Advent #24: Christmas Eve

As an adult, Christmas Eve hasn't really been that big of a deal as I have usually had to work at least part of the day. With Christmas being on a Friday this year, I had the day off. I ventured out in the morning to what was probably the only retail store that was not busy: PetCo. And I debated before that whether or not I could get away with feeding the boys treats for a few days so I could avoid the crowds. Starbucks was surprisingly not busy either-since Starbucks is located in the same shopping center as PetCo, I decided I had to have that last piece of gingerbread before it is gone until next year.

I spent most of the rest of the day working on a craft project and watching "Mythbusters" until it was time to go get the pizzas and head to our best friends'. You have to love a friend that invites you over and doesn't say anything when you complain that you hate the type of pizza they are planning to get!

My friend wasn't feeling well so it was a smaller gathering than what she had been planning. It was still fun-we had an overabundance of pizza as we were expecting more people, and her mom brought all kinds of pastries from their bakery, several small bags of which ended up coming home with me. I am pretty burnt out on pastries and pizza right now!

In addition to dinner, we had a white elephant gift exchange and for the second year, I ended up with the gift given by the older of their two boys: this year it was a small stocking with three lumps of (char)coal. I guess I have been a naughty girl this year! There was a gift exchange after that, and while my friend and her mom did give me gifts, I found myself feeling really sad as I watched the family members open their gifts from each other. As much as they have embraced me, I really felt I shouldn't have been there for that-I felt I was intruding. And it made me long for a family of my own.

So, I came home and put up a profile on a dating site (because clearly I never learn). The two single guys I know who I would date aren't interested in dating me and I am not going to meet anyone sitting on the couch working on crafts while watching "Mythbusters" marathons. I also signed up for several events with a couple of really active meetup groups I joined. It's time for me to really put some effort into moving forward.