Oh it's so lovely when family knows you well enough to gift you right!

We have not wrapped anything. We delegated family stuff to StY and our consciences are clear. We gifted friends before we left last month. Our present to each other this year is a new house. There's the special art poster we've had for twenty years and now have a perfect place to hang that we're having matted and framed, but that won't be ready till next week.

We have mulled cranberry juice, spiced cider, and booze, a gifted batch of Christmas cookies, a brimming fruit bowl, a new batch of chili, and various noshes. I'm about to light a roomful of candles, click on the fireplace dvd and an instrumental cd of carols.

Happy Merry, y'all!

Oh, I like that salutation!

A Happy Merry to everyone!!

I'm finally putting my Christmas CDs onto my computer so I can play some later in the evening while I'm reading and drinking hot chocolate with the tree lit up so pretty. Oh, and I'm planning on taking some nice closeups of my favorite ornaments hanging on the tree and see if I can make them look the least bit artistic.

All presents are wrapped. JZ, Matilda and my MiL are at their Christmas service. Lobster, clams and mussels are in the pot. Emmett's wearing his fancy sports coat.

I'm drinking champagne. We are in readiness. Bring it, Santa!

I was lonely at my in-laws' but am happy to get online with my peeps. I'm at the hotel with sleeping Dillo. mr. flea has gone back to SIL's to put Casper to bed on her cousin's floor and then do the stockings and putting the presents under the tree, and probably stay way late chatting with his parents, which is good for all of them.

Dillo learned to Wii bowl. It was hard for him to figure out how to let the button go to release the ball, but when he got it he'd spin around in glee after each shot. Sooooo adorable.

Everyone sounds so cozy, I love it. We had a tasty tomato basil soup for dinner and are going for a short walk after cleanup. Then it'll be more Christmas books in front of the fire and tree.

Yay for soup, fire, family, and trees!!

I still have to do my dishes, but at least I've finally got all my Xmas music on my computer and playing with the shuffle option turned on. Just listened to Empire Brass, and now I've got the Beach Boys singing "I wanna meet Santa Claus / the real real Santa..."

The people upstairs from me are having a party.

I tried going to sleep, but no luck. It's not that they are really loud at all, just loud enough to combine with my not really sleepy.

I think we missed the Magical Christmas Caroling Truck this year which makes me sad.

Oh! We had one of those go through the neighborhood last weekend. H and I turned to each other, "Ice cream?"

Turns out one of the neighbors does it every year.

I've been behind in Natter for days. So much going on.

I'm so sorry about your cousin, ita.

Congrats to Glam and her DW and Nora and Kira on their new babies! And congrats to 'Ouise and Helena on their aunthood. (Special thanks to 'Ousie and Megan for looking after my cats while I'm away.)

So I am in day 6 of Xmas with the family. I think my tolerance is going to bust just in time for Xmas. Not that anything's going horribly wrong, but it's just too much family. Three days until I go home.

The other thing is that my mother's memory is going. She lost my nephew's iPod Touch twice in two days. It probably doesn't help that she's has no idea what the hell it is. She keeps asking if it's his phone. It's troubling, but she refuses to acknowledge that it's an issue. Nor will she admit that she's hard of hearing, but she's gotten deafer than my dad, who is completely deaf in one ear and and had a hearing aid for the other. Her stubbornness is not weakening at all.

She's also insisting on cooking Xmas dinner, even though she's 80 and cooking big meals exhausts her.