this christmas post is late, so let’s just call this the christmas “summary”, rather. all in all, it was jolly good fun … if you call being thoroughly embarrassed at a huge family gala by your parents shrieking swear-words at one another and threatening to “box your face in” jolly good fun. it seems as though my family never changes. my dad fills up on booze, my mother incessantly nags, my sisters protest in tears, and i turn into a stubborn jackass spouting indiscernible sarcasm.

it makes sense, really, that something like a family dispute, like a recurrent nightmare, should happen on christmas eve — in front of all of my relatives, no less. and it makes even more sense that my parents both make a paper maché promise to clean up their act, when they know as good as any that next year will be the same tired old routine of drunkenness, cussing, and being cooped in my aunt’s room with swollen, tear-stained eyes.

on christmas day, my sisters, two cousins, and i watched dvds aplenty and made like five lords a-leaping to the nearest theatre to watch the latest spielberg flick. that day was devoid of any parental figure in the house, as they grudgingly made their way to a friend’s dinner party. so, needless to say, it was a quiet night.

i’ve been working the last couple of days, too, dealing with irate shoppers and their hurried christmas returns. my job at cathay pacific seems like a walk in the park compared to my current retail job. thank god i managed to switch my boxing day shift. that would have been hell on shopping cart wheels.

on the good side, my sisters made up for the holiday gloom. we exchanged gifts in the late afternoon, with me delighting in my UK editions of sophie kinsella’s “shopaholic” books (including the third one which has yet to be released in north america) and my adorable monsters inc. “boo” doll. alan bought me a very warm winter jacket, as he knew i have been freezing my ass off at dreary ubc. i hope they all liked my presents to them, too; i spent much time thinking about the perfect gifts for them. my parents’ gift to me is still pending, but i’ve grown accustomed to that by now. despite what i have described, i still love them very much. i suppose i just have to realize that every family has its dysfunction. i had just hoped that ours wouldn’t rear its ugly head during the holidays.

overall, it was a typical christmas this year. all arguments have been temporarily patched up and all presents have been torn open with the hideous ones confined to shoeboxes under the bed. if i’m grateful for at least one of thing this holiday season, it is my ability to shrug off its timeless dogma of unattainable hope, peace, and goodwill in such a facile and apathetic manner.

next event up for familial sabotage: my birthday.