Hello on Christmas Day

Dear Friends,

Hope that all of you had a great day before Christmas as we did. We had much food, fun, and merriment all day long starting a little after 1 PM. I did take a morning nap even before Max went down for his nap.
It was kind of nice watching Max and his one year older friend, Henry, interact, resolve conflicts, and enjoy each other.

Our main meal of the day was a whole ham. I am not talking about the ones that the average person buys in the grocery stores. Visualize that you are in a buffet line at a carving station with a chef cutting off pieces of ham as the guests go through the line. Jason Heard, who works for a big time Boston restaurant brined, seasoned, and smoked this beast in the smoker at the restaurant where he works. We have never had a ham dinner with ham that tasted like this one.
Kyla went into her domestic goddess mode, and made scalloped potatoes which were so good, and a mushroomed concoction to put on the ham, and creamed pearl onions (which I had never had before). No one left this dinner table hungry.
Kyla was a little nervous that the trifle, which she made the day before, didn't come out like the family recipe which she was using said that it should. Again, everyone at the dinner table enjoyed it including Max.
Max continues to be such a good eater. Kevin and Kyla have been doing a great job insuring that Max eats or at least tries to eat everything.

The two sets of guests left the house around 8:30 PM. I was bobbing and weaving on the couch, and occasionally starting to snore. I didn't last much longer than 9:30 PM. I know that Linda stayed up until her usual 1 AM.

I am currently fighting a little cold which I don't know where I picked it up. My friend up the street in Pittsfield, who picked me up for our UNICO meeting, was fighting a three week cold, and he was on antibiotics on that particular evening. No one appears to be sick in this household. I hope that I don't pass it on to anyone here in Tewksbury. I was also thinking that I could have picked it up last weekend when I attended a memorial Mass for an Irish friend. I never liked the part of the Mass where you share the sign of piece by shaking hands of the people all around you. Last year many churches in Massachusetts banned this practice as the flu season was in full force. You may think that I am paranoid, but after being with my Mom in hospitals and nursing homes for the past two years, hand washing was and still is part of the daily routine of all workers and for people visiting their loved ones.

Well, today is the big day. Max will be up very soon. I haven't figured out how I am going to control Max so that he doesn't open all the presents which Kevin put under the tree last night. Many presents are for Max, but there are some presents for the adults too. Linda and Kevin and Kyla will be taking some amazing pictures before this day is over.

Our plan today is to open presents when everyone wakes up. Breakfast will contain eggs and some of the ham leftover from yesterday. Linda said that she would cook a beef tenderloin with all the fixings for Christmas Day dinner. The Celtics are playing an afternoon game.
At some point today, we will head over to the Brodeur's who are hosting a dinner for their relatives. Ginny wants to serve their traditional Christmas Day Prime Rib Dinner at 1 PM. As long as there are some kind of desserts left when we arrive, I will be very happy.

Speaking of the Brodeur's, I dropped some presents off for their grandchild yesterday. Jerry and Ginny gave me a little something for my birthday. I told them if the lottery ticket which they put in with my birthday card was a big winner that I would share the winnings with them. Well, the lottery card was a bust. The other gift, which was in the bag, was a tee shirt. They must be tired of me saying that "Life is Good!". This tee shirt says "Life is Crap!" There is a a picture of a bird pooping on a figure on the tee shirt. What a very thoughtful and appropriate gift for me.

Our other son, who is with his in-laws in Minnesota, said that they have 2 feet of snow in Lakeville, MN. He has been taking Isabelle out for some sliding.

Linda and I hope that everyone has a wonderful day with family and friends like the one which we are going to have today.
We wish that everyone has a very Merry Christmas.
For us who are lucky to have grandchildren, we will continue on with the tradition of spoiling our grandchildren rotten.
Talk to you soon. The Curley Lad