Back to work
I realized I didn't give the "holiday post-mortem" so what better place to do it than at work ;-)
I did Christmas meal grocery shopping on Dec 24. I went to BJs first because I knew there were certain things that *had* to be gotten in bulk, but I figured since I was there and since it wasn't too crowded (for once), I'd get what I could off my shopping list and fight the mobs at the grocery store for the few things I couldn't find at BJ's. A normal trip to BJ's involves spending $200, so I don't know why I was suprised when this trip's bill topped $400. Gah.
After unloading and unpacking all the groceries, Jim and I did some last minute cleaning (quick vacuume and dusting). Jim was working on food prep most of the day (making desserts and turkey stock, etc). My parents came over around 4 with loads of stuff (desserts, the 20lb roast, presents, you-name-it). We had opened the invitation for christmas eve to our immediate families, but everyone was doing something else, so we invited our real estate agent, Brenda, for dinner and to hang out. Back when I was looking for a condo, my parents walked into Brenda's office (they were doing some scouting for me), and the rest is history. She's extremely honest and ethical, and had no problems telling us if she thought a particular condo, or subsequently, house was a POS. Anyway, she's really fun, and we hadn't seen her since this fall (soon after we had closed on the house). We at yummy catered Portuguese food that my parents were kind enough to bring. Of course they brought enough to feed an army, but that's neither here nor there.
Christmas day started out quite early, though a distinctly different early from when I was a kid. I put the french toast casserole in the oven and we laid out the game plan for the day. We still hadn't quite figured out how everyone would fit in the dining room, though. By noon people started arriving, and I felt a little stressed out because I was in the zone, and I don't like being jarred out of it. (Where's this? I need that? Do you need help?) It sounds weird, but I get stressed out when people ask me if I need help (or get in my way when I'm obviously busy).
So, for my sanity and everyone elses, I got finished what I was doing in the kitchen (I think it was preparing a tapas platter) and then played hostess and bossed around everyone else. My mom and mother in law prepared the rest of the appetizers that needed hands on attention, my dad dealt with the roast, Jim made the french canadian stew, and Abbey made the forcaccia. There was some oven juggling to reheat stuff folks brought, but I put my mom in charge of that. I charged my dad with figuring out the table scenario (ultimately 3 tables total, in two long parallels, banquet style). After dinner, the clean up was speedy (my father in law and Abbey's father washed and dried everything that couldn't go in the dishwasher, and most of the stuff destined for the dishwasher). I was basically responsible for the time line and making sure that everything was running smoothly and who had to do what when. At one point, I thought to myself, hey, this is what it must feel like to be "management" and we all know when "management" tries to get involved in the work flow, it seems to just slow things down :) So, long story short, it was a fun day. I got to socialize, I got to drink, and man oh man did I eat.
New Year's was snowy and cold. Jim cleared out our very long driveway, and we made the trek to Melissa and Shawn's. The plan was to eat dinner, go to Geri's, then back to Melissa and Shawn's for midnight. We started dinner later than expected, and the snow made parking difficult (and far, due to on street parking bans), so we never made it to Geri's. I feel bad about that, since I rsvp'd yes. We basically played board games, watched Dick Clark's Animatronic New Year's eve, and went to bed around 5 past midnight. Oi, tis rough to get old.
Speaking of getting old, I will be turning 29 in less than a week. I'm not sure how I feel about my last birthday of my 20's. I think I've hit some major milestones since entering my 20's and I've certainly grown up a lot. I guess so far I can't complain (or more accurately, *shouldn't* complain... it's a widely known fact that Greek women's favorite pastimes include complaining, nagging, and sending people on guilt trips O:-)
I did Christmas meal grocery shopping on Dec 24. I went to BJs first because I knew there were certain things that *had* to be gotten in bulk, but I figured since I was there and since it wasn't too crowded (for once), I'd get what I could off my shopping list and fight the mobs at the grocery store for the few things I couldn't find at BJ's. A normal trip to BJ's involves spending $200, so I don't know why I was suprised when this trip's bill topped $400. Gah.
After unloading and unpacking all the groceries, Jim and I did some last minute cleaning (quick vacuume and dusting). Jim was working on food prep most of the day (making desserts and turkey stock, etc). My parents came over around 4 with loads of stuff (desserts, the 20lb roast, presents, you-name-it). We had opened the invitation for christmas eve to our immediate families, but everyone was doing something else, so we invited our real estate agent, Brenda, for dinner and to hang out. Back when I was looking for a condo, my parents walked into Brenda's office (they were doing some scouting for me), and the rest is history. She's extremely honest and ethical, and had no problems telling us if she thought a particular condo, or subsequently, house was a POS. Anyway, she's really fun, and we hadn't seen her since this fall (soon after we had closed on the house). We at yummy catered Portuguese food that my parents were kind enough to bring. Of course they brought enough to feed an army, but that's neither here nor there.
Christmas day started out quite early, though a distinctly different early from when I was a kid. I put the french toast casserole in the oven and we laid out the game plan for the day. We still hadn't quite figured out how everyone would fit in the dining room, though. By noon people started arriving, and I felt a little stressed out because I was in the zone, and I don't like being jarred out of it. (Where's this? I need that? Do you need help?) It sounds weird, but I get stressed out when people ask me if I need help (or get in my way when I'm obviously busy).
So, for my sanity and everyone elses, I got finished what I was doing in the kitchen (I think it was preparing a tapas platter) and then played hostess and bossed around everyone else. My mom and mother in law prepared the rest of the appetizers that needed hands on attention, my dad dealt with the roast, Jim made the french canadian stew, and Abbey made the forcaccia. There was some oven juggling to reheat stuff folks brought, but I put my mom in charge of that. I charged my dad with figuring out the table scenario (ultimately 3 tables total, in two long parallels, banquet style). After dinner, the clean up was speedy (my father in law and Abbey's father washed and dried everything that couldn't go in the dishwasher, and most of the stuff destined for the dishwasher). I was basically responsible for the time line and making sure that everything was running smoothly and who had to do what when. At one point, I thought to myself, hey, this is what it must feel like to be "management" and we all know when "management" tries to get involved in the work flow, it seems to just slow things down :) So, long story short, it was a fun day. I got to socialize, I got to drink, and man oh man did I eat.
New Year's was snowy and cold. Jim cleared out our very long driveway, and we made the trek to Melissa and Shawn's. The plan was to eat dinner, go to Geri's, then back to Melissa and Shawn's for midnight. We started dinner later than expected, and the snow made parking difficult (and far, due to on street parking bans), so we never made it to Geri's. I feel bad about that, since I rsvp'd yes. We basically played board games, watched Dick Clark's Animatronic New Year's eve, and went to bed around 5 past midnight. Oi, tis rough to get old.
Speaking of getting old, I will be turning 29 in less than a week. I'm not sure how I feel about my last birthday of my 20's. I think I've hit some major milestones since entering my 20's and I've certainly grown up a lot. I guess so far I can't complain (or more accurately, *shouldn't* complain... it's a widely known fact that Greek women's favorite pastimes include complaining, nagging, and sending people on guilt trips O:-)