Did you have a Merry Christmas?

Got a chessboard and a meditation bench and enough chocolate to gain another 10 lbs.

Did not get mudflaps for the Prius. Have to buy them myself.

Mostly, though, both my daughters were home for the holidays.

 

Yes!
Had a wonderful xmas eve with the in-laws, then the kids were over this morning for homemade caramel pecan cinnamon raisin rolls (I like to just get it all over at once) and scones with strawberry sauce.

Dear Hubby got me the electric tea kettle of my dreams (german shott glass... google "capresso"), my daughter got me a little glass teapot and those tea flower things (photos at flickr), and we were able to give everyone gift cards so they can all go shop for themselves.

Oh, and it is starting to snow... big, huge, wet flakes, and some is sticking a little in the grass!

 

I had a great Christmas visiting family in western Massachusetts. My younger sonJeaff took a train from NYC to northern New Jersey Sunday morning, and we got to my older son's house around lunchtime. We spent time with my son Adam, daughter-in-law Jenny and the two grandsons/nephews, and then my daughter-in-laws folks came over for supper. A little later Santa and Mrs. Claus showed up with a huge number of presents for Kagan (6) and Forrest(3) - Mrs. Claus even sang a stegasaurus song as she passed out dinosaurs of various types and sizes to Kagan and Forrest.

Christmas Eve was another delight, spending time with the kids and then having a huge feast at Jenny's folk's house. We opened many gifts that night so that we could reserve Christmas day for the gifts from Santa to Kagan and Forrest, My co-grandmother Donna (aka "Nonna") does crafts, and she makes a lot of fleece clothihng, including one-piece fleece jumpsuits in kid and adult sizes - Kagan, Forrest and their papa Adam received beautilful Red Sox jumpsuits from Nonna, and I got navy blue Red Sox mittens, among other things.

Christmas day started with Adam, Kagan and Forrest all wearing the Red Sox jumpsuits while the boys waited patiently through a scrumptious brunch, and then we enjoyed watching the kids open and play with their gifts from Santa.

Jeff and I had to hit the road around 11:00 am since I'm working tomorrow, and he and his girlfriend have a 6 am flight to New Orleans, where they're doing volunteer reconstruction work for the next 10 days or so.

It's such a joy to have this wonderful family, and to spend time with them!

 

quiet day at home, slept in, opened gifts that our families sent us. no gifts to/from each other this year. no gifts for family, not even able to go and visit this winter.

talked to various family members on the phone- still need to call my sisters. will call some friends tomorrow too and catch up while i have time away from work.

i made a small half-ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed broccoli, and an apple crisp for dessert. this will last us all week. ate a little bit of everything, then we cleaned up dinner. DH is going to go get a movie in a little while.

[sigh] it's too quiet. i really thought we'd make it home for christmas this year.

 

Christmas day woke about 2.30AM and placed gifts for my family around the house. For my son a new monitor for his PC and a steering wheel for the XBox, wife got a iPod nano 8G then I went back to bed.
About 8 got up to a happy family, I got some DVDs but not the camera I wanted so I'll be off to the sales on the 27th December 2007.

Went to a friend's home for brunch where we all ate too many croissants and french toast with strawberries and cream and drank chardonnay or orange juice.
Home for a Nana nap early afternoon then out to my nephew's home for a Christmas barbeque with family. Most of the adults received charity donations from each other, we bought a donkey for an Ethiopian woman and some trees in third world countries, I received gifts to the Animal welfare league, Salvation Army and several other charities. 2 of my sisters gave home made gifts of food to make me fatter than I already am. We gave kids gifts of Lego and music for MP3 players for older kids.
Unfortunately 3 of my brothers(I'm 1 of 8) couldn't make it but with 4 generations of the Sparks family together it was a great night.

 

I got one of those pens that downloads what you write to the computer. Haven't used it yet. My wife also let me open the wheelskins and bumper protector I ordered from the PC store last month!! Yeah!! Sweaters, coat, etc..... very nice time!!

Oh yeah, got my wife a Wii .. man, its a lot of fun!!

 

Wish I could say it was Merry...going through some family troubles and it made things really uncomfortable...sigh.

Anywho, I got some socks, a new sport coat, a personalized t-shirt, and a book from the fam. I gave Kelly a pearl necklace, and she gace me a new set of knives for the kitchen, a "Fart Machine II" (hee hee hee), and pajama bottoms. I've also got a whole lot of gratitude, even though things may seem to be hopeless in some areas, because there is a ton of good in my life right now...

...and hey, it could be worse! (But it isn't...)

 

I got a non-contact thermometer for measuring surface temperatures at a distance - very cool indeed. We are going to spend a few days ice climbing in Canada with our daughter and her fiancée; should be fun.

Just a quick bit of trivia: the majority of Canada's population lives south of us, even though we are in the States.

Tom

 

And she was right, wasn't she. You aren't going to be buying that drum kit now, are you?

I so want a big green egg. Or a Primo oval cooker.
My mother made prime rib in the ol' oven. Mashed potatoes and gravy, steamed cauliflower, green olives, dinner rolls. And home made apple pie for desert.

I brought a bag of potatoes and set the table. Then got out of her way.

Ours was all about the dogs.

My parents' dog Candy got just what Ramses did except her tug was a dog and my brother gave her a squirrel.

Ramses got two cookies from his auntie. He ate one and I saved the other until later. It's so cute. A doggie paw on a pretzel stick like a lollipop, er lollipup. His uncle gave him a furry mallard that quacks. Santa brought him a tennis ball, a new squeaky ball and a wreath made of milk bone biscuits. I gave him a Fat Cat rabbit tug toy and a Fat Cat skunk crackler. He took the squeaky ball to bed. Then I heard him get up and go back in the living room and then return. A few minutes later I heard a soft quack, quack in the dark. Just like a three year old he had to sleep with his favorite toys.

I got some pokers from my sister. Little wooden heads and arms you stick in pumpkins and apples for holiday decorations. She makes them herself. My brother gave me new drill bits for my cordless drill as I've broken most of mine. My parents gave me a labeler, calendar, a spoon hook for pots and a book of dog cartoons. I gave myself my class ring. (MLIS in 2008 from SJSU.)

 

I don't celebrate Christmas. I do gifts at odd times of year when people aren't expecting anything. Since my mother and my sister live far away, and my friends spend the day with family, I usually get a bit bored and a bit lonely on holidays. But this year I had the good fortune to get some letters to translate (volunteer work I do for an extremely small aid organization helping a few Salvadoran kids to get an education) so I had something to keep me busy and pass the day.

 

We've had some merry family times so far, with more to come. Just the four of us stuck together Christmas Day, as is our tradition, and we had a very pleasant and relaxing day. We were at my parent's place today, bringing my daughter's boyfriend to meet them for the first time, and all and sundry were suitably impressed. I had a good visit with my grandmother, as we sat together away from the mayhem of all the kids running around. Tomorrow we're having some out-of-town visitors, apparently (F8L - I think you may know him ) and Friday we're off to the in-laws for more partying. Good thing my New Year's resolution of more exercise starts next week.

 

I got a new Prius. Life is good!