NAIWE prompt: Write a story on your NAIWE blog about the holidays. At the end of your post, note the subject of the most complicated sentence you wrote.
The week before Christmas (a Friday this year), I was elated.
I was looking forward to exchanging gifts with my family, spending time with my husband, indulging in some tourtiere and other great food, and not working for a few days.
Christmas Eve Day, my husband and I had both taken the day off, and we celebrated with a noontime meal of pizza. The pizza made me sleepy, so in the afternoon I took a nap–a long nap. Just before I woke up, I found myself dreaming of someone I had met only once. She was the only daughter of a gentleman and his wife whom my husband and I knew from church. The gentleman, who was good friends with my husband, had passed away a year ago, and we had attended his funeral and met his adult daughter there. Through her tears, she managed to be very nice and to smile, but my fashionista, judgmental self could not help but to be inwardly critical of her for wearing open-toed shoes with pantyhose.
This young woman showed up at the end of my dream, coupled with a techno song which I know from the dance mixes that I use to work out to. I dislike that particular song due to its foul language and drug references, and the song had nothing to do with the woman, but there they were together as I woke up. And I found this very creepy.
Christmas Day was very pleasant at my parents’ condo and found us exchanging gifts, eating, and having nice conversations.
The next day was anything but pleasant. My husband and I went to Walmart to use gift cards that we had received, and found crowds aplenty and technical difficulties using one of the gift cards. In the afternoon, my husband wrestled with our cell phone provider over the phone, to no avail. In the evening, we watched part of Tommy, a movie which I had seen before and found deeply disturbing. Ugh.
The following Tuesday, the bomb was dropped. BAM! Just like that.
My editing business suffered its first professional blow, the ins and outs of which I will not go into. This incident cast a large, dark shadow on the whole holiday season, and I still have not recovered from the blow to my business. My mood is very dark right now, and I certainly did not want to start 2021 this way.
Most complicated sentence in this story: “I was looking forward to exchanging gifts with my family, spending time with my husband, indulging in some tourtiere and other great food, and not working for a few days.” Subject: I