Merry Christmas

Sorry I disappeared...I work in a church...last week was as crazy as it can get in a week. So we were blessed with a shorter work week for Christmas...which meant...2 1/2 days at work=good....and 2 1/2 days to get all four Christmas Eve bulletins and a Sunday bulletin created, edited, and run off. It was a lot of work but we got it all done by 2:00 PM on the 23rd.

Then I went to the bank, etc. And then J and I headed to the "outlets" to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Crazy...crazy...crazy...and yet the mood was festive so it wasn't too bad. We picked up some stuff for my Dad, my brother, and J. All and all a good trip.

Christmas Eve we were awakened by Ares at 7:00 in the morning. We live near a Shipyard and they have a 7:00 a.m. whistle to start the morning. Well apparently Ares thinks this is for him. So he wakes up and makes a ton of noise until we come down and let him out. We got up...got dressed and went to run a few errands. We went to the pet store and the grocery store for food for all. Harris Teeter is a fun grocery store except around the holidays and then it is evil. But we got what we needed then we came home for some relaxing before going to meet Mom and Dad for dinner. I didn't relax so much...I made a cheesecake and my spinach-artichoke dip.We were going to go to Schlotsky's but they were closed so we went to Kelly's instead. Then Mom, J, and I went to our church for Christmas Eve service. Mom had never been...and she loved it. Then we took Mom home and went to our friends annual Christmas Eve gathering. It was great!

Christmas morning we slept in a bit...so I was late starting our pull-apart bread breakfast. Which meant in turn we were late getting to Mom and Dad's. Unfortunately I hadn't wrapped any gifts so I also had to do that before leaving. I know I know...Christmas comes every year on the same day and yet it always sneaks up on me. And I had to get a shower...definately needed. We got to Mom and Dad's had breakfast while opening gifts. We got a couple things we needed, a couple we wanted, and a couple surprises. We got the Pictionary Man game...oh my gosh it is so much fun but hard. After opening gifts we watched Star Trek, one of J's gifts while munching on more food. I fell asleep. Running around on little sleep will do that to you...then Mom made Beef Stroganoff....it was yummy! Then we went and drove around looking at lights but it started to rain so we came home and had delish...and I mean delish Chocolate Cheesecake (made by moi). It was so rich you couldn't eat a lot. Then J and I packed up and came home.

It was a good Christmas!!