Rocking Christmas

Rachel and mom dancing while dinner cooks.

I think this was the best photo of the night. We've had Rachel here since yesterday afternoon. She went home tonight and while the visit was nice, I find myself wondering how we managed her by ourselves for so long. I was completely exhausted when she left. MLTL wasn't too bad, but then he's had my sister in law to torment for the past week. She's counting the hours until liftoff tomorrow. Can't say I blame her.

Fresh horseradish encrusted beef tenderloin with port wine reduction was our main dish. It's tradition here. My first attempt at buying the bottle of port failed when the bag broke while placing it in the back of my brand new sleigh. Now my vehicle smells like a wino drives it and the reduction sauce cost twice as much money to cook.

My son's favorite dish of the night was the broccolini sauteed in olive oil with garlic and sea salt. It was pretty tasty. I had to cook it in two batches and I kept thinking I bought way too much, but there wasn't a stalk of it leftover, except what we'd saved my husband who was working overtime at the local airport. If you saw the news today, you know why he missed his chance to have dinner with his family. I'm just thankful everyone is alright and this potential tragedy never came to fruition. Maybe we just shouldn't have holiday flights. While I know today isn't everyone's religious holiday, I think Christian holidays are probably irresistible to these dirtbags. I saw on the news that the suspect has third degree burns...I can only hope they're in an area where even if he did get his 72 virgins, he wouldn't have a way to entertain them. Now that would be a fitting end to his tale.


Alright, off my soapbox. True confession: I may be a bad mother. There I am laughing at Rachel stealing my beer. What can I say? Sam Adams Winter Lager IS a tasty brew. Who can blame her? She also stole Sara's cocktail and took a giant swig. You need many pairs of eyes, like a fly, in order to watch this child. Sheesh. You'd have thought as much liquor as she swiped tonight, it would have calmed her down. It did not. It just made her silly. But you know, she is 20 years old. I don't think it harmed her any.


It' wouldn't have been a holiday without a visit from my friend, Mr. Mocha Latte. He was soaked from the torrential rains we had today. He came in to dry off, warm up, eat a little smoked peppered turkey breast and have a good lie down. He went home after the rains stopped and his 4 hour nap was over.

All in all it was a wonderful day with lots of laughter and love. That's what it's all about. The house is clean again and ready for several women to descend upon it tomorrow morning. They'll be bringing their spinning wheels, fiber and good cheer. I'm looking forward to the break and a reason to spin some yarn.

I hope you all had a great holiday!