CHRISTMAS IS OVER

but the ghosts of Christmas Past linger.

All in all, it was a good Christmas.  Dudette and I had a relaxing morning, then Dudette started the prep work for dinner.  Though we decided to keep it a bit simple, it still took some work.  There was turkey, stuffing, gravy, green beans, mashed potato's, and crescent rolls.  For desert (and snacks), she made almond sugar cookies.

There was also a bizarre attempt at making a nut roll.  That one deserves its own post.  Yeah, I got some pictures for it too.

Over the course of the day, we received, and made, calls to various relatives.  Cop Car and HH made the first phone appearance.  My oldest sister called shortly after that.  Then I called my youngest sister, and followed that with my middle sister.  Before the phone lines had a chance to settle down, Bogie rang in.  I think I chatted with more relatives in less than 6 hours, than I did in the previous 6 months.  I'm OK with that.

After all the phone "tag", CK and Chew called to announce their pending arrival.  Once they got in, we all hung around the kitchen for a bit, chatting and working on some more of the food prep.  Feeling comfy that the food was well on its way and safe, we retired to the living room to open presents.

Of the presents, the four of us had the most fun opening up the boxes sent by Bogie.  Bogie must have had a good year canning, she graced all of us with an array of goodies.  The salsa and apple butter will most likely be the first to go in both households (right after all the paper and packing peanuts...but hey, the goodies had to be protected somehow...and they all survived the trip...KEWL!).

And speaking of fun with presents, there is an on-going battle between Dudette and CK with presents.  This year, I think CK got the upper hand.  She not only wrapped Dudette's present in several layers of paper, but each layer was TOTALLY encased in clear box tape.  Dudette had to cut her way through each layer.  And the reward at the end.........

about 9 pair of decorative socks.  Themed with panda's, cats, butterflies, you name it.  And every pair loved and appreciated by Dudette (yeah, I know...she's weird...but what can I do?  right.).

By dinner time, with the stoves running and food being moved in and out, the company, and the hustling around, it was darn right toasty in the house.  So before we sat down, I flipped the AC on, just to take the top off the heat.  After a bit, we noticed it wasn't getting any cooler in the house so I checked the thermostat...still hot (like 80).  Got to checking it out really quickly, and...the heat pump had died (this is where the chains rattle and the Ghosts of Christmas show up).

Since I wasn't going to let the Ghost of Chrismas Present jack things up, I turned him into "Past" by putting off the issue till today.  Since the HP wasn't going to work, I did the next best thing...I opened some windows.  Cooled right off.

We finished the meal, the desert, the cleaning up, getting leftovers parceled out, then everyone headed out (or turned in, depending on which side of the door you were on).

My job in the morning, (this will be another post) fix the Heat Pump.

Good times were had.

Celebrations happen.

Comments

[Bogie]

Glad everything made it there in one piece.

Good luck fixing the heat pump - hey, you needed something to do while you are off work, right?

[Martie .]

Oh it sounds like you had a perfect Christmas! We had a good one too - and yesterday and today Mother Nature have us the present of warmth. 60 degrees!!