Home For Christmas

I'm home for Christmas!!
I've only been gone for a couple of months but it's nice to be back home for Christmas. It's so nice to see my mom's face and all of my friends faces too.
It is a weird Christmas for me because my brain is still half in Italy. I'm tired, a bit jetlagged and accclimating to changes. So is Mom and I think I'm happier for it.  We exchanged a gift each this morning and now we're just hanging around the house cooking and talking.
Over the last few years Christmas has become a very commercialized holiday. It's about presents and spending and beautiful things piled up under the tree, pretty packages and bows. Expensive gifts, because over the last few years people have been spending on presents like wii and playstations.
Because of this Christmas is not one of my favorite holidays and it hasn't been for a while. I like the idea of exchanging gifts as a mutual sign of affection but recently it's become excessive and we've lost the meaning. We exchange gifts because we have to, because it's an expected practice. We buy things that don't mean anything.
For Christmas this year, I am happy to spend quiet time with my mom and whatever friends pass by. I am happy that we had a simple exchange and that we'll spend the day cooking Christmas dinner and dessert together. We're not going crazy. We're just making ham, sweet potatoes and green beans and then in a bit I'll probably make some kind of delicious dessert.
The whole while I will be thinking of all the good experiences I've had this year. I've met some amazing people and had some wonderful times. I got to meet my half siblings and their families. I've moved abroad again. I'm a teacher. I have the most amazing mother in the world. I have an adventurous baby brother who is living out his dreams and for Christmas I'm home in Jersey with my loved ones and it's fantastic.

I hope everyone else is having an equally splendid Christmas. Enjoy your families and friends. Remember the good in life today and eat some wonderful food!