The Day After

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  It's funny to me that we do all the decorating, baking, cooking, shopping, wrapping and set up and then BAM it's all over in one day.  We kind of like to lay low and enjoy the house and decorations through New Year's Day.  Then I start packing it up and putting my regular old BORING not shiny, non glittery stuff back in the house.  

Christmas Eve we went to my Dad's house for the afternoon.  We SWORE no presents to each other  - but I had some old photos enlarged and framed for him and had him a custom photo calendar made plus I had an emergency gift card in my purse just in case he flaked on the deal.  And, he did - he had three big gift bags full of things for us.  Thank goodness for that emergency gift card!  :)  He always buys us groceries - fun things to eat up through the New Year - fancy cheese, carbonated grape juice, chocolates, fruit, Poppycock and stuff like that  - it's always fun to see what he finds.  This year included Spicy Pickled Peaches and Hot Pickled Okra.  So, we will have to try those.....

Christmas afternoon my Mom and Step Dad came over for dinner.  Our kitchen table is a) small, b) in the small-ish kitchen and c) covered up in my flea market crap right now, so I set up a table in the living room for us.  I only do this on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.  It makes me almost giddy to pick out what tablecloth I am going to use and then set the table.  I really need to get the kitchen where I can use my tablecloths all the time.  They make me so dad gum happy!  

This is the large tablecloth that Kim sent me in a swap.  It's long so it fit the long banquet table I used. I used the white dishes and gold silverware and then added in those fun red designed glasses I thrifted for 10¢ each this summer.  I added a paper straw because well, PAPER STRAWS ARE FUN. I normally make a favor or a treat bag for each setting, but I ran out of time, so one sad little peppermint was all they got.   I had all my aluminum pitchers at the Flea market until one day I realized that I could actually USE them, so I brought home the gold, green and red thinking those would get me through all the holidays.  

The centerpiece was an old red doughbowl filled with red and green ornaments and some gold glass garland.  

Yes, that is a minion in the center.  Kevin is our holiday mascot - our Elf on a Shelf.  He gets into all sorts of places and things.  He's onery.

Anyway, my table isn't that spectacular, but I had fun using my stuff.  After dinner we took it all down and opened presents.  We had decided to make it a small gift holiday - not too much and not too expensive.  All was going pretty good until we all got envelopes of CASH and then the Bean got a 32" TV.  Uh, here's a candle?  A book?  Whomp Whomp.  But, who am I to say you can't buy your grandson a giant TV?  Not me!

Well, there's dishes to do and things to put up and food to eat, so I better get busy on that.  Think I'll start with the leftovers!  :D  That cash is burning a hole in our pocket, so I wouldn't be surprised to see us out and about in a bit too.  Oh, well, it's Christmas - dishes can wait!  

Happy Day After!