Yesterday morning, we had a private pilates class. Ray was supposed to come, but he didn't want to get up. His cold was bothering him. Molli and Adrian helped my Dad load the television and the dresser on the truck and then we rushed off to class. It was great, really fun to have us all there together (missing Ray), and a good workout.

We went to the duplex where my parents will be living to move the dresser and TV in. Amelia unpacked the dishes. It is clean and nice, although small. I don't know what they will do all day every day.

At 11, Molli and Amelia and Adrian met Kasey at Waffle House. It was her birthday.

I went home and read my garden books, planning the layout for next year's vegetable garden. I made some muffins and froze them for tomorrow. I took a bath and ate some lunch. Amelia was packing unhappily. She had too much to take with her and I will send a couple boxes for her.

I made a reservation for 4:15, but we changed it to a little later. Adrian wanted to see something of Atlanta and we visited a fabric store that Amelia was interested in.

We had a wonderful dinner at Bistro Niko--Adam joined us. We ate and drank so many good things. Amelia and Ray finally left for the airport. Molli and Adrian went with Adam. And I drove Mom and Dad home. I watched a little TV while I was waiting for them. Molli called to say they were on their way back--and Amelia was with them; she had missed her flight! I feel bad that I didn't allow enough time for them to have a leisurely dinner and still get to the airport in plenty of time. She was very upset.

She is on standby for a 9:00 flight this morning, so they have already left. Hopefully, she will make it and really, no harm done.

sigh. Woke up at 4:15. Started thinking about my ex-job and the young woman who terminated it. Wondering what it was really about. Did I remind her of her mother? As far as I know, she did not hate her mother. Wondering if she feels bad about it. Anyway, stomach in a knot, no more sleeping today. Time to get up and try to distract myself.

Yesterday the girls got up and went running. So it was almost noon by the time we left. They wanted to go to Macy's. Adrian cannot buy clothes in Mexico--he is too tall! So, he bought lots here, on sale. I even bought a couple things myself--a new suit, in case I ever have an interview. And a red dress, the kind of special holiday dress I was looking for but didn't find. And a couple shirts for Ray, for $10 and $15. Molli bought a few things too and Amelia bought a present for Kasey. It was astonishing to find it was almost 4:00 when we went home for lunch.

Amelia made a lovely salad for potluck, with pears and walnuts. We were a few minutes late and there was only one other family there--Kay and Stu. They had brought cole slaw, which is what they usually bring. So after we ate with them, we went to Agua Linda (Adrian had requested it) and had some burritos. He enjoyed it.

They went to a party at O'Rileys', and I haven't heard from them since. Ray and I watched a little TV, but I was asleep most of the time.

By the time Molli got up yesterday and ate breakfast (bacon and eggs), my Dad had Adrian loading furniture on the truck and they drove to their new apartment to unload. Ray and Amelia and I took a walk (still some snow on the ground). We all got dressed and it was time to go out to lunch. After lunch, thrift shopping for a few hours and there goes the day! Leftovers for supper and more TV.

It was cold enough yesterday that there is still some snow on the ground--most likely, the crunchy kind. It was windy, too, and we tried to stay bundled up. I could still see it in the moonlight when I woke up. Fortunately, it was sunny and warm in the house, although we did have a fire in the stove most of the day, and ran the heat in the morning.

Molli and Adrian didn't have breakfast until about 9. Then we had the usual big group problem, trying to decide who is doing what when. They were excited to go shopping and buy clothes and spend the money they brought for the purpose. But there was also talk of a long walk. In the end, Molli, Adrian, Amelia and I left the house about 11 and headed to Goodwill. Molli and Adrian bought a lot of things there: jeans, sweaters, shirts. I bought one sweater for my Mom too. Amelia found a copy of Martha Stewart's first book, Entertaining. It is a classic we had admired at Janna's, with menus for parties of different sizes, and recipes. We came home about 2, had a quick lunch, and headed to Beechwood. We picked up Janna and her sister (yes, that made 6 in the car for a few blocks), took Dani to Janna's house, then went to Suska in Five Points. Unfortunately, they were closed! Then back to Beechwood to T. J. Maxx. Molli tried on many things (Adrian and I tried on a few too). Ron came and got Janna. We stood in line to buy things.

Then we went to Ann Taylor Loft. Since they only sell women's things, I offered to go next door to Jos. A Banks with him. Fortunately, Taylor (whom we met on Christmas Day at Janna's) was working there. He was very helpful and speaks some Spanish, but the language barrier was something of a problem. Adrian was looking for shirts that you would wear with cufflinks (French cuffs). It is hard for him to buy things in Mexico, because he is taller than most there. And he wears a lot of dress shirts. There was pretty much only one style in his size and he tried it on, but it was too big in the body, not tailored enough. They would have had to special order it in any color but blue. He did buy a tuxedo shirt, though, it was a little more fitted. Molli finally came looking for  us to see how it was going, and he didn't want her to leave! Meanwhile, Molli had a million things to try on and show at Ann Taylor. They all looked great and everything was 50% off. Wow! It got dark out and I began to think we would never get home.

Fortunately, Ray had started the roast on the grill when we got there at 6:45. Molli made delicious mashed potatoes and we had garden broccoli. I just sat and vegged. My parents went to bed pretty soon after supper and we watched some TV in the study--only seats for 3 or 4, so a little crowded. but fun.

I woke up with a sore throat. It feels like there is a tennis ball wedged into the back of my throat! Time to call the doctor. Well, in a couple hours. I slept pretty well until then, for 6 or 7 hours.

Yesterday morning, the ground was white. Everyone was asleep. I needed eggs to make pancakes (for 7). Used up 9 the day before on scrambled eggs for this crew. No stores open to restock on Christmas day. No Christmas miracle eggs from my beautiful, non-laying chickens. Too early to call the neighbors. E-mail to the rescue. I sent out a query to the neighborhood. The phone rang and O.C. said, "we have some from our daughter you can have, if you want to walk out in the snow." "I'll be there in 30 minutes." I bundled up and as the sky became lighter I realized it was snowing again. Took the dog and a bag and walked through the beautiful big soft flakes, only an inch or two on the ground, so walking was not a problem. Picked up the newspaper and went on down the road to their house. No one out. No sounds (until their neighbor's dog started barking at us). Rabbit tracks across the road in two places, one already getting covered up, one very recent. They invited me to sit with them for a minute, but I wanted to get cooking. Trudged back without my faithful companion. Turned out he was already home.

Made and enjoyed pancakes with maple syrup. My Mom made the bacon. Amelia made hers in a separate pan (no bacon fat). They were good. Everybody else went out to play in the snow at some point. Ray was waiting to hear if services at UUFA were canceled, and they finally called about 9. Adrian especially enjoyed the snow and stayed out the longest. Of course, we had to try to dig up enough warm clothes and boots; we don't use them often enough. I stayed in, having already had my snow time.

We made sure we had all the bread and cookies out of the freezers and thought about what to do first. I took my bath. We cleaned and tidied, put on a few more ornaments. Started the hot mulled wine, got up the punch bowl, got out cups and sliver trays. Cut up canteloupe, got out toothpicks. Amelia ironed the tablecloth, arranged the furniture and made the open-faced sandwiches. Would anyone show up? A few people did not come, but most of our favorites were there. Mike and Todd were a few minutes early and caught me vacuuming. Ran up and changed my dress. Molli was hostess and introduced Adrian to everyone. We had a lovely time; there was more than enough food. We did eat all the mini-quiches and sandwiches, but we have tons of cookies left!

Kevin was there for a long time; he left on the train last night; waiting to see if he will make it to NY (weather). Molli's friend Adam drove from Atlanta and had supper with us before driving back. I hope he didn't have any trouble. It was a pleasure to have him.

After supper and Adam's departure, the four of us watched an episode of Firefly, the one, in fact, where Jane (sp?) receives a hat from his mother--the same hat that Amelia has knitted and given Kevin for Christmas. Then we shared an episode of Doc Martin, a quirky show none of them had seen before that we like...A sort of funny soap opera set in a gorgeous village in Cornwall. We wore our Snuggies.

Snow in Athens! A Christmas miracle. Adrian has never before seen snow.

Christmas morning was pleasant. Adrian, as the youngest, distributed the stockings and we took the things out of them. Much candy, some soap and other small items were appreciated. Molli was still very tired and spent some of the morning dozing on the couch. Vanessa made scrambled eggs, what we usually eat on Christmas morning, together with a pastry treat, stollen from the Vermont Country Store that she had ordered and kept in the fridge. Amelia took a quick shower and got dressed, but most of us stayed in our pajamas to open the rest of our gifts under the tree. All enjoyed; my favorites include a new pair of slippers and a jigsaw puzzle of Paris. As usual, it was over too soon.

Amelia, Molli, and Adrian went to Kevin's house to exchange gifts a little before 1. Amelia was madly knitting right up until then, working on hats for Kevin and his aunt. The O'Rileys gave all three of them more presents and more expensive presents than we did, something we have had to accept over the years. While they were gone, I baked rolls (that I had made and frozen) and rosemary crackers for the party. The crackers were too crumbly and will not be able to be served, I don't believe. Amelia suggested using them as the topping on macaroni and cheese. So sad.

The four of us ate leftover soup and quiche when they weren't back by 2:15. They joined us when they got home. Then Molli and Amelia and I spent some time looking at Molli's clothes and deciding what she should wear, as well as what I should wear. She looks great; the only problem with any of her awesome dresses is that some are too big for her. In the end, I wore my velvet Christmas dress and Molli and Amelia wore jeans.

We piled into two cars and headed to Janna's about 5. It was raining and cold, just above freezing, but the driving was fine. We had a lovely meal at Janna's. She made roast beef for us, for the first time ever. There were four courses and 17 people. She was in the kitchen a lot, with a variety of helpers at various times. We had place cards with two names on them, one for the first half of the dinner and one for the second. Kevin came for a while, but was not anticipating a four-hour extravaganza. There was squash and leek soup, spinach with poached shallots and pears (and two dressings). There was roast beef, green beans, Yorkshire pudding and pasta with five cheeses. There were three desserts: cranberry tart, chocolate tart, and sweet potato cake with caramel-nut sauce. And lots of whipped cream. There was lots of wine, but we ran out. I had meant to bring a couple bottles of our favorite red, Aconga from Argentina. But we forgot.

My parents left before dessert and called when they got home. "Tt's snowing." Sure enough, it looked like it had already been snowing for a while. Adrian went out and watched for a long while, joined briefly by Molli and Amelia. They would have stayed and talked with Francesca and Mark all night I think. But I was ready to leave and Ray was dozing a little too. It was midnight before I went to sleep and woke up much too early, with a lot to do today and a lot on my mind.

Amelia just got up to wish me Merry Christmas and ask if Santa came! It is too early, still very dark and we don't want to wake everyone else yet. But she pointed out to me that we can hear an owl not far away--the Christmas owl?

Yesterday was a lot of cooking and otherwise getting ready. Ray had to run out and get something he forgot (for me, I think), so I had him buy some more butter and other groceries as well. Amelia and my Mom continued to add a few things to the tree occasionally. the Captain cut up the vegetables for soup. We  also did a couple loads of laundry. It was quite cold, but sunny, so nice in teh house. I made another loaf of bread in the toaster oven. And the frosting for the cake, which Amelia frosted beautifully.

We tidied up a little and tried to decide how long it would take Molli and Adrian to go through customs and immigration. They were due at 2:15, but we thought it would take at least 45 minutes to get to the terminal, and maybe more. On our way to Atlanta, we got an email from Molli (apparently she had free wi-fi on the flight)--expecting to land 25 minutes early! All went well, except for a rather long backup at the airport itself, so that Molli called to say, "we beat you." They had landed, breezed through everything and gotten their luggage before we could actually get to where they were waiting. We zipped back to Athens and rushed through our program, having a quick introduction to the chickens and gardens, before a brief drink and snack. Dinner was served about 5:30 and we left the house just a tad late, about 6:15, for a 6:30 service at UUFA, singing carols and lighting candles with friends. Rev. Allison strikes the right note for me, sincere and straightforward, hopeful and concerned.

We skipped the Bible reading and carol singing at the house, since we had just done it. But we did have the reading of Nellie's Christmas Eve by the Captain, with a slight amount of choking up. And we hung seven stockings on our mantel. Kevin came by for a bit. My Dad was first to bed, about 9 maybe. My Mom had a few things to wrap. I put clementines in all the stockings, followed by some mixed nuts and some candy I had. Fortunately, Polly sent a lot of good stocking stuffers and I had some things, too. But I don't seem to have gotten the toiletries that we sometimes add--toothpaste, for instance. And I lacked the energy to wrap everything I put in the stockings. I still had lots of presents to wrap, somehow. Molli and Adrian were exhausted, having slept about 3 hours on the bus only. He was next to bed, then Ray. Molli couldn't tear herself away, but she finally did. I went to bed about 10:30--saw a little choral singing to set the mood. Amelia was still at it.

Slept pretty well, waking up for a bit about 3:30, but finally going back to sleep until 5:30. Another hour would have been good. The cold is still with me, stuffy, dry mouth, a little achy, but not much coughing. Yay!

Thinking of relatives and friends this morning and being glad.