On Christmas Eve I finished making the goodies to go in my goodie baskets, assembled all 12 of the baskets, and then delivered 7 of them to my neighbors. They were all delighted to get them! The other 5 were earmarked for family and friends.
The goodie baskets included chocolate covered pretzels dredged in nuts and rainbow dots, 5 different kinds of chocolate bark, cocoanut cheese cake squares, red and green M&Ms or Hershey's kisses. Some of the baskets also included a box of 3 hand painted glass ornaments. I had a great time making the goodies and assembling and decorating the baskets with artificial poinsettias and spray painted pine cones.
Then Joe & I went to his sister Mary's house to meet up with the other family members. Christmas Eve is also Joe's mother's birthday so we always have a birthday party for her. We had a honey baked ham, potato salad, pesto dip, sun dried tomato dip, corn casserole, rolls, and tons of cookies, brownies, and other baked goods. It was practically vulgar, but delicious. It was a lot of fun.
For her birthday Joe & I gave his mother a pair of earrings, pendant, and ring (matching set) with beautiful purple stones on them. She loves jewelry and wears lots of it, depending on her outfit. She often 'matches' her jewelry to the color of her outfit. She loved the set, which made Joe happy since he'd picked it out.
We visited with all of the family and then went home around midnight.
On Christmas morning Joe & I had Christmas breakfast together. He made 'yule log waffles', which consisted of waffle batter sprinkled with left over pieces of the bark I'd made the day before. They tasted great! We also had hash browns, sausage, bacon, biscuits, orange juice, and coffee. After cleaning up the breakfast mess, we just relaxed on the sofa in our pajamas and watched TV, with Jordan the dog and Pouncer the Wondercat next to us. It was divinely relaxing.
Later we showered, got dressed, and loaded the Christmas gifts into the back of the Suburban. Unfortunately it was raining, so I had to hold an umbrella with one hand and 1 or 2 gifts in the other, making what felt like 101 trips until everything was in the truck. Then we picked up my aunt Mary.
Once at Joe's sister Mary's house again, we hung out for a little while until dinner was ready, then after saying grace we all loaded up our plates. Two days before Joe had gone to Mary's and had helped her make homemade ravioli and gnochi, so for Christmas dinner we had both of those plus stuffed shells, homemade meatballs and sausage in tomato sauce. (Can you tell his family is Italian?) It was all super delicious!
After dinner we had the family gift exchange. Since everyone knew we were moving soon, they wisely gave us gift cards! Those will be very convenient when we move into our new house, and we don't have to pack them. Everyone liked the gifts we had picked out for them, which was validating. Anna played a few Christmas carols on the piano and David played a few on his cello. Not quite as Normal Rockwell as it sounds. It was another wonderful Christmas.
Drag Queen name of the day: Jenny Fur
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