Random Bullets for Boxing Day

• Christmas was very, very, very busy at chez Rev. Dr. Mom, but really, it was a great holiday! One of the best ever, even. LD#2 and SiL arrived Saturday afternoon, and she and I did a last minute shopping rush. We all went out to dinner and then stocked on groceries for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. At some point the tree, which I had been decorating since Monday, was finished and all the nativities set up. Before I went to bed I worked a bit on my sermon for Christmas Day.
  
• Christmas Eve on a Sunday makes for a very hectic day. Sunday morning was the annual Christmas pageant, which meant a packed church and LOTS of kids. It all went off smoothly (and you can never tell ahead of time how it will go). One of LD#2's high school friends was there with her six-month-old baby. It feels so strange to see these kids I remember as 8th graders playing in the snow, as high school seniors running track and going to prom, now as married women, one with a baby. SiL's parents and sister arrived Sunday afternoon. I was still working on finished one gift project, wrapping, and working on my sermon, but it all worked out.
• I love Christmas Eve services but I wasn't looking forward to them as much this year because the last few weeks I've come home feeling frustrated/angry/unhappy with my boss after every service. But thankfully, the tension was gone on Christmas Eve and everything went well. And there is nothing like "Silent Night" sung by candlelight at midnight to make me feel like it's really Christmas.
• As usual I was up VERY late on Christmas Eve--I only had one present to wrap, but I had to stuff stockings and, ahem....finish my sermon for Christmas morning. So no bed til 2:30 am.
• For the first time in my whole life, we didn't open presents until midday. Everyone went to church at 10 am so it was noon or a bit after before we got to presents and 2pm before we got around to brunch. A truly good time was had by all. The Kid was thrilled with his new video ipod, and I received a print by my favorite Vermont artist, Katherine Monstream. (It's the one called "Point").
  
• We had a roaring fire in the fireplace all weekend--so warm and cozy. We all took naps late afternoon, and then cooked dinner: Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans with garlic and almonds, salad, baked pineapple and cheese, with an incredible German chocolate cake for dessert. SiL and his parents are all EXCELLENT cooks and everyone contributed to dinner. I do not want to think about the calories I've consumed the last couple of days!
• We opened Christmas crackers at dinner, and we all put on our crowns that were inside. Silly but fun. After dinner we played Apples to Apples, also great fun.
  
• All the company left this morning. It's a gray rainy day, and I'm going to do some laundry and straighten up a bit, and then play with my new computer some more.
• I haven't had much time to play with the new MacBook, but I already heart, heart, heart it. It has a built in camera and mike so when we skyped LD#1 Christmas Eve, she could see us. I walked around carrying the computer and showed her the tree and the decorations. How cool is that?!
• I have a whole week off from work! And I have some new movies to watch, some I've seen before, but one (Little Miss Sunshine) that I haven't seen but that has been highly recommended to me. And I'm going to work on my knitting project that I cast on last weekend. And who knows what else? When you have a whole week stretching out in front of you, the possibilities seem endless!
  
• Happy Christmas/Hanukkah*/Festivus to one and all!
  *yes, I know that Hanukkah ended a couple of days ago...greetings of the season.