Perhaps my favorite day of the year, Xmas Eve. And a sunny day it was. I was up early enough - about 8am. The sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. After making quick work of my morning exercise regiment I took to the streets with Ykraps in tow. It was hard to believe that it was Xmas time with all the birds singing. There was more than a hint of warmth in the morning air, too.
When I returned, Mindy and I spent a few tranquil minutes on the deck soaking in the warm sunshine, although it was admittedly a little chilly to be outdoors without a jacket. After several coffees I dawned my running clothes and took off on an exciting Xmas Eve run. It was a most pleasant run, too, with tons of sunshine and blue skies. It was nearly 10:30am when I finished. Mindy had already decided to forego church and choir. Instead, Mindy made ham & scrambled eggs for breakfast. By the time I returned, Glenn was awake, too. I poured each of us a mimosa.
After breakfast, I scrawled out another grocery list of a few items we'd need to pull off yet another Xmas gathering with my girls & grandchildren this afternoon. And since it was so nice, I chose to drive the BM'er - top down! It was a lovely drive through Arlington - Cambridge, to Waltham to Tremont, and ultimately to the Chambers road Kroger. My list wasn't long - ice, beer, spaghetti sauce, orange juice and buns. I like grocery shopping on Xmas eve - always have. In fact, I make it a point to get out each year.
Back at home, I iced the beer and cracked open a Celebration Ale, which is very early for me. I poured the spaghetti sauce over the meatballs and turned on the crock pot.. I took to the backyard to snap a couple of photos of the brilliant Xmas Eve weather. We heard from Ashley who was at Grandma Rosemary's. She let us know that they would be coming much earlier than we originally anticipated. They'd be here closer to 2pm instead of 4pm. About the same time, Glenn phoned dad to learn his whereabouts and the timing of Bob's Xmas Eve get together. To his surprise, it was going on as they spoke. We gave Glenn Mindy's mini-van keys so that he could make his way to Bob's for the afternoon.
Next on my agenda was baking some Xmas cookies. And while baking cookies, I browned some sausage for Mindy's breakfast casserole. About halfway through baking the cookies, the kids showed up (Ashley, Olivia, Lindsey, Lil' Rocky).
Lil' Rocky was excited about opening gifts, so we decided to get going with our gift exchange right out of the shoot. Truth be told, we purposefully wrapped all of Lil' Rocky's gifts individually and conversely consolidated many of Olivia's to make it appear that Rocky received so much more. Of course this wasn't the case, but because Lindsey likes to keep score. Rocky was his same old self around his mother. He was out of control and Lindsey demonstrated her lack of good parenting skills. Everyone was on edge. On two different occasions, Lil' Rocky almost crushed Olivia under his feet during a tantrum and bickered with his mother for almost the entire time. Lindsey badgered Ash for the better part of the afternoon also. I felt sad for all of us. The hope I held that the last couple of months might have changed Lindsey some certainly did not pan out.
The kids readied to leave some time after 4pm. Before they left, there mother called to ask them what they wanted for Xmas. She was just leaving for the stores, which closed in less than 2 hours. Are you kidding me??? They also told us that their tree wasn't up all the way either. Whatever - different strokes!
After they left Mindy and I enjoyed a little solace. We took Ykraps for a walk, too. Sometime around 7:10pm Jamaken brought the kids home after celebrating Xmas with his family for the past 24 hours or so. The kids were very excited for Santa's ultimate arrival. They placed the usual cookies and milk on the table just for Santa, and then went up to bed. They were a little tough getting to bed, however, especially Bella. Jacob went to sleep fairly easily, though. As soon as the kids were down, we did the Santa thing. Mindy left all of their gifts hanging in the kitchen out of the view of the balcony until she was certain that they were out cold. In turn, I went down and brought all of Mindy's gifts up.
Just about the time we were putting the finishing touches on the kids piles, Uncle Glenn arrived home after an afternoon and evening at brother Bob's. When we finished we each relaxed with our favorite holiday spirits. Around 10pm we got in the hot tub. After hot tubbing, Mindy found the movie, Miracle on 34th St and put it in the DVD player. Glenn and I hadn't seen it before. It was good, but I fell asleep about 2/3 the way through. Mindy woke me up just after midnight to head upstairs for bed.
Perhaps my favorite day of the year, Xmas Eve. And a sunny day it was. I was up early enough - about 8am. The sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. After making quick work of my morning exercise regiment I took to the streets with Ykraps in tow. It was hard to believe that it was Xmas time with all the birds singing. There was more than a hint of warmth in the morning air, too.
When I returned, Mindy and I spent a few tranquil minutes on the deck soaking in the warm sunshine, although it was admittedly a little chilly to be outdoors without a jacket. After several coffees I dawned my running clothes and took off on an exciting Xmas Eve run. It was a most pleasant run, too, with tons of sunshine and blue skies. It was nearly 10:30am when I finished. Mindy had already decided to forego church and choir. Instead, Mindy made ham & scrambled eggs for breakfast. By the time I returned, Glenn was awake, too. I poured each of us a mimosa.
After breakfast, I scrawled out another grocery list of a few items we'd need to pull off yet another Xmas gathering with my girls & grandchildren this afternoon. And since it was so nice, I chose to drive the BM'er - top down! It was a lovely drive through Arlington - Cambridge, to Waltham to Tremont, and ultimately to the Chambers road Kroger. My list wasn't long - ice, beer, spaghetti sauce, orange juice and buns. I like grocery shopping on Xmas eve - always have. In fact, I make it a point to get out each year.
Back at home, I iced the beer and cracked open a Celebration Ale, which is very early for me. I poured the spaghetti sauce over the meatballs and turned on the crock pot.. I took to the backyard to snap a couple of photos of the brilliant Xmas Eve weather. We heard from Ashley who was at Grandma Rosemary's. She let us know that they would be coming much earlier than we originally anticipated. They'd be here closer to 2pm instead of 4pm. About the same time, Glenn phoned dad to learn his whereabouts and the timing of Bob's Xmas Eve get together. To his surprise, it was going on as they spoke. We gave Glenn Mindy's mini-van keys so that he could make his way to Bob's for the afternoon.
Next on my agenda was baking some Xmas cookies. And while baking cookies, I browned some sausage for Mindy's breakfast casserole. About halfway through baking the cookies, the kids showed up (Ashley, Olivia, Lindsey, Lil' Rocky).
Lil' Rocky was excited about opening gifts, so we decided to get going with our gift exchange right out of the shoot. Truth be told, we purposefully wrapped all of Lil' Rocky's gifts individually and conversely consolidated many of Olivia's to make it appear that Rocky received so much more. Of course this wasn't the case, but because Lindsey likes to keep score. Rocky was his same old self around his mother. He was out of control and Lindsey demonstrated her lack of good parenting skills. Everyone was on edge. On two different occasions, Lil' Rocky almost crushed Olivia under his feet during a tantrum and bickered with his mother for almost the entire time. Lindsey badgered Ash for the better part of the afternoon also. I felt sad for all of us. The hope I held that the last couple of months might have changed Lindsey some certainly did not pan out.
The kids readied to leave some time after 4pm. Before they left, there mother called to ask them what they wanted for Xmas. She was just leaving for the stores, which closed in less than 2 hours. Are you kidding me??? They also told us that their tree wasn't up all the way either. Whatever - different strokes!
After they left Mindy and I enjoyed a little solace. We took Ykraps for a walk, too. Sometime around 7:10pm Jamaken brought the kids home after celebrating Xmas with his family for the past 24 hours or so. The kids were very excited for Santa's ultimate arrival. They placed the usual cookies and milk on the table just for Santa, and then went up to bed. They were a little tough getting to bed, however, especially Bella. Jacob went to sleep fairly easily, though. As soon as the kids were down, we did the Santa thing. Mindy left all of their gifts hanging in the kitchen out of the view of the balcony until she was certain that they were out cold. In turn, I went down and brought all of Mindy's gifts up.
Just about the time we were putting the finishing touches on the kids piles, Uncle Glenn arrived home after an afternoon and evening at brother Bob's. When we finished we each relaxed with our favorite holiday spirits. Around 10pm we got in the hot tub. After hot tubbing, Mindy found the movie, Miracle on 34th St and put it in the DVD player. Glenn and I hadn't seen it before. It was good, but I fell asleep about 2/3 the way through. Mindy woke me up just after midnight to head upstairs for bed.
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