The day after...sigh...I apologize in advance for being whiny and ungrateful. This is probably traditional with me...I have such high expectations that I am often let down at Christmas and birthdays.

Yesterday morning it was after 7 before people started getting up--maybe the latest Christmas morning ever. It was so rainy and dark that it was good for sleeping. Eventually we were all up but Ray. We had to send Molli up to get him, after Amelia tried unsuccessfully calling the house phone in hopes that would do it! Our stockings were very full and lots of fun--including many varieties of chocolate and other sweets--candied pecans were yummy and some hard candy from Spain, Solo Miel--Only Honey--that was delicious and great for a cough. I also got bobby pins and ponytail holders (from hubby) and a giant clip and bun former (from my Mom). The clip works very well, but is not really the look I was going for. Maybe I need a book on how to put your hair up. That seems kind of sad though. Shouldn't my Mom or my sisters or my girlfriends teach me how? Perhaps I lost out by having it short for so long.

We had the traditional breakfast of scrambled eggs and coffee cake, as well as juice, on our Christmas plates and Christmas tablecloth. My father seemed to delight in prolonging the discussion, while we were anxious to get to the presents. The pile seemed smaller this year. Perhaps there were as many presents, just not big ones. And of course, we keep saying we don't want so many presents--maybe we finally listened to each other. My Dad said he was embarrassed by so many presents, but we know that he doesn't like to feel neglected either. Every year, pretty much, my Mom is the last one to have things left to open. I don't think she got more than anyone else, she is just good at making it last. The black velvet skirt I got her appears to fit, so that is good. I am not sure she loves it--she doesn't like the way her stomach looks. I told her we would fix that with the right top. My family--Ray, Amelia, Molli--got together to buy me an iPhone! So I had not much else to open. The iPhone is actually coming in two weeks. It's not very romantic, but my contract is eligible for an upgrade then, so it will save about $200. They hated not to give it to me now, but it makes sense.

I got one of the books I had asked for--Healthy Breads in five Minutes a Day--but when I read the beginning later in the day, I was disappointed. I should have done more research. The method avoids kneading, which I really don't mind. That's part of making bread. And it requires an ingredient called Active Gluten (or something like that). I might be able to find it somewhere, but that is not how I want to make bread. sigh. And I got no new clothes to try on or show off--not even socks or a hat. I got one new book--from my Mom--a Friday Night Knitting Club book, and I read several chapters of that in the afternoon. But no new games!

Of course, somewhere along the line, the joy of Christmas shifted from getting everything I wanted to watching people appreciate what I got them. Ray set up his firewood rack--on the front porch! Not what I had in mind, but if that is what he wants to do...since Molli's big present was half of her plane ticket here, there was not much for her to open from me. But she did get lots of presents. We all agreed that she is easy to shop for and therefore we buy her too many presents. Meanwhile, Amelia is difficult, so she didn't get as much. She did get some great crafting supplies from my sisters, which she seemed to like. I got some whisks I had hinted about--from my Dad! Being the live-in daughter, I had some ideas about presents for my parents that I passed along. So I got some pleasure out of their enjoying them--without even buying anything!

Then, the house was a mess and there was cooking to do. My Mom rolled out the crust and I put a pecan pie in the oven. Sadly, I somehow failed to notice that we had no canned pumpkin in the pantry--it seems like we always have it! So, one pie.
The girls went off to the O'Rileys to give and receive presents. Kevin's mother is much more generous than I. I bought Kevin a book. She bought Amelia about a dozen things. However, we have talked about this for years and are used to it. Amelia would actually rather Gloria not buy her so much stuff, but it apparently makes Gloria happy. Even Molli gets presents from their family every year. While they were gone, the four of us played our traditional game of Oh Hell and enjoyed it very much. We knew we should be working on dinner, but oh well...Eventually the roast got in the oven, I peeled and cooked the squash, the girls came home and worked on potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, and Yorkshire pudding. We ate some humus and shrimp from the day before. I think we will be throwing out a couple raw oysters--I don't think they keep long. We always have an interesting time preparing Amelia's dinner (she is a vegetarian) separately from ours. Our potatoes roast in the beef juice--hers cook separately. Our Yorkshire puddings (popovers) cook in beef drippings, hers in butter. It was delicious, especially the beef (from Kroger), along with a really good red wine from France. sigh of pleasure. Then we were too full to clean up. Eventually we got to some of it, but there is still some picking up to do today.

Amelia Molli and Vanessa worked on the jigsaw puzzle. Captain and I read some. I think Ray was on the computer some of the time. When I started to feel I could possibly eat again, I whipped the cream and served up pie. Captain had a roast beef sandwich instead. Yum!

We all took turns talking to Adrian on the phone--I got to throw in some Spanish, but most of us helped him by listening to his slow deliberate English. He is alone in their apartment in Mexico, although he had the family over Christmas Eve. We look forward to when he will finally join us for holidays and family gatherings, but I don't know when that will be. Maybe in two years?

The girls reluctantly joined us in watching a movie. I know I used to feel the same way--we should be doing something more sociable. But I like to have them with me at the end of the day and I am too tired for anything very strenuous. Also I knit a good bit on Ray's vest, a Christmas present he doesn't even know he has yet. Sigh of contentment. I am still not getting enough sleep, probably because I don't want to miss any time with them. Although heaven knows, they will not be up for hours, I am still too excited to sleep in.