The Nativity

We decided to stay home the whole day in the two-story modern airbnb apartment in Beacon Hill.

My alarm woke me up at 7:30 a.m., I thought there would be a sunrise today. It was just clouds.

I tried to go back to sleep, but ended up scrolling twitter and cosmos.

I finally got out of bed to eat breakfast at 10:30 a.m.

It was raining outside. You could only see the faint outline of the city. The mountains were hidden behind the fog.

I sat with my family on the second floor to have oatmeal drenched in flaxmilk, cut bananas and apples, and tasty sweet potato chips from whole foods.

My family commented about how new the airbnb is, and my dad started discussing about credit card bills.

I continued scrolling twitter.

I felt a little sick after, and went back to lie on the bed.

I wanted to work on my birth of Christ sketch.

My sister cracked open the window behind us.

The sound of the rain and the slight breeze made me sleepy.

I fell asleep at some point.

I woke up at 3:30 p.m. with the tablet in my hands.

My sister and dad went to Safeway to get soy sauce.

I got on twitter again.

I felt better now, and continued my sketch upstairs at the kitchen countertop.

My other sister and my mum watched youtube on the tv above the fireplace.

I finished my sketch, I felt satisfied with the end result. I took two breaks for this sketch, I usually finish sketches in one sitting because I don't have the patience nor the accountability to finish them if I don't.

I continued going on rabbit-holes, organizing my tabs, and writing blogs for the rest of the year.

My sister started cooking dinner with the meat we bought from whole foods last night.

The fire alarm kept going off because of the smoke.

We cracked every window and the cold breeze came uninvited to the living room, colliding with the heavy smell of fatty meat crawling from the kitchen, travelling across the entire apartment.

An old friend from church called, she's 7 months pregnant. I'm reminded of my younger self and feel old. Time is moving fast.

I pan-fry my salmon. The flesh is golden and the skin is crisp, I plated it thinking it was done but it was slightly undercooked. I put it back.

The fire alarm went off again.

My sister took out the French lamb rack from the oven, it smells good.

It was finally time to eat. It's 8 p.m.

There were baked vegetables and potatoes, stir-fried brocolli, steak, lamb, and salmon.

We talked about plans for tomorrow, about the meal, about the trip, and about the future.

The lamb was really good. The meat was tender and the flavor rich.

I got heartburn from the fattiness of the meat. I couldn't feel happy.

I went to take a shower and went to bed.

I started planning the spots to hit tomorrow and the day after.

I spent the rest of the night discovering and organizing information, and writing these blogs. I haven't been doing anything else lately. I like doing it. I finally get to just do this and nothing else. It's a privilege. It's an addiction. Maybe a distraction too.

It's now 12:50 a.m.

This was my Christmas day.