With Christmas 2 days away, first thing on Monday was Stop & Shop. We'd made our list to get us through Christmas Day, leaving our open house shopping until the 26th, so braved the crowds and got what we needed. I had scheduled lunch with Auntie Margaret so left Carolyn making cookies and headed to Hope Valley. Bette was working so it was just the two of us so we stayed local and had lunch at Wood River Inn. It was nice to have some quality time with Auntie Margaret and I hung out at her dining room table for awhile before heading back to Carolyn's. We had pasta for supper and streamed something before bed.
First on Tuesday's list was a trip to DeLouise Bakery to pick up the danish ring we'd be having on Christmas morning. Normally we have a bigger breakfast but since dinner would be at 1:00 because Aaron was working at 3:00, we were going lighter. I thought we'd be gone half an hour. Foolish me. The parking lot was packed and there was a line out the door. We took a number - #99 - and they were working on #70. We'd clearly be there awhile. We were outside for 20 minutes or so and then made it inside. I had my coat on and was hot but had discovered outside that my cat head eaten away the armpit of my shirt (damn beast!) so the coat had to stay on. We got the danish and a few pastries and headed home. I had Christmas pudding to make and we weren't done with the cookies.
The pudding goes together pretty quickly but has to steam for 3 hours so I had that on by noon. I put Scandinavian almond cookies in the oven and Carolyn started oatmeal cookies, only to find she didn't have enough so I ran to Stop & Shop, which was less crowded than it had been on Monday. I left for my cousin's house ~3:30, pudding in hand. This was the first year I wouldn't be going to Marianne and Brian's house after Shelley's. Since dinner wasn't there, John was coming to Carolyn's so I still wasn't staying too long. I got to see my cousins Bette and David, the latter I hadn't seen in years. I ate plenty at Shelley's and left later than I'd planned so didn't partake of the Japanese food Carolyn had ordered. It was nice to be home early and good to see John. I added my presents to the already stuffed stockings and went to bed earlier than I had in years on Christmas Eve. Nice.
The danish ring was as good as Carolyn had said and after opening stockings (I had 3 this year because Dottie opted back into stockings this year and she used yarn as packing material - score!), we went into the kitchen to start dinner. The ham was easy but the scalloped potatoes, which start with a white sauce, took forever. I thought the sauce would never thicken! But we had everything in the oven on time for 1:00 dinner - ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans and rolls. Jamie, Aaron's girlfriend, brought a nice cookie tray so we had those for dessert instead of the ones we'd made. They'd wait for the open house. Aaron left for work and I sat at the table chatting with Carolyn's parents. When they left, we had a quiet rest of the day. Carolyn and I watched the Call the Midwife special then went to bed. It had been another lovely Christmas.
First stop on the 26th was Job Lot. I scored a bunch of gift bags for socks and a couple of large presents for Andrea and Lori's birthdays in March so would be taking the gray duffle back to Nebraska again. Oh well. With Job Lot done and the open house scheduled for 5:00, we made a final list and went to Stop & Shop again. Since it was at supper time, we were making Italian Sloppy Joe for a crowd and Israeli salad with assorted snacky things, the cookies we'd made and a Lemon-cello cake that Matt had picked up at The Cheesecake Factory. My favorite - yum! We had plenty of time for prep so took our time.
People started arriving right at 5:00 and it was a good mix of Carolyn's friends from work and our mutual friends. Sharyn, who didn't respond to the invite, showed up, which surprised the heck out of me. She looked great and it was fun to catch up. Everyone seemed to have fun and we had everything cleaned up before 9:00. Another successful open house.
I was leaving Friday but didn't have to be at the airport until 4:30. I had woken up early so packed first thing, even managing to fit everything without using the duffle. And I was done before anyone else was up. Carolyn had a hair appointment at noon. Cornelia couldn't come earlier than the 2:30 we'd arranged and Janice was fresh from the oral surgeon so I had some downtime to knit in the sun at Carolyn's table - one of my happy places. Cornelia picked me up and we headed to The Crow's Nest for a late lunch. We chatted longer than our food lasted then she dropped me off.
The first flight was uneventful and I was facing a long layover in Chicago. But I have Midway all figured out and had downloaded stuff from Netflix so headed to my favorite spot and enjoyed the extra long layover (my 2nd flight was delayed) while steaming, knitting and enjoying the best sack lunch I see all year, full of Christmas leftovers. I dozed a bit on the 2nd flight and arrived at 1:00 a.m. to pouring rain in Omaha. After stopping at HyVee in the wee hours for a few groceries, I walked into my house at 2:01, which was 3:01 eastern time. I unpacked my carry on, let the cats out for a bit and was in bed at 3:00. I did not set an alarm. : )
I had plans to meet knitters at 11:00 at Mocha C's because Lori was in town for a hair appointment. I slept until after 9:00 so wasn't in horrible shape and enjoyed the company and my favorite chicken salad sandwich. We closed the place down so I only had enough time to unpack my big suitcase before dark. I had a relaxing evening and oddly enough didn't go to bed particularly early. It felt great to be home and I had a typical chore day on Sunday - laundry and neatizing. I had a few more days of break and planned to get busy on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment