A Very Carey Christmas
I hope your Christmas was safe, warm, and full of only happy surprises. Ours was.
My Christmas Eve started with a trip to the dentist - 7:00 am, to be precise. It's admittedly a strange way to start the season, and I hope to not make a habit of it. But there you go. They did a periodontal cleaning, so they numbed my whole mouth. Fortunately, yogurt in a tube can be eaten even with a numb mouth (as long as you have a good napkin).
I still had a bit of shopping to do - some for Christmas presents, some for the regular weekly needs, and some for Christmas Eve dinner. My first stop wasn't too bad, since it was 8:00 am. However, by the time I finished my errands at around 1:00, parking lots and checkout lines were cram-packed with people.
To top it off, Mother Nature decided to bless us with a white Christmas, and she was in full-force delivery mode. I drove home in some very heavy, blowing snow. Fortunately, the day before had been in the mid seventies, so there was no real danger of snow sticking to the roads. By mid-afternoon, the yard was covered. The girls desperately wanted to go out and play, but I convinced them that snow blowing horizontally at 35 miles per hour was best enjoyed from behind glass.
Our Christmas dinner tradition is to have the big, formal meal on Christmas Eve, and then munch on left-overs Christmas day, so that's what we did.
Throughout the evening, Alyssa would periodically ask, "Where's Santa," at which point she and I would go into the office and check out the Google Maps/NORAD Santa tracker. By the time Santa was headed from Brazil to Uruguay, we were able to get the kids to bed, and then I finished up the present wrapping. I managed to get most of the gifts taken care of during the previous week, leaving me just a half-dozen or so to wrap that night. We got to bed before midnight for the first time on a Christmas eve in many, many years.
Alyssa was up pretty much every hour, and around 4:00 Anna sent her in to our room. Fortunately she was willing to snuggle up and go back to sleep. I walked her into her room a while later, and then went back to sleep until about 8:00! Yes, it was our own little Christmas Miracle.
Part of the reason we were able to sleep in and take a leisurely morning was because the snow outside was even more exciting than the presents.
The girls played in the snow, and I made up a buffet of finger foods designed to replace breakfast and lunch. High in fruits, veggies, and protein, it worked like a charm - quick, easy, convenient, and not a single blood sugar crash all day!
One of the things I wanted to make was a sour cream dill dip. Our dill was in the garage, where it's been for the last few years. I brought it in and started sprinkling it into my bowl of sour cream. In addition to the dill weed, this jar had some dill seeds mixed in. I thought that was unusual, so I checked the label - it didn't mention seeds. So I took one of the seeds into the office, where I have a magnifying loupe, and on closer examination I found that the seed had legs.
I rinsed out the bowl and invented an oregano parmesan sour cream dip to take its place.
I won't bore you with a laundry list of our gifts, but I do want to show you the doll high-chair Santa brought for Alyssa. She absolutely loves it, and has spent hours playing with her babies in it. She even has me buckle it into the van so the babies have a car seat to sit in.
Thanks to all who sent cards and letters and gifts. We had a great Christmas, and hope you did, too.
My Christmas Eve started with a trip to the dentist - 7:00 am, to be precise. It's admittedly a strange way to start the season, and I hope to not make a habit of it. But there you go. They did a periodontal cleaning, so they numbed my whole mouth. Fortunately, yogurt in a tube can be eaten even with a numb mouth (as long as you have a good napkin).
I still had a bit of shopping to do - some for Christmas presents, some for the regular weekly needs, and some for Christmas Eve dinner. My first stop wasn't too bad, since it was 8:00 am. However, by the time I finished my errands at around 1:00, parking lots and checkout lines were cram-packed with people.
To top it off, Mother Nature decided to bless us with a white Christmas, and she was in full-force delivery mode. I drove home in some very heavy, blowing snow. Fortunately, the day before had been in the mid seventies, so there was no real danger of snow sticking to the roads. By mid-afternoon, the yard was covered. The girls desperately wanted to go out and play, but I convinced them that snow blowing horizontally at 35 miles per hour was best enjoyed from behind glass.
Our Christmas dinner tradition is to have the big, formal meal on Christmas Eve, and then munch on left-overs Christmas day, so that's what we did.Throughout the evening, Alyssa would periodically ask, "Where's Santa," at which point she and I would go into the office and check out the Google Maps/NORAD Santa tracker. By the time Santa was headed from Brazil to Uruguay, we were able to get the kids to bed, and then I finished up the present wrapping. I managed to get most of the gifts taken care of during the previous week, leaving me just a half-dozen or so to wrap that night. We got to bed before midnight for the first time on a Christmas eve in many, many years.
Alyssa was up pretty much every hour, and around 4:00 Anna sent her in to our room. Fortunately she was willing to snuggle up and go back to sleep. I walked her into her room a while later, and then went back to sleep until about 8:00! Yes, it was our own little Christmas Miracle.
Part of the reason we were able to sleep in and take a leisurely morning was because the snow outside was even more exciting than the presents.
The girls played in the snow, and I made up a buffet of finger foods designed to replace breakfast and lunch. High in fruits, veggies, and protein, it worked like a charm - quick, easy, convenient, and not a single blood sugar crash all day!
One of the things I wanted to make was a sour cream dill dip. Our dill was in the garage, where it's been for the last few years. I brought it in and started sprinkling it into my bowl of sour cream. In addition to the dill weed, this jar had some dill seeds mixed in. I thought that was unusual, so I checked the label - it didn't mention seeds. So I took one of the seeds into the office, where I have a magnifying loupe, and on closer examination I found that the seed had legs.I rinsed out the bowl and invented an oregano parmesan sour cream dip to take its place.
I won't bore you with a laundry list of our gifts, but I do want to show you the doll high-chair Santa brought for Alyssa. She absolutely loves it, and has spent hours playing with her babies in it. She even has me buckle it into the van so the babies have a car seat to sit in.
Thanks to all who sent cards and letters and gifts. We had a great Christmas, and hope you did, too.
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