crossrhodes

‘Twas the week after Christmas
And nothing would fit,
All the fruitcake and pudding
And cookies I’d bit;
The pies were all gone
And the kitchen was quiet,
Happy New Year to all
And to all a good Diet!

We’ve been bumming it since Christmas Eve :) It seems we haven’t changed out of our new robes and jammies except to shower. For Christmas, I gave the boys matching hooded “Rocky” robes with monogrammed initials on the chest. Now their father/son brawls can have the feel of official boxing matches :)

The Rocky robes were the perfect gifts! Don’s old robe was already one waistline short of a picnic. So, as a little hint on his gift tag I wrote, “Because it’s meant to wrap around you.” *LOL* And James would walk around the house wrapped in his comforter, dragging it all over the kitchen floor and back to bed. Gross!

Well, I think he likes the robe much better. He even wore it on the drive home from my aunt’s house on Christmas Eve and hasn’t taken it off since. I’ve created a monster bum… a bumster!

Don did well on his gifts, too, without any hints from me. Among other things, he got me a shelf-mount stereo for my craft corner. But my favorite is this cheesy alarm clock that projects the time on the ceiling and plays nature sounds. I fall asleep to the soothing sounds of the ocean and wake up to bursts of thunder and lightning! Freakin’ cool!

We agreed to sub-$100 gifts this year. And no jewelry; I’m not much for bling. I remember telling James after seeing a diamond ring commercial, “If your father spends that much money on my gift, it better have a large LCD or telephoto lens!”

This holiday season felt so strange! My side of the family usually has a big family reunion feast on Christmas Eve decked with everything one can eat from the air, land, and sea. Following the opening of gifts at midnight is a second feast or Noche Buena consisting of traditional Filipino pan de sal, hamon, queso de bola, and cacao.

This year we had traditional Noche Buena food, but the feast prior to that was not my family’s renowned mega-buffet. My aunt didn’t even break out her industrial chaffing dishes on Christmas Eve! My uncle (her husband) is recovering from a heart attack and the gathering was much smaller this year.

The family reunion was incomplete. My sister and her family are in the west coast. My parents were flying back from the west coast on Christmas Day. My SIL had to work. My relatives from Pittsburgh weren’t there. Even my other relatives in NJ who usually have a large gathering went away to Florida this year. And we opened gifts way before midnight on account of the younger kids falling asleep.

On my DH’s side of the family, the usual Christmas pig out will be different this year. My MIL is down for the count due to health reasons so my other SIL and I are in charge of food. And the venue was moved to my BIL’s apartment.

Maybe it’s the weather that’s turning the holidays topsy turvy. It feels more like Easter than Christmas on the east coast this year. I dunno… it just felt weird from the get-go and so I didn’t even bother to get a manicure or pluck my eyebrows for Christmas Eve.

Christmas cards for my DH and DS. The pic was taken on our first Christmas together. Thought I’d make a card with it since we’re celebrating a milestone Christmas this year.

Since James was part of the package when I married the groom, he deserves a milestone card, too. I used then and now pics of him from the first summer I became his mom and a pic from our anniversary cruise this year.

We took a slight detour this year from the usual tree sighting in Rockefeller Center. On a whim, we decided to see the Christmas lights in Atlantic City instead! It’s an unseasonably warm night so we strolled down the boardwalk sipping Starbucks lattes. (We hadn’t walked more than 2 blocks when we came upon another Starbucks!) And I have to say, there sure are a lot of gamblers on Christmas weekend!