December 27th and all is quiet in the house. The cats and kitten are all sleeping and hubby is back to work. I sit here and relish my final day off before heading back to all that is work -- 4am wake-up calls, useless and mind-slushing questions, etc, etc.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day came and went. To me, it feels like it never happened. I am only reminded that it ever occurred when I enter my living room and see the tree and the bags of presents that were brought home from the various get-togethers. Both days were uneventful and pretty much the same old, same old. Christmas Eve was at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's house. We arrived at 6:45pm with Chris' parents, grandfather and sister & family close behind. We greeted, distributed our gifts to their respective piles, brought out the appetizers, chatted and watched "A Christmas Story" while eating dinner (ham, asparagus, cole slaw, potatoes, rolls). Then, just when I thought my 6-year-old niece was going to literally explode with excitement, the gift opening began. This process takes several hours because we all sit in a circle and take turns opening one gift at a time. Oh, and part of the "fun" is trying to figure out what the gift is by the "elf name" on the gift tag. For example, Chris got the "Serenity" DVD - the gift tag read "from The Serene Elf". Cute, huh? Not. Anyway, my father-in-law thinks this is great fun, the rest of us are tired of it. After gifts, my in-laws with the kids were in a rush to get home because they still needed to do "the Santa thing" and they had to pick up some gifts that they had hidden at someone else's house. So, dessert and coffee was rushed through with everyone standing in the kitchen and then off they went. The rest of us hung out a bit more and by midnight we were on the road home. Round One done.

Christmas morning, Chris and I did the gift thing which lasted all of 10 minutes since we really don't get more than 1 or 2 things for each other. I got him 2 tickets to a Philly Flyers hockey game in March, a baseball cap that reads "I'd Rather Be in My Garage" and the "Serenity" DVD with accompanying companion book. Oops, he got the DVD from his Mom. Damn. My stupid MIL calls a week before Christmas to ask him what he wants after I already sent her a list with about 20 things on it for him. I was pissed. He said that she was feeling guilty for not calling him about his foot problem. Whatever. Anyway, I must have been a good girl this year or else Chris was a bad boy. He got me a flat panel monitor for my computer, a Sunbeam Hot Tea Maker (it's like a coffee maker except it brews tea instead) and a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring. Now, this is a big deal because I wear no jewelry except for my wedding band and a watch. Occasionally, when I get dressed up or if we are going out for the evening somewhere special, I will wear my engagement ring/wedding band set. That's it. I do not wear earrings, necklaces, bracelets or other rings. I just don't feel comfortable wearing it. But, lately, I have mentioned that I would probably not mind wearing a nice ring on my right hand. So, lo and behold, my first ever fancy, real-jewelry-store piece of jewelry. (Just in case you're wondering, my wedding set came from JCPenney -- it was all he/we could afford at the time.)

The rest of Christmas Day was spent at my parents' house along with my brother and sister-in-law. No kids on either side, so it was a relatively quiet day. Mom, of course, spent 90% of the day in the kitchen. Why she spends so much time making so much food for 6 people is beyond me. Then, it took an hour for her to clean the whole mess up because she couldn't relax until all the food was "put away" which automatically led right into "just let me wash these few pots". We finally got to the gifts and all were happy with the choices picked out for them. Then, dessert and coffee. Bro and sis-in-law were the 1st to leave because they were "exhausted" from having her family at their house for Christmas Eve dinner. We hung out a bit longer until I started getting the evil looks from Chris and we headed home. Round Two done.

We both had off from work yesterday and decided to be lazy all day. Chris' sister was supposed to stop over so he could hook up her new XM Satellite Radio in her car. She never called or stopped by. My parents stopped over for an hour or so to visit and "see our tree". My Dad has this thing where he likes to see everyone's Christmas trees. They stayed until 3:00 then headed back home to let the dog out and then went to visit my grandparents (Mom's parents). My grandmother is "hit or miss" when it comes to visitors so my mom doesn't push it about my brother and I coming along. She's 83 and not doing well mentally. Apparently, she never got out of bed on Christmas Day and missed dinner at my aunt's house. My grandfather went without her. Sad. But, that's a whole other story. After Mom & Dad left, we headed out to rent some movies. That is always a struggle. We never want to see the same movies. We ended up with "Four Brothers" and "Mr & Mrs Smith". Both were surprisingly good. Dinner at Applebees was in-between shows.

Food choices were "I ate what I wanted in reasonable portions". I slacked alot with the water intake and exercise which most likely contributed to the 1.5 lb gain for the week.

So, I will relish my final day off from work and get some household stuff done -- run to the grocery store, return the DVD's to Blockbuster, finish up some laundry, straighten up the house and maybe even cook dinner. I also have a few more tv shows on tape in the VCR that I need to watch before the new episodes start in January. Oh, and I took the cat to the vet for his annual checkup this morning.

The pictures I took for the holiday are still in the camera and need to be uploaded to my computer. As soon as I do it, I'll post some pics from the festivities.

Oh, and, the biopsy from Chris' mole removal on the 12th came back benign. That was an early Christmas present to him from the doctor. Also, Lucy (the kitten) is recovering well. We had to take her back on Friday afternoon because she picked up an upper respiratory infection and was coughing. She's doing well with the antibiotic and is about 99% back to her normal self.

Christmas 2005 is in the history books.

Bring on New Year 2006!

Ok, so here's a picture of my new Rudolph Village that I bought in installments this past year from Collectibles Today. All the buildings light up - there is Santa's Castle, Hermey's Dentist Office, Comet's Reindeer Flight Camp, Rudolph's House and Santa's Workshop. There is also the Christmas tree with the Bumble putting the star on top. The tree lights up, too. There are little figures of Santa & Mrs. Claus, Hermey the Elf, Yukon Cornelius, Rudolph & Clarice and the Burl Ives Snowman Guy (not sure of his name in the show). And, finally, there is a string of lamp-posts that you are supposed to put throughout the village. They light up, too, but I'm having a hard time keeping them upright. I tried to put some of that snow "fluff" stuff around, but it looked stupid. So, it is a snowless village. It's cute and so far (knock wood) the kitten has left it alone. Thank God for small favors.

Speaking of the kitten -- Lucy will be leaving us for a couple of days while she gets her spay and de-claw surgery. Now, before any of you go ballistic on me about the de-claw, my 2 boys have had it done with no problems. Yeah, I know, how would I like it if someone decided that the first joint of my fingers should be cut off, blah blah blah. If it was truly horrible, no respectible veterinarian would perform the surgery. Also, in my defense, Chris and I seriously considered not getting her done, but she is just BAD with the claws and she WILL NOT, under any circumstances, let me clip her nails myself. The way she screams before I even touch a paw would make the neighbors think I was ripping her leg right out of its socket. Lordy, the screeching!! Plus, my hands, arms and back are shredded from her playing and climbing on me all the time. But, bottom line, she is my Miss Beetle, Beetlebug, Baby Girl and I will miss her snuggles under the covers for 2 nights. However, the boys, I believe, will enjoy the small vacation from her endless energy.

Christmas preparations are moving along as well as can be expected. Chris had a minor procedure done to the bottom of his foot last Monday which has pretty much put a kink in our usual holiday running around. To make a long story short, he went to the dermatologist back in October after accidentally half-ripping off a skin tag under his arm. He had the rest of it removed along with another one under the other arm. The doc wanted to look at all of his skin then since it had been awhile since he'd been to see him and his mother has a history of skin melanomas. The doc takes a look at a mole on the arch of his left foot and decides he doesn't like the look of it and wants it removed asap. Huh? He gives Chris the name of a cosmetic surgeon who he sees in November. The only available appt for the removal between 11/7 and March 2006 is Dec 12th. Right smack in the middle of December. Figures. He feels bad about it but what can he do. Anyway, we are still waiting to hear about the biopsy results. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it comes back normal and no further tissue removal is required. He's been a trooper though. He went shopping yesterday with me even though he sat in the car most of the time.

So, as I said, preparations are moving along. 90% of the gifts are bought. None are wrapped. All the ingredients I need to bake are bought. None are mixed or baked. I still need to find containers to put the cookies and breads in to give to people. Christmas cards were finally tackled on Thursday evening and mailed on Friday. Personal family cards are bought and signed. Tree is up and decorated. House is decorated - inside and out.

I just wish I was more in the spirit. I don't know what it is. I usually love this time of year. The carols, the decorations, the gift buying, the wrapping. I can't put my finger on it. It's like something is missing. Or, maybe I am just bored with the whole process this year. Maybe I just need to switch it up a bit. I don't know. I'll have to give it some more thought.

On the food front, I am maintaining and that is all I can ask for this month considering I usually gain about 5-10 lbs during the time between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Yeah, I'm satisfied with maintaining my weight with the goal of kicking my ass in gear in 2006. It's all good.

Anyhoo, only 3 days of work this week - Mon, Tue, Wed. I'm off Thursday and Friday. The office is closed on the 26th in observance of Christmas and I also took the 27th as a vacation day. Then, only 3 days of work next week (Wed-Fri) and another 3 day weekend since our office is also closed on Jan 2nd in observance of New Years Day. Cool beans!

Sleigh bells ring........are you listening..........in the lane.........snow is glistening......

Some inspiration, perhaps?



I need to do more to get me in the spirit of the season.

I'll elaborate later...............

Well, the Christmas carols are in full swing now on two Philly radio stations. All Christmas music, all the time, Philly's #1 radio station - blah, blah, blah. Actually, one of these 2 stations have been airing carols since the end of October. How sick is that?!

But, now that Turkey Day 2005 is history, I am slowly getting on board the Christmas train. I copied a bunch of my holiday CD's into my iTunes and downloaded them into my iPod so I can listen at work. I need to do a bunch more though. I need more variety.

Driving home from the train station after work today, I was trying to think of my favorite holiday tunes. You know, the special ones that make me turn up the radio and sing out loud. The ones that really get me in the mood for the holidays.

Here's the top 5 I came up with (in no particular order):

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives only
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams only
Do You Hear What I Hear? - any version
Gloria -- preferably a choir version
Little Drummer Boy -- any version

So, what are YOUR favorites?