Our belated Christmas celebration was fun and yummy. Alas, two of the five participants weren’t able to join us, though, so we’ll be catching up with them later. We’ll catch Edward tomorrow or Thursday after Lisa gets off work. We want to watch him open his gifts, so we’ll drive to Yelm and have lunch with him somewhere. Lisa wants to see his face when he opens two of the gifts she got him. (I won’t divulge them here, in case he reads this before we get to him so he can find out what they are then!) I have an almost brand new heavy coat that I have worn possibly three times which I shrunk out of during the past three years, so I’m going to see if it will fit him, and if it does, he’ll be getting that as a hand-me-down, even though it looks and wears as if it’s brand new. I got him some other necessities, too.
Hazel liked what I got her and her English Pointer Sky. I bought large surgical dog toenail clippers for Sky, whom I dog-sit whenever Hazel is away for extended periods visiting with her son and his wife in Montana. It’s expensive to take a dog to the vet just for toenail clipping, so I decided to do the honors myself. That way it saves a frequent vet bill. Sky probably won’t love me, but I have a plan to make it as easy on her as possible. (And on me and her holder, too.) I got Hazel a cute penguin egg holder that she can put into a pan when she hard or soft boils eggs. I have one, too, and it’s very cute and darned handy!
Lisa made the yummiest sweet potatoes on the planet and brought them over. I popped the Signature Select ham butt (super yummy) into my oven at 11:30 a.m., so it was ready to enjoy at about 1:30. We also had olives and Hawaiian sweet rolls. We bought a dessert at Winco and then forgot to eat it afterward, but we were all stuffed anyway, and I needed to drive Jackie to pick up her repaired vehicle before the place closed, so we were a wee bit pressed for time (but not by much). It all worked out fine. Ben needed to head for Olympia before sundown, which wasn’t far off, so the celebration ended pretty much at the perfect time.
I played a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD (low) and one of my cats (Bobby) joined us in the Critter Corral for scratches and chin tickles from Lisa..
There were lots of presents to open. We put Edward’s and Hazel’s in boxes and set them aside so we could see what was left. There was still plenty left to open!
Everything Ben, Lisa and I received from each other was much appreciated.
There were lotsa laughs, too.
Among the things Lisa got me were these three t-shirts. Perfect!
Among the things I got for Lisa was a book (ostensibly from her cats Harmony and Picachu).
Title: Sorry I Barfed On Your Bed (and other heartwarming letters from Kitty).
I got Ben a multicolor cowboy shirt, some candy, and I think that’s about it.
Lisa got Ben two multicolor cowboy shirts with snaps, some right-sized sweatpants, and other stuff that he needed and loves.
Ben got Lisa and me matching yellow neon sweatshirts so that when we ride bikes up at Orting or anywhere else, we’ll be highly visible when crossing intersections. (Fortunately, there aren’t many intersections where we ride in Orting, but all three of them have had bike/motorist collisions, so these sweatshirts are a great idea and very much appreciated!)
Got this Santa at an After Christmas sale at AT HOME
Dang! I wonder if Lisa took pix of the meal. I didn’t think to do it.
Anyway, everyone who made to our shindig had a good time.
It was a lovely Christmas celebration. Small, easy to create, and lots of fun.
No one had to jump through hoops to make it happen.
It just all came together very easily.
That made it the PERFECT Christmas!
