Christmas Day - I win the prize for "Different"

(Posted on December 29, 2010)

Christmas Day 2010

Our Christmas Day couldn't have been more different. Usually we pack up and travel to my sister's house in Northern Virginia for a magnificent meal, wonderful decorations, time by her beautiful fire place with family and all in the peaceful setting of rural Virginia.

Not this year! Mom and I weren't leaving our house. We were gone so long in December that our need to just stay put was overwhelming.

Our day began with a pancake and bacon breakfast. I made Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes from the book: The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl, by Ree Drummond. Her story is a fascinating one: a city girl who marries a "cowboy", moves to the country and becomes, well, a Pioneer Woman. She has an award winning blog that can be found at: http://thepioneerwoman.com/. Her blog show cases the breathtaking photos of her life, her family, her land, the horses and pets, the ranch hands, just anything that catches her eye. Many of those photos are works of art. She documents her life on a ranch and has an extensive offering of tasty and stick-to-your-bones recipes complete with pictures and personal commentary. She cooks great! The recipe book is an outgrowth of her blog. Even if you don't like to cook (and I don't) you will enjoy her blog on many levels.

After breakfast we lounged around the house in our PJs digesting our hearty breakfast. Our pull out couch was filled with people and dogs all morning. We ate and drank whatever we wanted (although Cheez-Its were a favorite snack). At 11:00 am I decided to rest for a short time, with my pillow on the floor and a blanket, and at some point I woke up. One of those unpredictable naps again.

Around noon my daughter decided to put her new Dyson vacuum together and test it out on my floors. Now this is my idea of the perfect Christmas. Someone vacuuming my house voluntarily without payment. (Please don't pay attention to how full the Dyson vacuum canister is - there was no time for cleaning, so my house was dirty as well as unprepared.)

At 1:30 pm, we packed up and made ourselves presentable. The bed was folded up. At 2:30 pm my son and his girl friend headed for her parents house for Christmas dinner. Matt's dogs stayed with us.

We never had a Christmas morning like that. It was grand. I could get used to that.

Then it got a bit crazy.

Around 4: 30 pm my sister arrived and she was not by herself. She had her husband, her two daughters, their new lab puppy, Morgan and an Italian Greyhound called Fig - my niece was dog-sitting Fig for a friend for the holiday.

So, if anyone is keeping count, we had 5 dogs. Milo and Morgan were playing hard. Meathead and Grimace were trying to stay involved but really not able to keep up - they haven't been puppies for a long, long time!!

And Fig? Well Fig (as you can see from the picture) didn't really care to get involved. The 4 boys tried to involve her, but it usually resulted in barking and snarling from Fig. She was happy to sit with my niece in her holiday outfit.

And before you get too involved in what she is wearing, it is only a partial outfit. Under her Santa jacket she is wearing a pink undershirt. Fig had matching leg warmers and booties - not shown. Apparently she has many outfits and needs them because (if you didn't notice) she is extremely thin - normal for her breed I am sure, but no body fat and little hair, and as a result, gets cold really easy. She seemed like a pretty nice dog. I felt a bit sorry for her - strange people, strange dogs, strange houses. Whatever could she be thinking. But my niece took really good care of her and Fig stuck pretty close to my niece.

Needless to say, after about an hour of dog mayhem, we isolated a few in the kitchen with me. Once 2 were separated from the group, relative peace ensued. Finally people could visit and exchange presents. It was almost normal for about an hour. :-)

At 6:30 pm my sister and her entourage departed - onward to visit my brother-in-law's family. We had our meal from Harris Teeter - Prime Rib, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and cornbread stuffing. I added a tossed salad, some spinach and rolls. It was pretty good. We did find the Prime Rib fatty. We aren't used to high fat foods. But the big advantage was that I didn't cook - just reheated.

Christmas Day ended with me taking Meathead and Grimace home around 10:30 pm. And then when I got home into bed for me for another full night's sleep.

So that was my Christmas Day - 2010.

The whole month was an Out-of-Body experience - to be honest. I enjoyed the last few days, but the rest of the month - well, I am very glad to be past it.

Onward ... welcome 2011.