Ah, Christmas! Today Molli and Adrian go back to their home south of the border. This means all 5 of us will drive to Atlanta and say goodbye. I am tired and sore from trying to keep everybody well fed and  happy. But I feel proud and happy that I did a pretty good job.

Yesterday morning I was awake for awhile before anyone else got up. Ray was first, then my Dad showed up. Amelia got up about then (8 o'clock?) and Molli and Adrian followed. I had started getting ready to make scrambled eggs, the traditional Christmas breakfast for us. Amelia claims she has magically received the ability to make good scrambled eggs since my Mom died. As it happened, we didn't have any milk, so had to make them with half and half. And our eggs are cage free, with big yellow yolks. I cut the banana bread Molli made Friday and the babka Amelia had bought us in Durham and started setting the table. My Dad brought some coffee for himself from his house. He had checked, but the coffee shop Molli and Adrian like was closed. This entailed Amelia making coffee with boiling water, a paper towel and a strainer--and coffee Molli gave her grandfather from Mexico.

We sat around the tree and took down our stockings and unpacked them. Some were pretty slim, in spite of my sisters' and our efforts. One of the many things my Mom did was buy stocking stuffers. But also we are mostly trying to be healthier--no chocolates in any stockings. Ray seemed to have plenty of fun and interesting things, perhaps mostly cleaning tools from Green Actioin.

Because of our late night and late start, we had to postpone unwrapping the rest of the presents. After stockings and breakfast, Ray had to shower and go to the Fellowship. Because Christmast fell on a Sunday, there was a regular service at 11:00 and he was scheduled to run the sound system for it--fourth Sunday. The rest of us  gradually started working on pies for Christmas dinner, getting ourselves bathed and dressed, and picking up a small part of the mess. Slowly, through the day, I peeled and cut up 2 pounds of butternut squash, 2 medium ones and 3 small ones we had grown ourselves. Molli worked on the potatoes and mixed up the Yorkshire pudding batter.


It was a cold and rainy day; if it had been much colder, it would have snowed. Except for a brief walk out to the mailbox in the morning with Molli, I didn't venture out at all. My Dad made a great fire in the wood stove while Ray was at church and then the oven began to warm the house as well.

Kevin came over and Ray came back and we unwrapped our presents, quite satisfactorily but a little sadly. We had not wanted to be profligate and consumerist and it was hard not to have my Mom there. She enjoyed unwrapping things slowly and always had some left when everyone else was done.

Amelia went with Kevin to his house for dinner and gifts. Molli and I continued our work, with Ray in there doing dishes from time to time. We ate wonderful leftovers--fish and pasta and green beans. My Dad eventually disappeared into Molli and Adrian's room, taking his nap, I guess.

Molli peeled and cut up and cooked turnips for me and we got the roast beef in. The potatoes were boiled and then added to the oven. I mixed butter and brown sugar into the squash and mashed it, eschewing the food processor to save Ray from having to wash it. We set the table. Amelia came back and we started ont the finishing touches--the Yorkshire pudding, reheating turnips and squash, slicing the meat, which was rare enough for those who like it that way (Captain, Adrian, and me). The squash texture could have benefited from processing--I remembered, too late, the immersion blender I have. That would have been perfect. The Yorshire puddings were amazingly wonderful. I'm still not a fan of turnips. The wine was delicous--a St-Emilion that was a present from me to Captain, which I got to enjoy as well. The meal was very good, but it seemed something was lacking--my mother's presence of course, but something else, maybe a dish we forgot to make? I decided I preferred the variety and interest of the Christmas Eve menu, so this was somewhat anti-climactic.

Sometime during the day I tried out my favorite present--from Ray, a wirelelss keyboard for my iPad. I got it to work, but am not sure how much I will use it. I would need to sit somewhere with a good chair and table--and where would I put the screen? However, I am excited to try and figure out if it can help me write more frequently.

Amelia had made me a red flannel nightgown with piped trim--and pj pants for my Dad and Molli of the same material. For Ray, pj shorts with dinosaurs! Red shorts for Adrian, too. I put mine on over my clothes for a while, until it got too warm and I was in full cooking mode. She had also given my Dad a certificate for 2 hours of cleaning at his house. Esepcially considering how much she dislikes cleaning, it was a very generous gift.

We evenutally got things cleared  enough that we could play a couple hands of cancellation hearts, something of a challenge with Adrian. Six people isn't quite enough for cancellation, but too many for regular hearts...we had a lot of cards to keep up wtih.

Kevin arrived and we all had pie and whipped cream. Molli started putting Frangelico in the whipped cream Christmas Eve and it was really good. Amelia had bought it to put in hot chocolate for Kevin, which they also had. The pumpkin pie was good, but I loved the pecan pie. Out of this world. I think the fresh pecans make a lot of difference. I could eat that all day. No wonder I have ganed more than 5 pounds this last week!

We played Buzzerwizzer, a trivia game Kevin had given us. We had played it with him at Thanksgiving. In addition to knowing the answers to a lot of questions, there is a strategy to swapping categories with other players and "buzzing in" to answer someone else's question when they miss it.
It was pretty fun. Molli had to translate the questions for Adrian. What is the name of the city once known as Byzantium? Their answer: Constantinople, which is what I would have said. But it's now called Istanbul, of course.

Since before dinner, I had been so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. The pile of squash seemed endless and I could hardly make the peeler work. I am sure everything took me longer to do. Amelia had even less sleep than I did, due to making red flannel pjs for everyone all night. She was afraid I would get up before she went to bed! My Dad went home to his house and Kevin gradually left. Molli and I threatened to watch a movie, but I fell asleep waiting for her, so we gave up and I went to bed. I didn't even wear my mask--too complicated for my brain...

And then I woke up at 4:30--go figure. A perfect time to get some sleep, but no...I was having an ominous dream and woke up feeling keyed up. Responsibilities coming up.