Random Photos from the Christmas Holidays

So who in the world would use my pool glasses at Christmas? There's something just not right about that. Seems like when the whole family is here, all glasses are fair game!

 The younger part of the winning "Team Eads"---all in our red at the 5th annual Family Trivia Party.

 This is the title page for "A Year of Memories" that we completed in December.

 This is the finished project---Jackie and Greg's newly remodeled kitchen. My brother, Ronnie did just about all of the work---with Greg, of course. I asked Greg how that went. He said that they "chatted" (if that's what men do) for about 10 minutes. Then the rest of the job was complete silence. This job required moving walls, floors, plumbing---just about everything was re-done. I love the glass tiles. The room is so much more open and functional than it was before.

 The refrigerator was our wedding gift to them.

 Mindy came in town to spend New Year's Eve with Jackie. Little did they know that they would be without power due to the tornado. They ended up going to Ronnie and Janet's to get ready.

 Aunt Marie was hosting a dinner party for friends on New Year's Eve. Butch and I stopped by to have a drink with all of them before going to Jeanne's for our party.

 Fancy napkin fold with a poinsetta bloom tucked inside---very pretty.

 Christmas bulbs look good in just about any container. Makes everything more festive.

 I love these chair bookends that Sandy gave me for Christmas. I really made a haul this year. I only snapped a few photos as I had already put everything away before I thought about it.

 This is a "sit-upon" to use while stitching. It's supposed to relieve back ache and tension. The jury's still out on this one.

 Chris gave me this gorgeous doily---handmade---direct from Germany from their recent trip. It is so intricate and beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice.

 The accompanying brochure is just as beautiful---but sadly, all in German so I can't read it. Hey maybe Mindy can read it---after all, she had 7 years of German!

Darn, I thought I had rotated this photo. This is the care label for the doily. I don't know what 30 degrees equals in fahrenheit but I think I can figure out what ironing on the left side means---most likely it means to iron on the "wrong" side.

Our trip to St. Louis was a lot of fun. We arrived on Wednesday and had dinner with Walter and Chris at the new Italian restaurant, Charlie Guido's. Afterwards, I went to Jeanne's and had a really fun visit with Janet, Judy and Chrissy. I loved seeing Jeanne's house decorated for Christmas. I should have taken some pictures.

On Thursday, Jeanne and I spent the day together, antiquing and having lunch. Thursday night, Chris and I went to see Tran Siberian Orchestra. It was fabulous. I hadn't seen them in about 5 or 6 years. I was just sorry that Ranya didn't play with them this year. She plays the cello and has performed with them for the past 5 years. The concert was 3 hours long. It is a rock concert of mammoth proportions!

Friday, I picked Mindy up from the airport. We dodged a tornado (barely) and had lunch on "the hill" with Jackie, Greg, Ron and Janet. We spent New Year's Eve with Jeanne, Jim, Ron, Janet, Matt, Sharon, Jess, Mike and Max. We played poker all night and had a great time---even though I lost $10.00. Butch said he lost about the same amount. Mom's red poker purse didn't bring me luck. Maybe next time---I'm not giving up on her yet.

The holidays are over. I did purchase a new Christmas tree for next year. The one I've had for the past 15 years is just plain tired and looked it---and was shedding badly. Ditto the garland in the entry. The new tree is another 9 footer and is flocked. I was pretty excited about it, but Butch moaned, Mindy made a face, the little girls didn't react, but when pressed, said they didn't like those. The only one that seems excited is Stephanie. Maybe she'll be the only one I let sit in the living room next year. I have visions of how beautiful it's going to be.

After all the partying, it's hard to believe that it's time for the next party---my birthday. Usually it creeps up on me. But this year, all the gifts have started to roll in---and it's only January 4th!!! So far, I've gotten  a gift card from Talbots for 15% off my purchase (not good enough---so I won't use this one), $10 gift card from Macy's, $20 gift card from Coldwater Creek, a free calculator and pen set plus 20% off my entire purchase at Katy's Hallmark, a gift card for a free order of Bang Bang Shrimp from the Bonefish Grill and an email letting me know that my gift card for a free drink from Starbucks is on the way. No telling how much more free stuff I'll be getting. I'll let you know.