Christmas Eve was kind of a bust here. Dinner was a frozen pizza after work. Then my wife was off to church services. I spent the evening catching up on old episodes of Top Gear. Not entirely bad, but not what I had envisioned for Christmas Eve. (I had planned shrimp cocktail, Filet Mignon, and a quiet evening with a nice fire enjoying the lights of our Christmas tree with my sweetie.) Wife got home at 10:00 and promptly went to bed. Christmas day was an improvement. Spent late morning - early afternoon with my brother. Had a nice quiche and Cinnamon muffins. We all had a chuckle over the gifts from my Dad. He sent us each an educational course on DVD. (Didn't enjoy college much 30+ years ago, not really interested in sitting in front of the TV for a 20 hour set of lectures now.) Left my brothers about 3:00 and headed to my BIL's house for a gathering with my wife's family. It was nice to see everybody. Dinner was a pot luck affair (hodgepodge that looked like left overs) served in the "pool room." They have an indoor pool that compares with most high schools in size and ambiance. 80 degrees and 90% humidity in a large echo chamber with 15 people, three of whom have hearing aids and can't hear well in a normal environment, made for an interesting dinner. My diet starts today. Not sure what to do with the 10 pounds of chocolate that we received as gifts.

 

I spilled something recently that went in the slots in the oven door. Could see it running down inside the glass. Good news, it was two big screws to remove and the door came apart. Cleaned it all up and now we can see what we are cooking without opening the oven door, once again.

 

We broke with tradition a little bit this year. Instead of going out for Chinese food, Liz made a roast.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrin...mas/ar-BBh9M0d

We did keep part of our tradition. We went to the movies and saw "The Gambler". Not a great movie, but we had to keep some part of the tradition alive.

 

It was a balmy 48 degrees today. Got all the outside decorations down and packed. Hope to get most of the inside done soon.

 

I should finish up my story of Xmas Day. The oldest grandson (17) bought his two younger brothers (9, 10) air gun pistols. How delightful. He then (we strongly suspect) preceded to kill one of our squirrels (I didn't find it till the next day). Later the same grandson wanted to leave (I am sure he was bored) so he started tickling the youngest so bad he peed his pants (badly I might add) so then they all left. Merry Christmas.

 

Dave, maybe we can get a group rate to a trip to the Caribbean next Christmas.

I'm sure you were not very happy with your oldest grandson.

I've spent a good part of the last couple of days catching up on some cleaning. It never ends. Tomorrow the tree comes down, and the angel nightlight gets put away. That was it for my Christmas decorations.

 

I'm headed back to the forest tomorrow and am pretty sure I'm gonna stop at the liquor store on the way home

 

I would consider that perfect forethought.

gary

 

Some might even say premeditated

 

Apparently it's really very easy to clean. Here's link showing how easy:

http://www.mom4real.com/how-to-clean...glass-on-your/