Fielder's Choice

We'll be keeping our Christmas tree up for a couple more weeks.

And so will at least one of my sisters in Alabama.

I joked with my sister Vickie when we found out we had to postpone our Christmas celebration ­ "I guess you can just leave your Christmas tree up all year long."

She will be hosting our Burleson get-together this year, which is now set for Saturday, Jan. 9.

Like most folks, our Christmas 2020 was certainly not the same.

Emma, our oldest daughter, had planned to visit from Little Rock, Ark.

After our celebration at home on Christmas morning, we had planned to go to Andy and Brooke's (son and daughter in-law) house the morning after Christmas for breakfast and then on to Alabama for our annual holiday gathering with my family.

About a week before Christmas, Andy called and wasn't feeling well. He went to the doctor, got tested for COVID19, and the results came back positive.

Needless to say, that threw us for a loop, as he had to go into quarantine for at least 10 days, which would stretch through Christmas weekend.

We immediately got on the phone with everyone and started coming up with a new game plan.

After about 24 hours of thought and discussion, we decided to push it back a couple of weeks.

Emma had to rework her vacation time. Andy needed to get well, plus Brooke and my nephew Chris had recent surgeries, so this would give them more time to heal. And the couple of weeks would hopefully give us assurance no other family member would get the virus ­ at least for now. My sister Vickie had already had a tough battle with it a month or so ago.

So, this year we used FaceTime to visit with Emma and Andy on Christmas morning as Erin, Pam and myself opened a few gifts. We are waiting on the rest.

We stuck with the Christmas morning tradition of sausage balls for breakfast, with an added quiche.

Erin's boyfriend Tommy joined us on Saturday for a bit more gift opening, plus an excellent holiday lunch, with steaks and the fixings.

The cold streak, weatherwise, made us sort of happy to be cooped up due to COVID.

We watched some Christmas movies and played some board games ­ like Sorry and Twenty Questions.

And there were a few football games I enjoyed on TV, too.

I took a nap Christmas Day and a nap the day after Christmas.

And I did a lot of snacking.

Warmer temperatures arrived Sunday, and it was good to get out of the house. I took Bella (our miniature Schnauzer), who also did her share of snacking over the weekend, for some exercise.

As we all have learned in 2020, things change quickly. January 9 is the goal for our "big Christmas," but we are aware another rescheduling is not out of the realm of possibility. We know that. My sister in Alabama knows that.

In the meantime, we will just keep our Christmas tree lights burning.