apostoholic

i've been thinking a lot about traditions lately. my dad eschews them on principle while my mom is more ambivalent. regardless, we have family traditions, most of them unspoken (like so many other aspects of our clan). tonight, we're sharing christmas dinner, replete with such classic family motifs as:

- my dad and i trying to make my mom laugh and forget the stress (these attempts tend to make things worse but they're about all we have in our arsenal :S)
- senseless discussions about wardrobe and hairstyle
- dad remembering to play chauffeur but forgetting to offer people drinks
- reminding myself not to say, "i'm ok" when manu (my dad's oldest friend's dad) asks me how i am, lest he should muse, "oh, just ok?"
- james consistently impressing me with how well he fits into the family
- wicked appetizer menu (i'm in charge this year!)
- sarmale cu mamaliga!!! (cabbage rolls with corn "mush")
- discussions about philosophy, religion, books, family news, and politics, conducted in at least two languages, sometimes simultaneously (poor james!)
- demonstrations that manu knows everything
- james and i fighting over the orange juice
- thoughtful gifts
- missing ioana and dov

in the old days, cori and i (and, eventually, james) did all the cleaning while mom and dad drove manu home... this year everyone but mom is packing into the car for a ride downtown.

yet another case of everything/nothing has changed. :)