Christmas Aftermath.....

What a very relaxing Christmas. Oh, I admit I tore around for no reason on Christmas Day, but it was my only evidence of holiday idiocy.

Allen and I spent Christmas Eve together. I was supposed to pick him up after afternoon Mass and bring him over for dinner. We'd planned Christmas movies. He had a little health scare this week, and we did it in reverse, with me bringing the meal to his villa and us enjoying it, a little Christmas Eve TV and then home.

I did a big appetizer/dessert brunch for the kids for Christmas Day around 5... by this time they'd eaten at other places, so we all grazed, laughed and sat around for 5-6 hours. I had about 13 different dishes (and ran out of time to make one). Lesson learned. I need about 6. Everybody was decompressing, we had a great gift exchange, the evening did not revert into fast paced zingers between the kids like it has in prior years (not bad-hearted, just a show of their crazy one upsmanship). No, they were mellow. I may try to get them every year at that time. I used my concert DVD of Stevie Wonder in London and some iced Bailey's to round out the night.

Yesterday was devoted to reading, a couple of errands, drinks with friends, cleaning up what must have been every dish in my house. Today, football, phone calls... never did get to the movies, odd for me.

I enjoyed everyone's Christmas posts, from Debby's family figuring out how to combat airline terrorism, to the weather disturbances with my family in Minnesota, and the disastrous rain Kelly had in Arkansas. That was all saved by the fact that Pam got her snow on Christmas! Yay! Many friends had great grandchildren and grandpets experiences... I missed that; maybe sometime in future years. Gage has gone to a new home, and the dog issues in my house are probably over. Only one granddog left. Sigh.

Got to talk my friend B through his experience of working Christmas Eve at a firehouse...thinking about all of those who work to keep us going during the holidays; the police, the fire crews, hospitals, even those poor kids checking groceries and serving McDonalds coffee on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, our main shopping drag, Dale Mabry Ave, was almost spooky, with everything shuttered up except the Starbucks. Go figure.

Can't believe the crisis again in Iran, and how little coverage it is getting here. Those brave people are dying.

The week of work stretches to the New Year, and I haven't any plans, a couple of invitations, but I'm in a lazy mood and gearing up for the Chick-Fil-A, Cap One, Gator, Rose,Sugar and Fiesta in the week thereafter.