Christmas Beers

With Christmas only days away this weekend was dedicated to finishing up all the little last minute things. I still had Johnny to get a gift for... he's always the most difficult to buy for, but I think he will like he present this year! I also had to get the to's and from's for all my packages. It amazing that I remembered who got each present that was wrapped exactly like every other one under the Christmas tree. And the last thing I had to cross off my list was, "Buy Christmas Beer!"

So with this list in hand I ventured out to the mall. Dan was in no way going to be talked into this trip with me. I tried most of the morning, bribing him with lunch and dinner, but he wasn't taking my bait... he had a date of his own to go on with his friend Artie, so I was on my own.

It took me 25 minutes to find a parking space, but once I got in the mall, and past all the crazies at JCPenney, I was okay. I got almost everything checked off my list and even treated myself to a wonderful coffee drink at Gloria Jean's, this made me miss Jesika like crazy.

Christmas beer was the lone item left on my list. It's been a tradition for quite some time that we drink Corona's on Christmas. I'm not sure how this started, but we've had some funny stories associated with the Christmas Coronas. There was one year when Bert was in charge of getting the limes for the beers. We all arrive at Bert's on Christmas Eve, dressed in our finest, right out of church... and Bert pulls out kiwis, I don't remembered exactly how we remedied the problem, I'm sure someone went and bought some limes from somewhere, but we will never let Bert live that one down. Every year we make sure she has limes, not kiwis for the beers.

Then there was the Eve of Christmas Eve my Sophomore year of college. Bert and Dave were over and we started drinking the Christmas Coronas... We had ran out of Bud Lights, so Dad let us drink the corona, we almost ran out of that too and we definitely ran out of limes... Mom was chopping up the onion to make her famous cheese-ball and Dave and I thought it would be a good idea to put onion in our beer... Worst.Idea.Ever. I know for certain I finished the beer, but Lord, it was awful.

Last year, we went big. I brought home cases of 24 oz Coronas, which I think can only be found in college towns. It seemed like a fantastic idea. I watched people drink these down in no time while I was bartending. Christmas Eve it wasn't such a great idea. They were so gigantic and they got warm before we finished them. But they were quite the conversation piece, Dad even made sure to get his picture taken with his Corona in the middle of taking family pictures.



The thing is... I don't even like Corona. So this year we are breaking tradition, but still trying to keep with it a little bit. Dan and I got Stella Artois and Blue Moon... keeping with the fancy beer tradition, but getting something we really enjoy. Now we just need to make sure Theresa gets oranges for Dan's beer and doesn't mix up the fruit.

So we are ready for Christmas, the presents are wrapped, the tags are put on them, and the Christmas beer is ready to be packed. So now I just have to get through four days at work, while Dan enjoys his break from school. Christmas Eve can't get here soon enough!