Merry Non-Christmas to All, and to All a Boozy Night!

I have often dreamed of spending Christmas on a beach and that's exactly what I did on December 25, 2006 or, as I call it, "Non-Christmas Day". Don't get me wrong - it wasn't "Non-Christmas" for lack of Christmas spirit on the island. Christmas decorations started going up on December 1 and Caymanians go all out with the decorating (Clark Griswold style!). Picture giant inflatable snow globes with snowmen inside... Christmas carols playing in stores... in 85 degree weather... It was like celebrating Christmas in August & it felt very weird. Even the firm did a tremendous job with decorating its buildings for the holidays. The firm occupies 2 buildings, which are connected by a little bridge. They put up a giant Christmas tree in the lobby of each building, each beautifully decorated. And, the managing partner and his assistant spent an entire weekend creating a "Winter Wonderland" on the bridge, complete with fake snow, mechanical reindeer and Christmas tunes. The partner stopped by my office and told me he did it to make me feel at home... If only the snow in Toronto actually stayed that white!

I attended a lovely pre-Christmas carol service at a local church, went to the firm Christmas party and drank lots of bubbly and even exchanged gifts in the Secret Santa at work. My family was even nice enough to send me a package of Christmas gifts (without stocking stuffers - but I'll let that one slide...) and some snow of my own. No matter what I did that was Christmasy, it just didn't feel like Christmas without my family & friends around. So, I celebrated Non-Christmas instead. Sort of like Festivus, but without the aluminum pole and airing of grievances.

My Non-Christmas celebration started on Non-Christmas Eve with attendance at what was supposed to be a carol service on the beach. Sounds lovely, right? Oh, there were carols. None of which I even recognized and all of which sounded somber and scary. In between these "carols" were readings from the Old Testament. Also somewhat scary. It was not quite the peaceful, serene evening I had envisioned. My friends and I exchanged baffled looks and quickly decided that there must be a better way to spend our Non-Christmas Eve. We wandered over to one of our favourite restaurants, Decker's, and enjoyed an amazing meal and great company. It was an early evening - had to rest up for a busy Non-Christmas Day.

I actually slept in until about 9 the next morning. I say "slept in" because on Christmas morning, my mom & aunt usually play the Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton Christmas c.d. (yes, there is such a thing) to wake my cousins, brother and me up by 8. I rolled out of bed and ate a few Munchkins for breakfast (the Dunkin' Donuts version of TimBits, not the little people from Oz). After that, I settled in on the couch to open my gifts. It was very weird opening gifts by myself. I kept looking around to share my excitement and show off my gifts (the Hip's "World Container", shiny pink flip flops, new outfit, Chippendales calendar, book of cocktails), and there was no one to show... If only I had fixed my webcam sooner! After opening my gifts, I called the fam and was told that up until a few hours before, they had believed that I would be making a surprise visit home for Christmas. Ooooops... Sorry guys!

After the Christmas calls were made, I continued my Non-Christmas celebration and headed directly to the beach to meet up with my friends. Except for the pasty white tourists walking down the beach wearing Santa hats, I could not tell it was Christmas at all. After a couple of hours of frolicking in the sea, we went home to get ready for Non-Christmas dinner at the Westin. An all-you-can-drink champagne dinner. Dinner was amazing. The turkey was alright (not as good as home), dessert was fantastic (freshly made crepes with fruit filling) and the champagne was flowing freely. We drank all we could drink... And then some... From the Westin, we went to Fidel Murphy's, an Irish pub, where we consumed even more champagne. The rest of our Non-Christmas celebration is a bit of a blur, except for the pictures Lizi took that help fill in the blanks. My Cayman Non-Christmas experience is one I will never forget, but as Dolly would sing, next year at Christmas, "I'll be home with bells on!"