Christmas recap

Wow. I almost forgot to share!
Christmas was so lovely.

This is the first year that I didn't trek home for Christmas with the family.

Since Mr. Burns and I went out to San Francisco for Kimberly & Andrew's wedding the week before Christmas, I begged out on hopping in a car and driving across a state and a half. And I'm talking Colorado and Nebraska.... not two of those puny little states out East that only take an hour to cross!

So on Christmas eve Mr. Burns came to my place just as my brother phoned. We listened to his family along with my parents singing Silent Night over the phone! My brother plays guitar - and after the gifts are opened on Christmas eve, everyone sings Christmas songs and carols. I didn't want to miss that so I asked them to call for at least one song. It made me a little teary picking out the voices of my nieces and nephew at certain points in the song.

After that we went to Midnight Mass at the Cathedral Basilica - Officiated by the Bishop. It was beautiful. The choir - magnificent. I was moved to tears.

Then Christmas morning, I got out of my bed and went to Mr. Burns' room to be sure he was up, as he had committed to lector at the 10:00 Mass at his church.

I crawled into his bed while he went to church.

When he got back home, I was still snuggled under the down comforter with crisp winter sunlight streaming in the floor to ceiling to windows. Such a perfect place!

Then he walked in with a big smile on his face, dangling a gift bag on his finger. We had agreed not to exchange gifts, but he's too sweet and generous for that. I feel a little rotten because I stuck to the agreement - but I'm not working right now so I think we both think that's fair.
Inside the bag... a gift card from a brand new spa just across the stree from his condo. He told me that I could just ooze my way back to his place afterward!

The best part - he purchased the river rock massage!

When Kimberly and I went for Mani/pedis on her wedding day - they used warm river stones to massage our legs. It was amazing!!! Who knew that heated stones could feel so - - - GOOD! After we spent 10 minutes talking about it, I asked Mr. Burns if he could believe we could gush over rocks like that! He couldn't.
But how sweet. He listens. And got me the river stone massage! I'm such a lucky girl.

Once I pulled myself out of bed, we spent the day eating Honey Baked Ham and garlic mashed potatoes, watching movies and watching the snow fall.
The snow fell all day long. It was amazing. We got 8 inches in one day!

So my favorite line from The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's 'Colorado Christmas' is true:
The closest thing to heaven on this planet anywhere
Is a quiet Christmas morning
in the Colorado snow

Why would I ask him?

Dear, Sweet, fabulous Kimberly asked me to be her wedding photographer. I was honored of course, as I am an amature photographer who tends to rely on AUTO. I've yet to embrace aperture and f-stop settings. I was a bit nervous about how things would turn out.

This meant that I would require the use of a flash during the ceremony. Something most churches don't allow. Kimberly of course, had this all worked out with her minister - until the wedding rehearsal.

I spoke with the minister after rehearsal, asking what she would tolerate and what she wouldn't. During this little talk she told me that while she is allowing flash photography in this instance - the other minister was very much against it - and that if he gave me the evil eye during the ceremony - that I should cease taking pictures all together.

I shouldn't have, but I told Kimberly what the minister said. I wanted to be sure that she knew my limitations. In the car ride from the church to the next meeting place - Kimberly had to rant.
This 'other minister' sort of included himself in the ceremony two weeks before the wedding - and had been making changes all over the place.

Kimberly wanted to email him and tell him to back off. "No wait, I'll call him." she said, "and tell him that he can't just change everything that we worked to put in place - at the last minute. What do you think I should say?"

Wow. I didn't want to see anything blow up before the wedding.

I surprised myself by advising her to ask her fiance what he thinks. You see, I've always been a very independent spirit - I question nothing. So when this advice poured out of my mouth I realized just how much I have come to trust Mr. Burns and value his contribution.

I turned to Kimberly and said, "I just know that when I have an issue, and ask Mr. Burns what he thinks - he always has an answer that I would never have arrived at... and it's usually the best answer."

Kimberly agreed. Asking her man for his opinion was a good idea. Then we marveled at these wonderful men in our lives and how we trust them so implicitly. Something these two strong headed women NEVER expected to find!

The next day, as the bride and I set out for mani/pedis and hair dos - she turned to me and said, "So I asked the groom what you should do about the other minister and his evil eye."

"Oh good." I said. "What did he say?"

"He says - don't look at him. If you don't make eye contact... there is no problem."


See? We laughed. We would never have thought of that... and it's a great solution!