Christmas Eve, 2007

Hola!

Whew! It's been a whirlwind since dondelion arrived on Wednesday. Yesterday was the first day of virtually no activity because the weather turned very nasty - high winds, very cold, and sharp blowing snow for 24 hours. I made a big breakfast for us in the morning, including some "country style" bacon - a gift from friend P - THANKS P! - it was truly delicious, never had any bacon quite like it. The taste was extremely decadent - rich and smoky and sweet.

Later we settled in the living room before the fireplace to watch the Packers v. Bears game. The house was drafty and coldish because of the strong winds outside rattling the timbers, and the fireplace warmed things up nicely, but we turned the game off shortly into the third quarter. Don took this photo of the Christmas tree from the overlook upstairs during half-time.

We lucked out - our area received only a few inches of snow which Don promptly dispatched with the shovel this morning. The wind was still up a bit but it was not snowing and so we ventured out shortly after 10 a.m. Unfortunately, the Woolrich gloves I'd picked out for Don did not fit - so we took the opportunity to travel to the Mall where I hoped to exchange them for a larger size. However, the largest size the store had in stock did not fit Don's hands! As he nearly had a stroke when he found out how much I'd paid for them (okay, so I'm extragavant sometimes), he insisted I get a refund, which we used to buy lunch at Olive Garden.

Unlike last Christmas Eve Day, this year there were LOTS of people out and about. The Mall was crowded with shoppers; Half Price Books was busy and, as per usual with Mr. Don, he got into an interesting conversation (about coinage) with a shopper who happened to wander from one aisle over (antiques, collecting, and coins) into the aisle we were browsing in (ancient art and architecture).

When the growling in my stomach could no longer be denied and my legs were tired from trudging around in my new shoe-boots (what can I say - they're heavy), we headed to Olive Garden for a nice, relaxing lunch. The restaurant was busy too, but not overly so. We got seated right away. We arrived home at 3 p.m. and settled in for the evening.

I've got a pot-roast with vegetables in the slow-cooker for a late supper. Later we'll take a walk around the neighborhood and admire all of the neighbors' decorations now that it's dark out. We're going to watch a movie or two until midnight, when we'll open our gifts. I think I'll sneak "A Christmas Carol" in the movie mix :)

Happy Christmas to all. Thank you so much for making this blog a smashing success!