist and had it re-printed at Kinko’s. I’m taking this self-improvement stuff seriously. 2007 is the year I’m getting married, graduating with my master’s degree and becoming a gay uncle, to mention a few things. It seems like a lot is going to change this year, and I am excited about that. I’ll post the list as soon as I’ve got it in web form, that way I’m accountable to you, my two gentle readers, if I don’t get some shit done.

Today Brian and I are headed to the Red Cup to get some work done - he some stuff for when he goes back to the office next week, me some writing for when I start my thesis project - my next novel - in two weeks. Tonight we’re headed to Trattoria il Centro in downtown Oklahoma City for a fabulous New Year’s Eve dinner and then possibly back here for a midnight toast.

Happy 2007, all.  

Sunday, December 31, 2006 | by nathan

70 - June

Walking home from school every day I would stop in her used bookstore. She talked to me like an adult and introduced me to serious journaling.

Saturday, December 30, 2006 | by nathan

69 - Judy

From the moment I met her I was welcomed like a child. Late nights playing cards, making jokes, hanging out. Her house is my second home.

Friday, December 29, 2006 | by nathan

68 - Lora

She might have been THAT manager: let customers into the store as long as they want after close and all that, except she was so nice.

Thursday, December 28, 2006 | by nathan

67 - B.

She’s much less original, much less intelligent, much less interesting than she thinks. She deals with this not by becoming better, but by tearing others down.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006 | by nathan

66 - Greg

How many people shoot tequila and smoke cigars with their college minister? He’s still the one I want to call when I have questions about God.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006 | by nathan

65 - Sam

Dumbest person I’ve ever met. When the 10th grade history teacher asked, “Does anyone know who Ghandi was?” he replied, “The green clay thing on television?”

Tuesday, December 26, 2006 | by nathan

64 - Kingsley

The only guy I remember my mom dating (today they’re friends) was cute and funny. Now he’s divorcing his wife and has turned into Debbie Downer.

Sunday, December 24, 2006 | by nathan

Me, I Want a Hula Hoop

It’s Christmas Eve. Almost all the presents are bought - there’s one rather popular item I’m getting for a friend that I.CAN’T.FIND.ANYWHERE. But even that doesn’t have my spirits down; I spent all day yesterday wrapping presents and trying to keep Sam from eating the wrapping paper. He did get hold of a few plastic bags while I was out running errands, but ah.

Tonight I’m going to my mom’s house, where my entire extended family will be - my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, my cousin and her son, my dad. Later tonight Bryon and I will meet up for our annual tradition of attending Midnight Mass at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Oklahoma City, after which we will head to a local gay bar for a drink and toast. We’ve been attending midnight mass every year since 1998, when Bryon converted to Anglicanism. We’ve been going for the drink every year since we turned 21, so in many ways this tradition outlasts many others my biological family has tried - in vain - to keep going.

Though tomorrow we will have ham and turkey, hot corn and stuffing and pie. The food must never change. One year mom threatened to order in sushi; grandma’s face turned white as a sheet. I wasn’t there, but I know for a fact that it did.

I feel like I rushed headlong into this season and almost forgot what it’s about; redemption coming in human form. Hegel would say that the birth of Christ represents the next revolution of Geist; man’s evolving awareness of God. I kind of like that idea, though to turn it around - the arrival of Christ, the culmination of Advent, is about God revealing Himself in human form, becoming one of us so we could become more.

Also, it’s about holding tight to your family - whoever that may be for you - and keeping warm, sharing what you have, and remembering to love one another. I’m looking forward to gathering my family around me and really holding on tight for the next couple of days. I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun buying gifts this year; it’s something I really enjoy, finding a perfect gift for someone. Mom ended up having to work on the day she thought she was going to do her shopping, so I offered to do it for her. She left me a credit card and some specific instructions, and a promise to pay me back for anything I couldn’t put on the card.

In lieu of that, I bought myself a nice pair of sandals that have beer bottle openers on the bottom. From her, to me. Perfect.

Tonight I’ll get Sam and we’ll head over to mom’s. We’ll spend the night and get up in the morning, where I will FORCE the family to watch all 24 hours of "24 Hours of A Christmas Story" while we cook, and eat, and clean, and fawn over how wonderful all our presents are. I made secrecy the order of the holiday this year - no one is allowed to ask anyone what they want; everyone must be surprised.

Though I gotta say, when my family is around each other, and everyone has shown up and is trying like hell to make everyone else’s day the best it can be, I’m always surprised. Not because it happens so seldom, because it doesn’t. I’m surprised because no matter how often it happens, it’s a miracle, and miracles are always surprising.

Happy Holidays, everyone. 

Sunday, December 24, 2006 | by nathan

63 - Lauren

She lit up her freshman hall. We’d sit in her single room and watch Designing Women. She loved Nantucket Nectars, exclaiming, “I have tried every flavor!”