Christmas in Denver-Day 5

We had a big Christmas around here. For the most of the day, Raelynn showed great patience and restraint for an eight year old. As I mentioned yesterday, we didn't open presents on Christmas Eve like we normally do. My niece, Sable, and her family spent Christmas Eve with her husband's family. They came over around 9:30 this morning and a little while later, David's sister, Susan showed up as well. Melissa spent many hours slaving over Christmas dinner, which was fabulous. It was well into the afternoon before we did the present thing. Raelynn didn't bug me about it and she waited patiently. She got most of everything she asked for: Nintendo DS, two DS games, a book, a movie, and a Barbie. The other members of my family gave her several "artsy" gifts....ones I'm sure she'll enjoy when we get home. (I'm currently enjoying the DS!) She also asked for a puppy but I don't see that happening anytime soon!


I blogged last night and afterwards had quite the good time. David and Susan were sitting at the dining room table playing their 80th game of Scrabble and I was surfing YouTube with my sister-in-law Melissa. My brother Hugh is a computer genius and has wireless high speed Internet. I'm enjoying it to the fullest. Thus, my more regular posting. Well, that and the fact that I don't have any school work to do and I'm in a situation where I can't drive anywhere. Either way, we all benefit, but I digress. I stumbled upon Bud Light's Real Men of Genius ads on YouTube and I swear I haven't laughed so hard in my life. If you really want a good laugh, search for this on YouTube next time you're on. I think we were a little loud and disturbed David and Susan's Scrabble game.


As I mentioned earlier, my family did the name drawing thing this year. My brother drew my name. I was SO HAPPY with my gift. He got me a large Vera Bradley bag that I'll use for toting my school stuff back and forth. I've looked at this stuff before but haven't bought any myself. A week or two ago, I got a Vera Bradley lanyard at a Bunco game where we swapped gifts. Now, I'm the proud owner of two designer pieces. My brother picked out the pattern. It's called Purple Punch. It's purty!! Thank you Hugh! So my rundown is out of order, but here's the events of today:

I went to bed late and work up early last night. I had a horrible dream. I dreamed that Raelynn had been abducted. Usually when I have a bad dream, I can roll over and tell myself that it was a bad dream and that I should dream of something else. That didn't happen last night. I came downstairs in the dark to the living room to read a book or something, and in the process, woke up my mother's dog. Choo Choo started barking and I was afraid that he'd wake up Christian that was sleeping on the couch. So, I wandered back upstairs and went back to a dreamless sleep. I probably woke David up. I think he came to bed around 3:30 AM so he was tired either way.

A little while later, I got up and of course, my mother and Raelynn were already up. My mom made her delicious breakfast casserole and we all enjoyed that.

For Christmas dinner we had a Smithville ham, brussel sprout casserole (I know it sounds horrible, but it really wasn't bad for brussel sprouts), wild rice, green beans, congealed salad (I call this old lady salad) green salad, and rolls. For dessert, my sister-in-law made my grandmother's recipe for peanut butter pie and my mom made a pecan pie for my niece's husband, Tim. All the while, my brother Hugh was smoking a turkey and it turned out great.

After dinner, David and Raelynn went out to the nearest hill to the house and went sledding. It was cold so they didn't stay long. That and the fact that David said that he broke the sled. Afterwards, they walked home. I'm almost ashamed to say that I was sitting at the table playing "Makeup Artist" on Raelynn's DS. I mean, someone has to teach her how to play, right?

So now.....I'm watching my brother, my niece and her husband, and my sister-in-law play a game called "Huggermugger." I'm not quite sure how to play it but I think that Scrabble is getting old. Maybe I'll join in someday. I enjoy watching other people play board games as opposed to playing them myself.

Tomorrow, my mother, my niece, two of my sisters-in-law, and I will go to the Park Meadows Mall to take advantage of the after Christmas sales. I'm not really concerned with acquiring next year's Christmas decorations or wrapping paper at bargain basement prices. I'm more concerned with going to several stores and getting items I need but can't get at home except for online. Either way, this mall is wonderful. While there, I will get a gyro. They have a Greek place in the food court and since I can't get a gyro in Starkville, I take advantage of eating one whenever I can.

Overall, the day has been okay. I tend to get a little overwhelmed while around my extended family. And pretty much everybody else's extended family too. So far, there have been no meltdowns or freak outs. Let's be thankful for that!

Tune in tomorrow for more mindless dribble about nothing in particular. That's the best part of vacation!!!!