Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Festivities....

Christmas Eve was a scheduled day full of things to do and places to go, yet a somewhat spontaneous day too. Tess and I always say we are very laid back, organized people, when truthfully, we're both a little high strung and anything but organized when we're together. Neither one of us can seem to keep up with our schedules or routines, and we get a little short tempered. We get a little side tracked. We had a few short errands to run on Christmas Eve Day, but before we could get out of the house, we decided to dress alike for our errands. Flannel pj shirts (mine red and black, hers white and black), Uggs (mine are FUggs), Santa hats and leggings. I'm not kidding.





Tess wanted a Christmas Photo of her and her child, Tuckerman!
(Now we are running late.)





After all of our errands, and a spontaneous stop at the bar (we had to go to a bar for a beer, just to show off how absolutely ridiculous we looked), we returned to the house to Anne, and two of the most beautiful grandchildren in the world!!

(It could be a really good thing that Tess is moving out of town. I am going to miss her like crazy, but her being 21 and us being together 24/7 could be dangerous!)

Time to make cookies for Santa!














We sang Happy Birthday to Jesus!




Then......we simply hung out. Miracle on 34th Street was playing in the background while we played and chatted until dinner was ready. It was chilly outside, so it was a perfect setting for a fire and the Christmas Tree and family at the house.

Then.....DINNER!

The pictures really aren't pretty, but the menu included.......

Beef Tenderloin
Cheesy Potatoes
Roasted Carrots
Salad









We had a great evening making cookies for Santa and spending time together. Later in the evening, Mike and Tess and I (okay, Mike was actually sleeping) watched movies early into Christmas morning. Elf, The Family Stone and The Holiday were on our list. Finally.....bedtime.

Christmas Morning was perfect. We slept in a bit, then I was up, making coffee, lighting the fire and candles, turning on the Christmas music. Making things cozy for when Tess and Mike got up. :) We already had our family Christmas with a gift exchange, but Santa still comes for who ever sleeps at the house on Christmas Eve, so the stockings were full and Santa brought Tess some Cowgirl Boots for her move to Dallas!

Breakfast was Pumpkin Bread and coffee while we opened gifts by the fire. The doggies got a treat and a new toy in their stockings. I was bad at taking pictures.....I was totally "In The Moment". :)

Tess left for her dad's side of the family's Annual Christmas Brunch, and Mike and I went to the movies. I really wanted to see Les Miserables, but didn't plan ahead, and they were sold out. I was totally excited to see "This is 40" though, so we did. I giggled through the whole thing. I have the maturity of a......uh, well a......just someone much younger than myself I guess. Maybe it was funny because it mimics so much of my life. My immature life. Ironically, Christmas lunch was Twizzlers and Popcorn at the movies. Holla!!

Then we headed to Mike's folks for a short visit before going to my mom's.
There is ALWAYS a yummy plate of food at my Mother-In-Laws!

A little turkey, taters, green beans, dressing and fruit. Just a small plate, then two, un photographed Peanut Butter Balls and coffee.





Then to my mom's house, for perhaps the most ridiculous Christmas Night ever! It all started when the toppings from the frozen pizza (that's right) fell onto the bottom of the oven, and her cozy, little (VERY little), apartment filled with smoke in about 60 seconds, maybe less. We opened windows and doors (I mean the window, and the door) and let the freezing cold air in. That was fun, really, it was. There were 11 of us there. Then, miraculously, one of her two Christmas Trees (I can't believe I didn't take a picture of ANYTHING!) fell over! Almost all of the ornaments fell off! We all scrambled to the floor to start the clean up! Wait. Just my mom and I did that. The tree stands all of about 15" tall on a table, so I guess it wasn't THAT dramatic, but it was loud and obnoxious and funny when it happened. Right before the Christmas Tree fell over, someone stepped on the dog, (or something like that) and it yelped. It's a chihuahua and it's the same color as the wood floors, so nobody really sees it. Then we played my mom's version of "White Elephant", but I don't even think I can write about how that went down. We didn't call it "White Elephant", we rolled dice, but nobody knows why, and at the end, we all exchanged with someone else, if we wanted to. I came home with a snow globe. Mike came home with a cracked coffee mug. Tess came home with a bottle of 1999 Merlot. True Story.

I vowed to track my food for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which I did, but I am not proud to share the points total with any of you, but I will.

Christmas Eve. I have eaten my 26, my 49 Points Allowance, then another 9. I'm in the red here, folks.





Christmas Day. Now I am in the hole 44 points. I would need to exercise like a crazy woman to make up for that.



Was it worth it?

Would I do it again the same way?

I'll let you know when I weigh in on Friday.

I did have a Very Merry Christmas. I enjoyed sharing a lot of yummy food and spirits with family and friends. I made some really good choices, and I made a lot of choices due to Christmas traditions and old habits that I have not yet succeeded at breaking.

I will never quit. I got in a late night walk on Christmas, and an early morning walk on Wednesday. Thursday I plan to walk on the treadmill for three hours. Just kiddin. Seeing if you were paying attention. An hour will do.





THREE WEEKS AND I AM GOING TO THE BEACH!!





I do hope you all had a very Blessed and Merry Christmas!


"love the life you live, live the life you love"