Camera Unload: Holiday Highlights

It's been a great Christmas, so far. We have entertained and been entertained. We hit the road on some days, and friends traveled to see us on others. We've eaten snacks and feasts. We've worn ourselves out some days, and slept late on others.

So much to tell, you get Holiday Highlights. And not in chronological order.

Brian and I dance The Nutcracker. Rather, we were posing for a Mother-Son photo, and the only way I could keep him from popping me in the ribs to make me jump was to keep each hand far from the other. This is the "portrait" that ensued.


When we realized Thanksgiving was a bust, Clint and I decided to just have a romantic dinner for 2, instead. Steak, shrimp, candlelight, Ooo la la.

Flu-la-la is what it turned out to be, and in the end, Clint threw the steaks in the freezer for another day. This is what I found written on them, when I pulled them for Christmas eve:


Preparing for dinner at Clint's parent's house. I'm not sure we ever got an accurate headcount for place settings, before dinner. It was somewhere between 15 and 18.


The Grace Chain. It was originally meant to be a large circle, but ended up in a cute Figure 8 around 2 tables. Someone interrupted grace and held up dinner by taking this photo.


Now that dinner's over, we can move on. Clint's niece, Mary and I bonded, 0ver dinner, at our abilities to diagnose our own illnesses, with the help of "teh internets." She had AIDS for one week, while I myself have miraculously recovered from brain tumors here and there over the years. She has recently diagnosed her own tonsil stones. She let me have a look-see. I was expecting a small white spot, like you get when you have strep. They're not like strep, they're more like barnacles. I think she's diagnosed them quite nicely. Ugh. I was so grossed out that she let me take a picture for my own future reference.


There's my red stripey tights, and my Christmas Eve outfit, which is the same as my Santa Rampage outfit, only without the Santa Hat.


Jennifer and Grandpa (Dad) wore their Santa Headgear, though.



My Mom and Grandma, the Sunday before Christmas. Grandma has been doing inventory on a stocking full of candy. "Look at this little 3 Musketeers bar!," she said, "it's teenie weenie." Ha ha, my Grandma said weenie.



Here's my mom on Christmas day, with her new 3-lb dumbbells. She's been going to physical therapy for her shoulder, and has a series of exercises to do every day. She demonstrates here, one of those exercises. She is very proud of her hard work, and she should be: It's kept her from a painful surgery that would require months of recovery. Go, Mama!


A candid shot of Brian and Chad. Yes. This is just how they stand around the house.


Check out the bow on my Christmas gift from Clint! Not having one at the Country Casa, he made it from electrical stripping stuff, and a wad of foam insulation, and some curley-que electrical wires. If you look at the picture above, you'll see that I turned it into my new Christmas tree topper.


That's me with a Madagascar Hissing Cockroach. Doesn't everyone have a Christmas photo of themselves and a Cockroach named Bella? SSssssssssssssss!!!


Christmas morning, with Brian's lifelong friend, Anthony, and Brian. Oh, they thought it so funny when they barged in to my room to wake me up and say hello, 2 a.m. the night before. Oh, so funny, until I declared war on them 6 hours later, and sicked my friend Diane on them for revenge. She did a cannonball right into the middle of their sleeping bags with a very merry Christmas War Whoop. Payback are hell, boys.

That accomplished, we got about our "Girl's Breakfast": thick slab bacon, coffee with Bailey's Irish Creme, and homemade cinnamon rolls. Yes, I used yeast, the day before, and I kneaded the dough by hand for 5 minutes, and it was soooooo worth it. I'm not sure why this photo comes in with a vertical orientation; turn your monitor on its side for a better look.


Ok. I'll let you go now. There's more, but it's late, and a girl has to get back to work on Monday morning, isn't that sad?

Hope your Christmas was fantastic!