Xmas

Christmas is around the corner, you can already see all the light coming from that beautiful magical street... And personally I adore this time of the year, it combines all my favorite things:
beautiful decorations,
all the family together for hours without having to worry about work the next day,
it's cold outside, my favorite weather,
and I can't put aside that great feeling of seeing someone open a gift you bought or made them, and see the gifts people thought for you.
In my family we make a huge party in my grandma's home on the eve's dinner for the father side and then my aunt's home for the mom side of the family on the day. I love both events and I wouldn't miss it for the world.
The Eve:
We are around fifteen people, some years more, some years less. One grandma, mom and dad, two sisters, one aunt and cousin, one uncle, and some years another aunt and uncle. So as you can perceive, there are a lot of food, a lot of loud talk and a lot of love jammed into one little living room for about six hours straight.
It all starts at dinner, around eight everyone is there and we have the tradicional cod with boiled potatoes and eggs and kale, of course there are all the fried sweets tradicional in portugal this time of the year, fried salty things, octopus salad, patê, and various chocolates. Then there is pudin, cake, tarts, you name it, way too much food for the people. As you can guess, this dinner ends at about eleven. By that point everyone is full and still very loud and talkative. We get the things to the kitchen, and talk ad watch some classic movie that's on until about a quarter to midnight, when the youngest, me and my little (not so little anymore) sister start to distribute all the gifts, that are many because we are many, if you get my drift. After we do that, we settle, and the youngest starts to open the presents alone, so everyone sees what she got and from who. Then, me, then my cousin, then my older sister, according to age, and of course by then it's one in the morning and everyone just wants to open their own gifts so the rest of the family opens their presents all together. We end the night at about two or three in the morning with everyone happy, very tired, and very very hoarse.
The Day:
Usually, when I was in my mother's house, we "the kids" would wake up early at about ten, even with little sleep done we just wanted to play with all our brand new stuff, we would see properly what each other got and at about eleven thirty we would have to start and get ready for the lunch at my aunt's. There we are not so many but that's a good thing because there is less mess and more time and silence to really talk to everyone. We get there and the big table is all set, all the christmas decorations still beaming with magic and the turkey, aww the turkey, roasted with all the love in the world, with the tiniest potatoes and the best sauce ever. But the best part is the being with the family, and after lunch we stay there for the all afternoon talking, playing games, watch movies.
The worst part is when this day is over and you realize you'll have to wait another all year before you can have that kind of magic and family time again, although it also means there's only eleven more days til my birthday :D
And next christmas is going to be even better...
bleep.