my christmas was great.
all four grandparents went around to beth's parents' house. a few interstate aunties and cousins. five kids under 5.
the most controversial thing that happened was that no-one noticed that when they all closed their eyes to say grace that me, my mum and my dad all sat there quietly looking at each other trying to keep a straight face... it's such a silly ritual. nice. but silly.
after lunch we all went out through the back fence to play in the park. soon the kids will be old enough to go out there without supervision...
... true, beth's older brother continued to not make eye contact with me, let alone talk to me, but his wife is lovely and we all had a nice day. I still don't quite know what his problem is, but I'm over it. This intense, angry awkwardness he seems to feel around me is his own problem - I think that it stems from some anger that he had for me about 9 years ago (shortly before I, the atheist, married his sister) and he initially solved it by pretending that I don't exist... and then found that to be such a comfortable solution that he continues it even though I've been nothing but completely civil to him for more than a decade now.
... but as, I said, I'm completely ok with that now. I've decided to just go with the flow when I'm at their family's house now, and it's so much nicer because of that.