For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I simply want to say I hope you had a blessed day yesterday, got lots of family time, resurrected old traditions, made new ones, and possibly enjoyed a few Christmas cookies. 
Mom’s signature cookie (L) & one of Grandma’s best (R): hazelnut wedges (L) and spritz cookies (R)
It was a very untraditional Christmas in the Dr.TriRunner household – this was the very first Christmas I have been at my own house! For those of you that missed the news, the Midwest was hit with quite a bit of precipitation. And by precipitation, I mean feet of snow (Duluth got 24.4 inches!!), some snow/rain mix, snow emergency declarations, shutdown interstates, buried cars, and more spin-outs than MNdot knows what to do with! Needless to say, driving conditions were not ideal, and for that reason we canceled our trip, for the first time EVER, to little Albany, Minnesota for Christmas. Instead, it was spent right here in the good ol’ MiniApple with Dr.Mom!
The storm is movin on after three days of snoowww
Did it feel the same? No, obviously not. But was it everything I wanted? Definitely! Christmas in Albany = the whole fam (cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, inlaws, and the likes) and Christmas this year at Home = me and my madre. And it was perfect! I had a sleepover at my mom’s house, which included Christmas eve mass, the children’s pageant, stir fry for dinner, and an attempted Italian indie movie. (Subtitles = falling asleep on the couch = FAIL!)
Talk bout a busy photo! This represents some of the slight chaos that is the annual children’s Christmas pageant.
We both slept for ten glorious hours, and then, it was Christmas day!
It started out slowly with large amounts of coffee, like any day should. Eventually (after helping dig our neighbor’s stuck car out of the alley) we got our act together and set out for a Christmas run! My phone charger had been sadly abandoned at my house, and we made that the destination for our slowpog (slow-sloppy-jog).
Upon returning home, charger safely in waterproof pocket, we decided what a better time than when we’re all soaking wet and chilled and wearing minimal winter clothing than to go out and shovel for two hours! Dr.Madre lives on the corner, so shoveling is no simple task. NTM the two-car driveway, and the whole-house-length of STREET we shoveled out to fit in cars for my neighbor’s family who was visiting! You know what though, if you’re going to pick a day to be a good Samaritan, Christmas is pretty darn fitting, don’t ya think?
After finally getting some breakfast (at 2:15?!), we moved on to a few presents for each other! This year’s gifts were all very practical and useful, which is definitely what we aim for. 
As I have gone from being the youngest child in a family of four, to still the youngest child, but now with divorced parents, sister, brother-in-law, and Dr.Dad all living on the other side of the country, we have paired down the gifts and the focus has shifted to time together with the ones you love. I think my mom really liked and appreciated the things that I got for her, and if not, she did a great job acting!
You might be saying – um, family? You saw your mom, but… – well, yeah, on Christmas day I did only get to see my mom. But I got to talk to my dad (long enough for my phone’s battery to die), grandparents on both sides, and send along love for my sister & BIL. A little of the non-traditional-Christmas shock was taken away by the fact that I will be seeing everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) in just a few days for my sister’s WEDDING PARTY!! Trust me, more to come on that later. 
The day ended with a trip to see the movie Sherlock Holmes! I had never been to a movie on Christmas day before, and had no idea so many people went to do that! I wouldn’t necessarily call it movie of the year or anything, but it was enough to hold my attention, and perfect for the dorky I-Love-Adventure girl in me. (National Treasure anyone?!)
Day after Christmas? Mmm.. not really feelin it, but I also don’t really feel the need to ruin the mood now. I’m dealing with some health issues that I’ve mentioned before, and today just happened to be one of the days it decides to act up. I’ll come back to it later. But for now…
Well I was going to leave you with one of my favorite scripture verses about Christmas and Jesus’ birth.. but everyone has their own beliefs and I’m definitely not trying to push mine on anyone else! I know why I’M CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS, and I’ll leave your choices up to you. Instead, I’ll leave you with a couple flashback photo and post from Dr.TriRunnah’s Christmas 2008:
p.s. If you’re checkin’ the blog and you see the background/layout change multiple times in less than 3 minutes, fear not my friends. I am workin on some design options, and fighting it out with WP at the moment. Rest assured, things will be straightened out and the Docta will have the final word. Have a lovvely night,
-E
i went to see sherlock holmes on christmas too and was blown away by how packed the theater was!! definitely thought that me and my friend were going to have the theater to ourselves. ha not! but i <3 robert downey jr so i was ok with the crowd
oh yeah oops: p.s. HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
i alawys see movies on christmas
& way to rough it in the snow wiht the running- i’m impressed! glad you had a great holiday
Merry Christmas, Erika! Christmas is whatever you make of it, so traditional or non-traditional, you’re good to go as long as you’re having a good time…and Christmas with mom can never be a bad thing in my book!
glad to hear you had a good christmas! our plans got messed up a bit too do to the snow. freaking snow!
[...] mentioned in my Christmas recap, my mom and I like to focus on practical gifts. Since we are both first and foremost runners, and [...]