Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas 2009 : Part One

Well I for one am glad that Christmas has come and gone. It is now another whole year away. There were parts of it that I enjoyed.

 Like the grands!!



The Shopping..I was glad when it was done. Far Guy was a saint..he hung in there..I could not have done it without him. He was also the driving force behind gifts instead of my preferred gifts of cash. I figured if I procrastinated long enough, they would all be happy with cash versus no gift at all.

The Wrapping of the gifts..I went into hibernation mode upstairs and finished it all..Far Guy has finally learned how to gift wrap..after forty years! Between the two of us working as a team..we got er done!


The House Cleaning.. Far Guy vacuums..I scrub and dust..I could have dusted more..but no one probably noticed. I did clean the downstairs bath extra good..Far Guy said "I don't know why you are doing that bathroom again..it will just be a mess in a little while." Sometimes I can be a bit anal about cleaning..probably part of my OCD...I am trying to overcome it..and let me tell you I have come a long way toward total recovery..but the holidays get me every time.

The Christmas Cards went out on Christmas Eve..many cards were sent by email for the very first time... some still had to be mailed..and notes written. I do like writing special notes to long time friends. My pencil in hand is still a comfy feeling.

The Cooking..I called one of my cousins, Geraldine for her Baked Beans Recipe, thanks to her phone tutorial I was able to successfully cook up a batch of baked beans that taste way better than Famous Dave's. I have never attempted Baked Beans before. I did have one small problem as I boiled them over several times during their first cookings...then when I packaged some for the deep freeze..I may have been a bit sloppy..Far Guy said I looked like a bean. I do make a mean Green Apple/Snickers/Cool Whip Salad..never fail! I did remember to put the sugar in the Pumpkin Bread..and it only took two hours to bake because Far Guy shut the oven off. Son In law Andy cooked the ribs and a delicious ham and cornbread. Jennifer baked candy and cookies..calorie free of course. My Parents joined us for a late evening meal on Christmas Eve. I was going to use real plates..but Trica said "Mother, paper will be fine..less dishes to wash.." Sometimes she just hates it that we have no dishwasher. Yup, we still do dishes the old fashioned way..sometimes we even talk to each other while we wash and dry.


The Church services.. my ONLY request of family members this Christmas was that we all attend church together on Christmas Eve. I really don't care much for all the commercial hoopla that surrounds Christmas..but the church part is important to me. Oh Yeah and before I forget, the sermon ( I would have said "Happy Birthday Jesus" Amen) was way to long..I fell asleep, the print was way to little in the handout..and Madison and I prayed that the cute little things three rows in front of us in the thinly strapped black dresses got some sweaters for Christmas...all that uncovered skin made me chilly even though I kept my parka on for the entire service. Paige and Noah almost got the giggles once..a little tap on the shoulder by their Grandma worked well to quench those giggles. Four kids and four adults..we almost filled a pew. I was extremely thankful for the family members that attended with us, sometimes you just have to let go and be thankful that someone was there..after all we could just be two old cranky people sitting by ourselves in a pew.


The weather..we got some snow..a whole months worth in just a few days. But hey people it must be warm to snow..for that I am happy!   Everyone made it back home safely..that is what counts:)

13 comments:

Candy said...

Oh, the photos of Chance make me homesick. We are stuck in South Dakota and our "kids" are in Minnesota with my sister. We'll see them Monday. Your Christmas sounded lovely.

Gail said...

A wonderful Christmas and team work!

I am so glad it is over. My tree did not get up except for the candle tree my sister placed. My gifts got thrown in a gift bag.

Every one was happy here so that is what counts.

My granny always said, clean house after your company leaves and you won't have to clean it twice. She was a wise woman.

Rae said...

And now it is all over for another whole year!! The best part of course is the family time. They makes all the hard work worth the extra effort. Great photo of your grands. I can't get all mine together for a picture without someone making a goofy smile or weird kind of face. Far Guy sounds like a real gem. Not many guys are that helpful. Overall it sounds like it was a pretty nice Christmas after all...and you got your 12 foot tall tree this year too :)

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

Great-looking grandkids! Sounds like you had a nice family gathering...and the supersized tree, too!

Emma Rose said...

Sounds like you had a good Christmas. Ours was too - even without snow :)

Chance looks great in the snow!

Kisses,
Emma Rose

Pamela said...

haaaaaaaaa ha ha ha ha ha. I went to a Christmas program with my Sister (her granddaughter's school program.)

The principal of the "christian" school looked like Sandra Bullock and wore kind of a slinky top that didn't remind me of my parochial school principal AT ALL.


As for Christmas Eve service... will they ever learn not to preach. Just to have pretty music and say a prayer of blessing. Sigh. Didn't attend this year.

Yeah for FAR GUY. My fellow is the greatest Christmas wrapper. But he's not so hot on the shopping part.

gayle said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas!! Yea for husbands that help!!

West Side of Straight said...

Merry Christmas dear friends!

LadyFi said...

Sounds like a great Christmas! We always have a low-key celebration: just the four of us, and Oscar. Everyone stays in pjs except for me as I'm the dog walker, although Sir Pe did go out for a long walk while I cooked (sort of) lunch this year...

Jinglebob said...

Sorry it didn't go better for you. At least you weren't visited by three ghosts!

I sat here by myself with wonderful friends. Two cow dogs a house dog and our house cat. And feed and watered my other friends, cows and horses, stuck outside in the blizzard that went on for 3 days. Called friends and visited friends blogs. Read from the good book as there were no Church services. Had a lovely time.

Maybe next year you will have as good of one as I did. :)

DJan said...

It sounds like it was a perfect Christmas. You only got me wondering with the "Part 1" in the title. What could come after this? And I think your grands are really GRAND!

wendyytb said...

It sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas! I did too but somehow am glad it is over and life returns to normal.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

You have a beautiful group of grannies there sweet Connie. I fell the morning of our big celebration...bad. Then later just before serving my big Christmas meal got a head but in the mouth by Miss Sara Grace. Totally accidentally but here I am trying not to burn the food running to the bathroom tryin' to stop the bleeding. I felt like Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer! Heeeeheeehe...Hey it could be a post!

Enjoy and have a great day!!!