Days Two and Three of Christmas

[fossilfreak]

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 572

226.0 miles (2017 numbers)

cloudy and cold

 

346 recordings of 61 types, no old SVUs (three scheduled), 51 CPD, and 52 Last Man Standing.

 

I went to Mass Sunday morning (still 4th Sunday of Advent).

I called my sister and had a nice long talk. Bossy! She actually wants me to FINISH the nice long letter I've started to her!

 

Then in the afternoon I drove over to Elk Grove for the family Mass at St. Joseph's church at 4. Padreic was having a tantrum (he has a lot... partly due to his age and I think also he got a bit spoiled, understandably, when his leg was in a splint) over goint to church. But Rob got a smile out of him when Bernadette posed them in front of the Christmas tree.
 

 

 

 

Mass itself went pretty well. There were wiggles and giggles and eventually Bernadette put Gareth on my far side, away from her and Padreic. Then we headed back to the house to admire the gingerbread houses they each made. Bernadette's is even landscaped!
 

 

 

Rob did a creditable job with a Polish-style Christmas Eve dinner... fish, pierogies (potato: Babcha made cheese (dry cottage cheese) and prune ones), steamed cabbage and a delicious mushroom soup. I should have gotten oplatek... next year for sure. Padreic channeled his Djadja, and had at least 7 pierogis! Djadja (Rich) would have been so proud... he so loved his food.

 

I forgot to mention that on Saturday, I took a slight detour on the way home and stopped by Bernadette's neighborhood "House that Threw Up Christmas." Wow. On the way home from church tonight she drove by it, too.
 

 

 

 

 

Christmas morning I played Fishdom, and went geocaching. I got 3 out of 8 attempts. I wasn't stupid enough to go after one, which would have involved climbing a tree. I could do that, but not by myself! (One cache I missed was archived.)

 

I went over to Elk Grove at 3. Joan's plane had needed de-icing, so she was hours late, but relaxing there watching the kids play with the racetrack she'd brought. I gave B&R the almonds, and Joan a pack for herself. Then I gave Gareth and Joanna the presents for their parents that they'd made. Gareth, absentmindedly, almost opened his. The parents were duly impressed.

 

I liked a couple of Rob's toys, a hovering ball and a funny instrument. I liked them so well I ordered them for myself.

 

We watched "A Christmas Story" and chatted, and Rob put together a good Danish meal. I couldn't have the mashed potatoes (I will be SO GLAD when I've had the A1C test. I know I have to be careful but I'd be really glad to be a LITTLE less careful all the time!) But there was a great salad, and meatballs, and veggies. Yum. I skipped dessert (I'd given in with a fruit tart type thing the night before.)

 

After the kids were in their jammies they opened their stockings. Lots of candy and nice little toys including glowing fidget spinners (which they'd played with at Monica's, too.) I'd given B. a little penguin for Gareth's and a horse for Joanna (as well as a lot of magnetic trains for Padreic) and also a notebook and "candy cane" pen for Joanna, which I gave her a couple of weeks ago.

 

And so home. This was the best post-Rich Christmas (it's what I thought I was getting last year, before the whole kerfuffle of them going to Oregon for Christmas.)