It’s that time, friends! The time of year where I set my out-of-office message, use up the last fresh veggies in the fridge, and yell at the kids to make sure they’ve downloaded enough movies. It’s “Home for Christmas” time!

But first, per annual Chez PM tradition, our family Christmas.

Our first Christmas stateside, we realized the folly of schlepping all of our gifts North so we could open them on “real” Christmas, only to schlepp them all back. So the date for this one floats – it’s “the night before the first family member leaves for Canada.”

The menu is the same every year – fettuccine alfredo (I cheated this year and bought pasta instead of making it) and whatever greens I can force them to eat/are left in the fridge. I make sure to have second helpings, mostly just to troll the anxious would-be present-openers.

We’re doing a minimalist Christmas this year, in part inspired by the massive success of last year’s nomadic adventure. That there is the sum total of gifts bought by us this year.

(Hey Manitobans, spoiler alert: no presents from us this year. Four flights home costs decidedly more than two tanks of gas + a pit stop at the StaMart in Fargo, so our presence is our present this year.)

And since our kids have reached the age of “cash please,” the actual opening of presents was short and sweet.

The Husband got a couple of bottles of his favourite sour ale from Cascade Brewery. He looks at it longingly every time we pass it at the store, but it’s got a pretty steep price, so he sighs and keeps walking.

The Girl got – wait for it – a subscription to the “Pickles of the Month” club.

And The Boy got a subscription to the “Potato Chips of the Month” club.

And *I* got a subscription to some kind of weekly snack delivery.

(LOL – can you tell that I gave The Husband carte blanche on gift purchasing this year?)

It’s actually quite awesome. I *love* getting comestibles as gifts since it’s often something you really like but can never justify, plus once it’s enjoyed, you don’t have to worry about finding a place to store it. And with subscriptions, we’ll all get a monthly box of awesomeness to prolong the happiness. Plus pickles!

Different this year was our family dispersing to their separate activities immediately after presents. We tried to float a family movie night, but no one could agree on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation vs A Christmas Story. And then The Girl said, “no offense, but I’m going to be spending alllll week with you guys. I’d rather be by myself for one last night.”

(Yep, we’ve got teenagers.)

No worries – we WILL be spending all week together! We’ve got family gatherings and framily gatherings (i.e. the friends that ARE family) and cousin dates and coworker happy hours on the agenda. But also lots of downtime planned for reading by the fire and drinking Pepsi and napping.

AND I’m hitting the ground running this year. Look what I remembered!

I’ll be hitting that Canadian border FULLY documented, thank you very much. And I won’t spend Christmas having nightmares about being turned back at the US border and prolonging the separation between me and my belongings. Oh, and I’m NOT leaving for Christmas break from one house only to head back to a different house across the country. Why, it’s downright simple this year!

Happy Christmas week, friends! May your desk be quiet on your last afternoon in the office, may you stumble upon 2-Litre Pepsis for 99 cents, and may your advent longings be amply met.