Christmas 2007

The annual Christmas picture with the animals.

Gifts from Oregon provided family movie night.

Vikings and Lego. How can you go wrong?

Poor dog needs some attention.

What's on the plate

What do you do on Christmas Eve? I'll bet it doesn't look anything like THIS!!

First things first...Ana is off to the chiropractor. What? I didn't tell you that story? Okay, in a minute.

Secondly...to Joe's to do some karate. Black belt test is fast approaching and my school is closed for 6 weeks. (Big shout out to the City of Henderson for that fine schedule!)

While we're at Joe's, we'll do our little gift exchange.

Off to the store for last minute supplies for Christmas foodery. If it all goes awry, Walgreen's is open Christmas day.

Then we're done. Call it a day. By noon-ish I should be able to lounge about doing nothing if I so choose. I usually don't so choose...but I could.

Ana's story
One of Ana's responsibilities while playing soccer is to throw the ball in when it's gone out of play. At her first game of the season, she was retrieving said ball across the track. Her games are played on the football field (it's lighted - the soccer field isn't) surrounded by the track with a little concrete thrown in for adventure. When wearing soccer cleats, concrete becomes very slippery. Ana's feet went out from under her and she fell HARD right on her buttocks. The net effect of that was that one of her vertebrae moved out of place and now has to be returned. She is in traction 3 days a week and will likely take up to a year to recover fully. It doesn't affect her too much except that she is in pain. Poor dear...

Special Treat

Good friends

Stretch Limo

The Capital Grille

Kona Crusted Dry Aged Sirloin

Merlot

What do these have in common?

I'm glad you asked!

Friday evening, Mike & I spent a wonderful evening with our friends Joe & Janis.

We met at the MGM.

We waited in the taxi line.

A limo!* That's what we needed!

Not just any limo...a S T R E T C H limo.

Take us to the Capital Grille, please.

What? We're early? Our table isn't ready?

Of course we'd love to go to the bar and have a drink while we wait.

Wow, there's a group of lovely blonde ladies with big chests behind us.

I clearly don't belong at THAT table.

Our table is ready? FANTASTIC!

Michael, our waiter, was very attentive.

The menu was great!

We sampled many things!

Shrimp Cocktail

Lobster & Crab Cakes

French Onion Soup

Caesar Salad

Kona Crusted Dry Aged Sirloin

Dry Aged Sirloin

Fresh Asparagus

Seasonal Fresh Vegetables

Parmesan Truffle Fries

Dessert?

The choices were tempting.

The tummies were full.

No thank you.

"Table 43 - Wilma Flintstone!"

This line was overheard being spoken by two employees.

We asked Michael where table 43 was located.

He became suspicious.

And rightly so.

He declined to comment.

Good call on his part.

On our way out, we spotted Wilma.

She was the lady wearing the leopard print halter top.

She had red hair.

* This was a secret shop to check the service of the MGM and the limo service.

That means we didn't PAY for the limo.

Joe actually got paid a wage to do this and report on it.

In which Sam expresses himself...

FOUND!

The Christmas spirit, that is.
Sam was hiding it all along.
He initiated putting up the tree and did all the decorating around the house.
He was also in charge of the camera again.


This is better than Thanksgiving!

He got all artsy on me!

Christmas Questions

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper. I'm not buying anymore until mine runs out!
2. Real trees or Artificial? Artificial. We don't live in Oregon anymore and real trees run $40
3. When do you put up the tree? Usually Thanksgiving weekend...but no interest this year. It's still not up!
4. When do you take the tree down? Early January. It's fake...what's the hurry?
5. Do you like eggnog? Not particularly, but Sam and Mike do so I buy the best for them...Anderson's Dairy
6. Favorite gift received as a child? A dolly my mom made in my likeness. I named her Tammy after my best friend.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. Purchased with green stamps prior to my birth. It features Mary, Joseph and the TWO wisemen. (Hey! It's more than 40 years old and made of papier mache!)
8. Hardest person to buy for? Men in general. They never seem to want anything.
9. Easiest person to buy for? My teenage daughter. She usually picks out her own gifts.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I emailed the "Elf Yourself" with genuine paper cards to follow.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? There's such a thing as a bad gift?
12. Favorite Christmas movie? A toss up..."A Christmas Story" or "Elf".
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? around September if I see things that make me think of loved ones.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I like to be "green" but that's a bit much!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peanut butter balls, Special K bars or my Dad's smoked salmon. Come to think of it, he makes really good peanut brittle, too.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? All the colors of the rainbow
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home. Family is so far away...sigh...
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes. Do you mean here and now? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and the dork with the red nose. Clarice's boyfriend, Rudolph.
20. Angel on the treetop or a star? Old time Santa in a fancy red robe...Okay! It's a dress!
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? They're CHRISTMAS presents...not Christmas EVE presents. Although, Mike's family tradition is to open one gift that arrived in the mail on Christmas eve, so we let the kids do that.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Why are people in such a hurry? Slow down and enjoy the crowds. Getting impatient and annoyed doesn't help a thing.
23. Favorite Christmas ornament? The green bell. We had four colored bells as children and the green one came to me. I cherish it.
24. Favorite thing for Christmas dinner? Not my day to cook. I don't care what shows up on the table. Although Patty's dinner sounds pretty tasty. I don't remember ever being fed lobster when we lived there!

My new Christmas wine glass

This is my new Christmas wine glass.

I also own the original Ottimista/Pessimsta version.

I'm very fond of both sets.

On the Menu

In no particular order this week, here is the menu:


Turkey Chili
Cape Breton Chicken
Turkey Burgers
Spaghetti with marinara
Big Easy Shrimp

Sam requested the turkey burgers and Ana likes spaghetti. Now that she's made the soccer team she thinks she needs to carb load. The Big Easy Shrimp will probably just end up as my lunch. It's in no order this week because I will likely end up cooking in the morning when I have time. This week's evening schedule holds three soccer games, two karate classes and Sam has no school on Friday.

Looks like family dinners are going by the wayside this week.

The Unexpected

If you expect the unexpected, does it then become expected?