Joy and embarrassment

Our Christmas celebrations included seeing relatives and eating homemade beef minestrone soup on Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's, topped with fantastic parmesan cheese and accompanied by french bread, yum! Then there were hours at home of prepping food for Christmas dinner, wrapping gifts, and the capper of the night, as always, loading the stockings (the kids' favorite stocking stuffer is the gas card Santa brings!).  This year's Christmas morning was a little less traditional this year, being that now two of our children live elsewhere, but they gathered at our house and we opened our gifts in rounds while eating cinnamon rolls and listening to a great CD of classic rock and roll carols.  Grant bought me the Moda GreenPiece BOM I have drooled over and surprised me with a new office chair.  The girls each bought me a book I can't wait to read ("Water for Elephants", and Crazy Aunt Purl's "Drunk, Divorced and Covered with Cat Hair", plus a frame for my Australia photos from Elaine, and a movie from Erica.  Nick got us movie theater tickets. 

Now for the embarrassing part.  Erica wanted UGG boots and I got her some two weeks ago.  The shop was out of her size and color except for the display pair--one of the clerks even had to climb into the window display to get the matching boot from the one left in the box. On Christmas morning, Erica excitedly opened the package and pulled out the left boot, ripped out the stuffing and stuck her foot in.  Then she pulled out the other left boot.  WHAT?  Yes, I managed to get home with two left boots.  Of course, the clerk should have checked that but I didn't either so it is both our fault.  So then Nick opens his presents from us...including a new Tshirt..with the Security tag still on! Another thing a clerk should have checked and I didn't notice either.  Lastly, I had to confess to Erica that although she wrote out a list of some items she wanted from a specific clothing store she named, I went to the wrong store during my last minute Christmas shopping and couldn't get her anything she asked for.  Strike 3!  Oh well, nothing that couldn't be fixed and they enjoyed laughing at me. 

We ate a leisurely breakfast together and pottered about admiring our gifts, but then were running about an hour and a half behind schedule, with guests coming at 2:00 pm.  The only person on time was our family friend, who actually believed the starting time, but lucky for me was good natured and helpful as I was getting together the appetizers and salads for our dinner.  Everyone else in the family was late as usual but it was just fine with us!  My sister ended up staying home as she was not feeling well, but we were 20 for dinner, sitting down to bacon-wrapped filet mignon from the BBQ grill, potatoes, ham, rice salad and a broccoli slaw, and corn muffins, with my homemade cream cheese pie for dessert along with store bought pies, truffles, cookies, etc.  It was California casual and we toasted each other heartily.  I loved having all the family there and it was a good time. 

After the crowd dispersed and some of the cleanup was done, I slipped upstairs to change into my comfy sweats and play with the gorgeous Yuletide Blessings blocks I won from Nicole.  Soon it became apparent that I was too tired to come up with the perfect layout on our bed (too small), so I stretched out for a little rest, and was pretty much gone for the night!  Grant woke me when he came up to bed, reminding me that I still needed to brush my teeth and I still had my glasses on...so what else is new?

Since then I have done some paying work at home in my transcription job, had the family over to help eat up all the masses of food left over, done the mall thing with Erica to exchange the boots and get the security tag off Nick's shirt, and taken my sister and sister-in-law to a favorite quilt shop.  We decided to make a quilt for the very gracious family friends who have let my brother and family stay at their house over the holidays while they are out of town.  We're making a version of a Turning Twenty with only 15 blocks, for a throw size.  SIL Laura bought all the fabrics and washed them, I ironed and cut, she and my sister Kathy will sew them together, and I will do the quilting and binding.  I love having a quilting party!