Holiday fun revisited

I booked our flights home for Christmas! I am happy to have this task out of the way, and even happier that I didn't have to pay a zillion dollars for our flights. I checked on our flight options over the weekend, and they were ridiculously expensive which led to a mild panic attack on my part. But here's a little known travel tip - it's not only cheaper to fly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but it's also cheaper to book flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The two tickets I booked tonight cost less than any of the options I found over the weekend for one  ticket. Phew. One less thing to stress about for the holidays.

We've also had some resolution about the Christmas trip with my husband's family. We are not going to take a vacation and will stay around Chicago. My husband proposed going to The Second City, but my in-laws didn't want to go "all the way to downtown." It's okay though, because they actually came up with another idea that I love! They suggested going to see Jim Brickman, who is playing at a theatre in my sister-in-law's town.

I love Jim Brickman. My husband and I went to a Jim Brickman concert in college, and our first dance at our wedding reception was to his song, "Love of My Life." I introduced my mom to his music, and bought her one of his Christmas CD's that we always listen to at my parents' house at Christmas. I have a lot of special associations to his music, and I'm thrilled to see him in concert again.

I don't know if my in-laws picked the concert because they also like Jim Brickman, or if they remember and recognize how special he is to us, or if it's just because it's close to home. I suspect it's the latter - they presented this option to us as "a holiday concert in Aurora" so I'm sure they don't know or remember that we love his music. It also might be a little awkward to share something so personal and so romantic with my in-laws, but hopefully they'll also enjoy the beautiful music. However, I fully expect my father-in-law to fall asleep about three songs into the concert, and for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to respond with their standard "It was okay" when asked what they thought of the concert - because that is what they always respond, even though it drives me nuts that they can't muster enthusiasm for anything, especially something so special to me.

Besides, if I get to listen to this on Christmas Eve Eve, what do I care if they can't appreciate it? It's their loss.



But I really hope they do love the concert, that they understand why Jim Brickman is so special to my husband and me, and maybe, just maybe, they begin to understand us just a little bit more.

EDIT: The video doesn't seem to be loading 100% of the time, so you can also go here to see it.