Christmas Eve 2011--It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. (Part 1)

I posted a few statuses on Christmas Eve that included an 'oh for pete's sake' hash-tag. I've debated about whether or not to add this experience to the stack of others I've had this year that just seems too funny (or not) to be true. I finally decided to do just that--add it to the stack, throw it in the pile, and include it in my blog and in my book. As my editor said when I told her about it--'some material is just too rich to throw out.' And all of mine happens to also be true.

So let's rewind and set the scene, shall we? At the last minute, my boss gave me a three day weekend for Christmas Eve, winked at me and told me to go home. So that is what I did. I decided to make the 7 hr drive from Portland to Coeur d' Alene Friday night after I got off work, stay Saturday and Sunday (Christmas Day and Eve) and drive back Monday. I desperately wanted to be with my family during the holiday. I got off work early at 3 on Friday, ordered my venti quad shot americano with two inches of uncut egg nog and 2 pumps of gingerbread at Starbucks and headed home. I was happily blasting my Glee Christmas albums during the entire drive until the last hour when I hit lots of black ice as I headed into Spokane. Made it home alive and was too hyped up on coffee to go to sleep until the wee hours of the morning.

My little siblings were thrilled to wake up to me being home. (love that feeling, btw). And we spent the day at home, being lazy, cooking and getting ready for Christmas Eve service. The plan for the day included a visit that afternoon from my Grandma, Christmas Eve service at my parent's church, the arrival of my two best friends from WSU, and game night and lots of food. That was the plan.

Now, it's imperative to note that the church I was going to with my parents was NOT the church that I grew up in in Idaho, the one where I met my ex and where I met many good friends I still have to this day. Just to give you some background here, my family and I attended the same church for almost 10 years and that is where I met my ex, where we dated and married. It's also imperative to note that my ex's immediate family   have not spoken to me or contacted me once throughout this entire last year.. Anyway, all this not to bore you with detail but to give some perspective about this fateful Christmas Eve.

I decided to attend church with my parents and also with two of my good friends from CDA. Let's call them Henry and Sophia.  I was very excited and even though a couple of my ex's good friends attended this particular church, we didn't think we would run into him there. However, just in case (my sisters and I were quite prepared), we decided that if for some reason my ex was there (keep in mind the fact that he lives hours away but who knows? could be home for Christmas), we would leave to avoid an awkward situation.

So the day progressed swimmingly as they say--full of lots of laughs and games and we had so much fun with grandma, we decided to pick her up after church to come join us for dessert. We had a fun time getting ready and the girls loved my glitter eye shadow(s)! So we get to church early and my mom decides to run in ahead just to see if my ex was there. I headed in with the girls as we were pretty sure he wasn't going to be there. We walked inside and I was immediately cornered by my mom and Sophia. I remember it all being sort of a blur as Sophia said hi and hugged me. And my mom said, 'Ok, so what do you want to do?' And I remember saying...'Um, about what? Is my ex here?' And Sophia quickly confirmed that he was not--his friends were, but he was not. I was ok with that because I hadn't seen those mutual friends all year and was hoping to get the chance to reconnect. "He's not here," she said, "but his entire family is."

I can't explain the thoughts in my head at that point.  It was across between hearing the horror music played in Finding Nemo when Darla walks into the dentist office and the odd far away sound of cackling hyenas. And I remember thinking to myself, "Of course they are. Of course they are. Why me, God? Why me?" They didn't even go to this church and as far as I knew had NEVER attended this church. My ex, their son, was not here and I'm in town for literally two days for the holidays and for some reasons, we end up at the same exact church for Christmas Eve?

 Fiction just doesn't get any better than this.

Now, this may seem trivial to some of you. Other readers will understand. You'll have to read the book for more detail because I'm not going into all the of the tension here in my blog. There was a lot of tension between them and us--and specifically me--prior to my marriage. (sidenote: they did not attend our wedding, if that gives you any indication). Enough said about that. I'm not about to air all the dirty laundry here. (A). if you know it all now what's going to inspire any of you to buy my book, and B). they may be reading this as well and I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I'm trying to tell the truth and be honest about the division and lack of honesty and open communication that existed in this odd 'relationship' which gives you proof of just how awkward this was).

I proceeded to ask if his family had ever attended before and Sophia's eyes were big as she laughed and said an emphatic, 'NO!" I remember she and my mom asking if I wanted to go or stay and I just laughed (things were still blurry) and said sure. Why not? What more could 2011 possibly throw at me? And of course because it was Christmas Eve, the chairs in the relatively small sanctuary were all facing each other, in circular fashion. How conveniently intimate! I sat with Henry and Sophia, directly across from his family. And when I say his family, I mean his mom and dad, brother and sister in law (also a bitter history there), and his sister in law's parents and entire family. There wasn't room enough unfortunately for my whole family with us. So I sat safely near Henry and Sophia. I remember looking at the worship music and I was unable to read the words on the page. Sophia kept checking with me throughout the entire service, making sure I was ok and Henry just kept grinning, probably in unbelief at the situation. He mentioned that only one other ingredient would have made it more interesting and again, you can read the book.

To be continued...