Christmas Bullets

Unfortunately, I have to sum up Christmas in bullets instead of in photos. Apparently someone in my house (someone whose camera needs new batteries, I think) got a hold of my little P-and-S Olympus, and smudged the lens. Wish I had noticed before I took all those pictures Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Oh, and I have to do some serious red-eye removal in any case.

So: Christmas Eve, etc.:

• You would have thought my MIL was feeding 50 people on Christmas Eve. There were twelve of us, eight adults and four kids. We adults did our best (truth be told, the kids didn’t do too badly, either), but we barely put a dent in all that pasta (and more).

• But we did have a very nice time, and some very nice wine.

• I managed to get Kate into bed Christmas Eve by 9 p.m. (with one minor meltdown). Flora I don’t think went to bed until about 10:30 p.m.; I was in bed before midnight (not by much).

• Even though we had to drive to Erie Christmas day, it was still pretty low-key. We slowly opened gifts, Dan & I had coffee (from my belated anniversary gift to Dan, pottery mugs), the kids played. We managed to get everyone together for noon mass, only to drive down to the church to discover there was no noon mass (I’m an awesome Catholic).

• Gray, wet drive to Erie. Completely uneventful, except for the occasional whine from Flora: “Why is it raining?”

• If it had been snowing the way it was raining, we totally would have stayed home.

• Up in Erie, more gift-opening, more food, family, some wine. A late night for the kids, again, with accompanying (and not unexpected) meltdowns, but all-in-all a nice, successful day.

• Saturday was yet another low-key day. We had a big brunch, then Flora, Nonna, Dr. Sis, and I went to the The Princess and the Frog. It was Flora’s first time at a movie theater (which she kept referring to as a ‘theodore’), and she was appropriately awed. We shared some popcorn, cuddled up in the fourth row (Nonna & Dr. Sis had to sit elsewhere) and made it through 90 minutes.

She really liked the movie (she already is asking for it on DVD). After about an hour, she asked a couple of times, in a whisper, “Is this almost over?” She didn’t seem too scared or too upset about anything, and she liked the story. She can even summarize it for you!

I liked the movie, too. A great twist on the typical princess story, plus really fun musical numbers.

• Saturday night, we ordered take out.

• Saturday night, H and I went to Brewerie for a couple of beers, and to get caught up. She is looking well, and her family seems to be doing well. Last year was tough for her and her family. They are taking things one day at a time.

• Sunday was probably the busiest day: Church, brunch with my best friend M, out to visit my grandma, G.G. to the girls. That last was hard. It’s difficult to see the lively woman I knew for so many years so completely erased. I don’t know how my mother and her brother do it.

• Home. The kids were so tired they were practically spinning in place. Dan and I managed to get them bathed and in bed around 7:30 p.m., and I think they were unconscious before 8.

• Two days later, and my house still needs a butt-load of organizing/cleaning. I haven’t unpacked the suitcase (read: laundry) yet. But we’ve another three-day weekend coming up, and we’re not doing anything. (Except dinner at my ILs on New Year’s Day.) (Sorry, Polar Bears. But you all have a good time, now.)

Hope everyone’s was at least as good!