And So The Holiday Continued

So we wound down from our Christmas Eve party earlier than ever this year.  Without the multitude of heavily drinking friends our house was cleared out by 11 p.m.  Unheard of!  All that was left was our little family and Jimmy's parents, who were staying the night.

Once we were sure Madison was asleep it was time for Jimmy and I to play Santa, with Mikayla sitting at the top of the stairs as lookout in case Madison woke up.

The girls let us sleep in until at least 7:30 (yawn) and are always so good about letting me grab my coffee and have one cigarette before the ripping and trashing begins.  They had a great time opening their loot and both were incredibly happy with every single thing they got.

And of course Strudel (on a leash for our own protection and hers) got in on the action too!  I took some video of her opening her presents because I thought it was the most adorable thing.  She worked on this gift for a good 10 minutes until she'd ripped off nearly ever piece of wrapping paper to get at her stuffed babies inside.  You would think a dog would only do this when there was food hidden inside.  Not so for Strudel Doo!









A few minutes later she was still at it!

 The girls, both totally thrilled with what they'd just opened.  Mikayla, an iPod Touch, Madison, a Razor scooter.

Soon after, it was time for my in-laws to leave and time for us to head to my brother's house, nearly 2 hours from here.  Things were so calm when we first arrived, and then my sister-in-law, Pat's, family descended upon us!  It was a full house but lots of fun.

The kids got more presents...

 

Pat leans over to give Gianna a kiss.  Awwww.  Her cousin, Donna, behind her and her aunt Connie on the couch.

Anything from Aeropostale was well received this year.

Ah, but the excitement in the air was palpable.  Look at the expressions of pure joy on their faces!

To me, Jill looks like she's finally given in to the fact that I will constantly stick a camera in her face.  Jimmy, on the other hand, kinda looks like he wants to kill me.

And then there's Dad, looking like he'd rather be sleeping.

Then again, maybe he was sleeping.  Ya know, with his eyes open.  It happens.  Freaky, but it does happen.

I spent some time out back by the pool to smoke.  This is the view into my brother's screened porch, then into the family room, and beyond that into the kitchen.  See that potted pineapple plant right next to the screen door?  It pricked heeheehee... I said prick me in the ass at least two times when I was going through the door.  Ow!

It was time again to corner Jill in the kitchen.  Oops, didn't realize I had it on video, but I'm so glad I did, because the next thing I know, my brother lets out this ridiculous Santa-like laugh and there's no way I could have described it.  Why was he laughing?  Because one of the young cousins (although at 13, come on) thought onions grew on trees.  I shit you not people!

A little while later, while standing in the kitchen with Jeff and Pat, I noticed a bit of a fire in the oven.  I didn't announce it though, instead just calmly said, "Hey Pat, do you have any baking soda?"

Pat:  "Yeah, right there in that cabinet near your head."

Me:  *Grabs baking soda and hands to Pat.*  "You might want to throw some of this in the oven.  It's on fire."

Pat:  "What?  Holy shit!"

Jeff:  "What?  Holy shit!  Don't open the oven door!"

At this point I nearly laughed, because it seems my brother was under the impression that if we opened the door and fed oxygen to that tiny fire there would be a fiery explosion of epic proportions, not unlike those seen in the movie Backdraft.

Me:  "Open the door and toss some in."

Pat:  *Opens the door and throws some in.  Closes the door.  Opens the door and throws some more in for good measure.*



I wish I could show you pictures of all the yummy baked goods we had there, but unfortunately, my pictures came out lousy.  So, you can't see the homemade butter cookies, or the Italian honey cookies or even the cookies driven down from NY by one of Pat's relatives.  The only pictures I have is of these...

That there is Jill's very favorite dessert.  The almost-holy cannoli.  Oh my, that totally rhymed.  I was good and only had a third of one.  If I didn't have hypoglycemia I probably would have snarfed up the whole plate.  Of course, I would have had to fight an angry mob of hungry Italians to do it and believe me, that would not be pretty.





Pssst! If you love me, you might love my stupid sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!