(no subject)
Wowza, I can't believe it's been almost a week since Christmas already. I took Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and the weekend off, and STILL didn't want to go back to work. Yesterday and today have made me regret having taken my mini-vacation, yikes.
We had a nice, quiet holiday. By the time Christmas finally got here I was exhausted. As has become our quasi-tradition, we had everything buttoned up by Wednesday evening and went to a movie while most everybody else drove themselves insane. We saw The Day The Earth Stood Still, about which I will say a non-spoilery 'meh'. We got home about eleven, buttoned down the house and we all crashed.
Christmas morning, I was just surfacing and thinking about burrowing back under the covers when Drew arrived bedside with a fresh latte and the news that it was 9AM. I was still processing this when Alida dragged herself out of her bedroom and into ours, following the scent of the coffee. Drew's coffee got our attention but the announcement that his homemade monkey bread had just come out of the oven got us moving. Once Alida and I had made ourselves presentable (enough), we had a nice bite of breakfast, a little more coffee, and a leisurely morning in front of the tree.
There were some great surprises under our tree this year. Alida, who thinks her parents don't even speak the same language as she does, was totally thrilled to find some things she thought we'd forgotten all about (Panic at the Disco dvd). She really needed a new cell but didn't think we'd do it until her upgrade was due (twenty months to go? Buy it off eBay!) Her ipod skips and the buttons stick and it's almost shot, so there she found the juicy red Nano she'd been lusting after ( I even found matching red earbuds, go me). Man oh man, if we'd have asked her to clean the entire house top to bottom that afternoon, she'd have willingly done it. Well, the first couple of rooms anyway. ;-)
Drew knew to expect the requisite dad stuff - new pants and a metric buttload of new socks, but funky tees were fun ( the Inigo Montoya shirt was a particular hit) and the new shaver was nice but it was the G1 smartphone that blew him out of the water. ;-) He was completely shocked; I have wanted one of these since the first time I heard about it, but I'm months from upgrade-ability and he was due. I didn't even know he was interested in one until right around Thanksgiving, so it was perfect timing. He wanted one, but somehow never thought I'd get it for him. It was incredibly nice to get one over on Mr. I'm Impossible To Buy For And Figure It Out Before Christmas Anyway. Ha! Take that!
As for me, I was the recipient of some lovely and surprising gifts; Alida got me an awesome revolving spice rack and last summer's X-Files movie. Drew bought me some earrings I'd admired, my very own Photoshop software and a stove-top pressure cooker! I was so surprised about the pressure cooker; we see them on Iron Chef all the time but I never thought I'd have one in my kitchen. It's really cool! All in all, we had a great day, checking out one another's new toys - OH! Santa also brought Drew & Alida Guitar Hero World Tour. A great deal of Christmas weekend was spent glued to the tv in an entirely new way. :)
Tonight I used the pressure cooker for the first time (I had to go find myself a decent cookbook first). I made Boeuf Bourguignonne - man what a hell of a word to describe something so tasty. We managed to find actual shallots in Vicksburg, and I used a nice merlot a co-worker had given me and it turned out great and fast. Forty-five minutes start to finish, and the sub-prime stew meat I had on hand was as tender as prime rib. This thing rocks. I can't wait to see what I can do with the pork loin I have in the fridge.
As tomorrow is the very definition of the Day From Hell, I should have been in bed a couple of hours ago. I have more I'm remiss in reporting, but I'll sign off saying I'm glad everyone seems to have had nice holidays, I'll see you next year. :)
We had a nice, quiet holiday. By the time Christmas finally got here I was exhausted. As has become our quasi-tradition, we had everything buttoned up by Wednesday evening and went to a movie while most everybody else drove themselves insane. We saw The Day The Earth Stood Still, about which I will say a non-spoilery 'meh'. We got home about eleven, buttoned down the house and we all crashed.
Christmas morning, I was just surfacing and thinking about burrowing back under the covers when Drew arrived bedside with a fresh latte and the news that it was 9AM. I was still processing this when Alida dragged herself out of her bedroom and into ours, following the scent of the coffee. Drew's coffee got our attention but the announcement that his homemade monkey bread had just come out of the oven got us moving. Once Alida and I had made ourselves presentable (enough), we had a nice bite of breakfast, a little more coffee, and a leisurely morning in front of the tree.
There were some great surprises under our tree this year. Alida, who thinks her parents don't even speak the same language as she does, was totally thrilled to find some things she thought we'd forgotten all about (Panic at the Disco dvd). She really needed a new cell but didn't think we'd do it until her upgrade was due (twenty months to go? Buy it off eBay!) Her ipod skips and the buttons stick and it's almost shot, so there she found the juicy red Nano she'd been lusting after ( I even found matching red earbuds, go me). Man oh man, if we'd have asked her to clean the entire house top to bottom that afternoon, she'd have willingly done it. Well, the first couple of rooms anyway. ;-)
Drew knew to expect the requisite dad stuff - new pants and a metric buttload of new socks, but funky tees were fun ( the Inigo Montoya shirt was a particular hit) and the new shaver was nice but it was the G1 smartphone that blew him out of the water. ;-) He was completely shocked; I have wanted one of these since the first time I heard about it, but I'm months from upgrade-ability and he was due. I didn't even know he was interested in one until right around Thanksgiving, so it was perfect timing. He wanted one, but somehow never thought I'd get it for him. It was incredibly nice to get one over on Mr. I'm Impossible To Buy For And Figure It Out Before Christmas Anyway. Ha! Take that!
As for me, I was the recipient of some lovely and surprising gifts; Alida got me an awesome revolving spice rack and last summer's X-Files movie. Drew bought me some earrings I'd admired, my very own Photoshop software and a stove-top pressure cooker! I was so surprised about the pressure cooker; we see them on Iron Chef all the time but I never thought I'd have one in my kitchen. It's really cool! All in all, we had a great day, checking out one another's new toys - OH! Santa also brought Drew & Alida Guitar Hero World Tour. A great deal of Christmas weekend was spent glued to the tv in an entirely new way. :)
Tonight I used the pressure cooker for the first time (I had to go find myself a decent cookbook first). I made Boeuf Bourguignonne - man what a hell of a word to describe something so tasty. We managed to find actual shallots in Vicksburg, and I used a nice merlot a co-worker had given me and it turned out great and fast. Forty-five minutes start to finish, and the sub-prime stew meat I had on hand was as tender as prime rib. This thing rocks. I can't wait to see what I can do with the pork loin I have in the fridge.
As tomorrow is the very definition of the Day From Hell, I should have been in bed a couple of hours ago. I have more I'm remiss in reporting, but I'll sign off saying I'm glad everyone seems to have had nice holidays, I'll see you next year. :)