Well, it’s over. Seems like it was only yesterday that I was busy preparing for all the Christmas activities and now it’s come and gone…and I’m exhausted and ready for relaxing for the next few days.

On Saturday Patrick and I went shopping for Veronica’s gift (he got her a new laptop!) and I went to Albertson’s and Ralph’s to pick up all the Christmas food. I had already picked up a ham from the Honeybaked store on Friday, but still had to get all the snackie stuff for Christmas Eve and a prime rib for Christmas Day. Decided on the prime rib after mulling over numerous choices including a ‘turducken’ that Patrick and Veronica tried to order but found the cost prohibitive at the last minute. Hours later I finally had everything put away and the kitchen in relatively good order with the fridge overflowing with food and drink.

On Sunday I went to the cemetery with Patrick to visit Mike. We took a really nice wreath that I decorated with a beautiful gold bow and some small gold poinsettias. Also took a live red poinsettia. Forest Lawn was it’s usual gaudy self with miniature Christmas trees, tinsel and a balloon or two. It’s not as bad as it used to be since they’ve put up signs regarding sizes and types of decorations, but I still don’t understand why people bring some of the outrageous kinds decorations to a cemetery. If you’ve never been, it is certainly an experience to see!

Spent the rest of Sunday at home shampooing carpets and furniture, doing laundry and generally getting the house in order. I thought I had plenty of time for doing some baking and gift wrapping, but all of a sudden it was 10 pm and I was still cleaning! Oh well, at least I felt confident the house was in good shape for guests and there would be no lingering pet odors. I fell into bed around 1 am, exhausted.

Had planned to get up early on Christmas Eve, but didn’t make it up until 8:30-9:00 am. Started in on the cookie baking and organizing the kitchen for the evening gathering. Also managed to do some last minute cleaning of the bathroom and gave Murphy a bath so that he smelled nice when he jumped into the laps of all the visitors! Vanessa and Rick arrived early in the afternoon, dropped off Vanessa’s dog, Pixel, and headed to the hospital to visit with her mom before returning for the party. And then, all of a sudden, it seemed the house was full of people! We had a great Christmas Eve gathering with 8-10 friends showing up on and off throughout the night. The ham and all the assorted side dishes and snacks were delicious (thanks for the yummy cheese ball, Amanda!) and we ate (and drank) our way into night, chatting and dancing to Christmas music.

Christmas morning was quiet with Vanessa, Rick and myself rising late and enjoying coffee and cinnamon rolls before opening our gifts to one another. The day itself was absolutely beautiful–the sun was shining brightly and the temps were in the 70’s. I opened all the doors and windows as I picked up the residue from the night before. Started the prime rib roasting in the oven and prayed it would turn out ok since I had never roasted one before. Vanessa and Rick left to have dinner with her dad and Patrick and Veronica arrived in the early afternoon. We opened gifts (more about that later) as we waited for dinner to finish cooking.

Dinner turned out great! The prime rib was delicious and all the side dishes (salad, roasted red skin potatoes, and green bean casserole) made for just the right amount of food. The fresh thyme (from my garden!) and red wine au jus was the perfect sauce for the prime rib that was very, very tender and juicy. Even the dogs enjoyed munching on the big rib bones after dinner–something they haven’t been able to do in the past when we had turkey. Now that I know what I’m doing with the roast, I think prime rib might become a regular on the Christmas table.

My gifts from everyone were wonderful this year! Kevin and Soula got me a Nintendo DS (hand-held gaming system) with the Animal Crossing Wild World game! I spent a few hours last night setting up the game and learning how all the moves work using the stylus pen on the touch screen. Probably stayed up too late, but what did it matter since I knew I wouldn’t have to get up for work this morning! Patrick and Veronica gave me a beautiful Christmas centerpiece filled with red roses, carnations and greenery, a t-shirt that says Pasadena on the front and two books showing old pictures of Pasadena in the early days. The books were ‘bookmarked’ with gift cards from Kohl’s, Bath and Body Works and Starbucks! Yay! Thought about going shopping today, but have pretty much decided to wait until tomorrow when I would guess the crowds of people returning gifts are a bit less than today. Vanessa and Rick got me a cone-shaped Dirt Devil hand vacuum that is perfect for those little spills that don’t warrant getting out the big vacuum cleaner. It doesn’t look at all like a vacuum, meaning you can keep it plugged in and sitting in a corner where it is readily accessible for those little cleanups. Thanks to everyone for coming up with such great gifts!

The final (and best) gift I received was the video of Robin that Soula made with their new video camera. He is jabbering away and looks absolutely adorable! I can’t believe how much he has grown and changed since I saw him in September. I’m going to be spending some time online over the next few days trying to arrange my next trip up to Seattle. I can’t wait to see him again! If you’d like to view the video, go to the link for Soula’s website on the left of this page. He is such a cutie!

So that was Christmas. All in all, it was quite wonderful but I’m glad it’s mostly over. I don’t have to go back to work until January 2nd and I’m grateful for that. It’s nice knowing that I have very little that I ‘have’ to do over the next few days. Right now I’m going to relax, enjoy the beautiful weather, and maybe play a little bit of Animal Crossing! Hope everyone had as wonderful of a Christmas as I did. Happy holidays to all…and to all some good rest now that it’s over!!!