I didn't think this way as a kid, but as an adult I find that the days right after Christmas are the best. The flurry of activity has died down, and everyone can relax to enjoy new gifts, mounds of leftovers, and time with nothing to do. I anticipate several naps this week!
Christmas was very fun. We spent Dec. 24th at Roger's sister's house, surrounded by Roger's family. This year, Roger's sister Doreen and her son Dash made the trip down from Oregon to join everyone, so that was a bonus to have them there. The kids (13 of them, ranging from age 4 to age 17) spent the afternoon planting Diane's butterfly garden to fill out her newly-landscaped backyard. Amazingly, no one fell into the pond or got their holiday clothes too dirty in the process! The kids opened their gifts from their designated cousin (the result of the Thanksgiving name-drawing) and Caroline was delighted to get a DVD of the newest Harry Potter movie. We had a festive dinner (prime rib and grilled salmon!), then the adults did the "consumable" gift game, a family version of a yankee gift swap which involves choosing mysteriously wrapped presents, stealing the especially desirable ones, and much strategizing. Roger and I came home with a bag containing a lovely assortment of teas, and a cookbook of all chocolate recipes!
On Christmas morning, Caroline contained her enthusiasm and followed the instruction to not wake us up until 7am...She appeared at my bedside at 6:58 to announce that it was "almost time" to wake up! We had a grand Christmas morning (having pre-set the coffee maker the night before, so we were greeted by fresh coffee) and were all delighted with our goodies.
I received some wonderful gifts, including
A lovely silver necklace with the Chinese characters for mother and child
The DVD set of the 3rd season of The West Wing
A necklace and earring set chosen for me by Caroline from her elementary school's holiday shop ("Do you think they're real diamonds?" Caroline asked...For $4.99, I'm guessing no. Still it's actually rather pretty.)
A gorgeous book of Andy Goldworthy's artwork, "Time"
A luscious packet of hand-dyed fabric from Alaska Dyeworks
Roger loved his robotic vacuum cleaner! And Caroline was delighted with her microscope from Santa, and then proceeded to spend the morning taking samples of things from around the house so she could inspect them microscopically. ("Are there any dead bugs around here?" she asked, hopefully.) She also loved the Nancy Drew computer game she got--my clevery ploy to lure her into the Nancy Drew mystery books so I can read them all again myself!
In the lull after present-opening and before guest arrival, Caroline played with her new toys and Roger napped.
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