There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays

Despite getting up early this morning, I actually didn't do a whole lot. There wasn't a whole lot left to do. I finished the baking on Tuesday and the wrapping and the last of the presents yesterday morning. Spent the morning watching Bugs Bunny's Christmas Tales, the bizarre French Christmas fantasy Here Comes Santa Claus, and the classic It's a Wonderful Life. I also browsed through the Good Eats - The Early Years book Lauren gave me yesterday.

I got bored around noon and decided to go for a walk. Since I figured I wasn't going to get in until late, I also gave Miss Ellie her cupcakes (she loved them) and dropped my neighbors' bread and card on their front door.

I went around the park again, following almost exactly the same path I did yesterday. Remembered my camera this time. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, and I wanted to get some photographic evidence of this storm before it's all gone. I got some great shots of the view of the frozen river from the park, the apartment building on the border of Collingswood and Oaklyn across from the railroad tracks, Manor Avenue itself, the tracks under a layer of snow, and the gigantic, implement-sharp icicles hanging off mine and my neighbors' roofs.

Had lunch after that and listened to my Perry Como and Barbara Streisand Christmas LPs and got impatient waiting for Rose and Craig. They finally showed up at quarter after 2. Thank goodness there was no traffic going to or from Cape May County and the sky and the roads were crystal-clear. Cape May County did get some snow, but not quite as much as we did, and it looked lovely against the lemony late afternoon sun.

We made a quick stop at Winterwood on Route 9 in Rio Grande. Rose and Craig wanted to pick up some Christmas ornaments for the Camden County side of the family. Winterwood is the wonderful Christmas shop in a former farmhouse, the oldest in Cape May County. The place is so old, it has it's own ghost. Rose and Craig chose ornaments from the stuffed-full racks and shelves that lined the old wood walls. Having finished my shopping already, I just browsed. I almost regret being done. I saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ornament Lauren would have loved, and a Hello Kitty popping out of a present that reminded me of Amanda.

We finally made it to Mom and Dad's house around quarter after 4. Mom was the only one there when we arrived, but Anny, Dad, Keefe, and Anny's sons Skylar and Collyn got home soon after. Everyone was fine. Keefe's getting so tall and strong! Like I told him, I'm not used to looking UP at him.

I played with Skylar and his cute little Santa and Reindeer tic-tac-toe set while Mom set up dinner and chatted with Anny, Rose, and Craig and Return of the Jedi ran on Spike TV. We all sat down to dinner around 6ish. Daddy grilled lobster tails and some absolutely marvelous fish cakes one of the men who work on the fishing boat he's a captain of gave him. Mom roasted pork tenderloin and made maple-glazed carrots, potato rolls, and a green salad. We all stuffed ourselves absolutely silly.

I went upstairs with Skylar and Keefe to Keefe's "Man Cave" (aka his bedroom) while everyone else had coffee and gossiped in the kitchen. (I'm not terribly fond of coffee or gossip.) Skylar wanted to build something with Keefe's K-Nex. I laughed as the two haggled over choosing a K-Nex vehicle that Keefe could elaborate on. Keefe has always loved his K-Nex. He's had them since he was Skylar's age. Building is his true passion. He says he wants to be a Naval Architect when he gets out of school, and I think he could do it. He's certainly smart enough.

Skylar was thrilled when Daddy came upstairs and finally announced we could open gifts. He and his little brother Collyn opened theirs first. Collyn received a cute little puppy that lights up and says phrases when you push certain parts of his body. All of Skylar's other presents paled beside his big present from his grandparents - the Batcave, complete with lots of little elevators and levers and Batman and Robin figures. He absolutely adored that set and spent the rest of the evening playing with it.

Considering that both Mom and Anny complained about not having enough time to shop, I made a pretty damn good haul myself. Anny and her boys gave me a huge navy and white knit purse from Aeropostale and a nifty retro-party cookbook. Keefe gave me a $25 gift card to Borders. Rose and Craig gave me a gorgeous reprint of The Norman Rockwell Christmas Book, complete with 8 pictures to frame. (I have the original print, but I got it from a yard sale and it's in lousy shape.) Dad gave me comfy sleeper socks and a new eco-friendly Cuisinart 8-inch pan. Mom gave me two ornaments (a director's clapper and a pair of bright red and green "flip flops"), the Disney Snow White DVD/Blu Ray set, doll shoes and teddy bear sweaters for my toy collection, small journals, and a pair of fleece-lined flip-flop style slippers from LL Bean.

Collyn's father Mike arrived to take him home shortly after the presents were opened. We stayed a little bit longer, chatting with Mom, Dad, and Keefe and watching the all-day White Christmas marathon on AMC before finally heading out around quarter of 9.

It was after 10 when we finally got back into Oaklyn (having made a quick stop at a WaWa gas station to fill up Craig's van). We tried to stop at Jodie's and say "hi" to everyone at the party, but the only people left were Jodie's college-age sons, a few of their friends, and my friend Erica's mother Miss Helen. They just drove me home instead.

For those of you who will be too busy to get online tomorrow, I wish you the merriest of Christmases!