How was your Christmas?

[Fandango 1,440]

Mine was great! Spent it with my family....we decided to do 'low-key'. Usually it's very formal, with friends over and we'd be cooking all day. Several years ago, we just started going to the club for brunch so that my mother and I didn't have to cook. It's cool making new traditions! But this year was even MORE low key than going out to eat. We woke up, exchanged gifts, went to church, came home...went in the pool! Some friends came over but we were very cas (as in casual) ...no fancy clothes, no formality. Just real.

Church was cool....I love the Pastor at my church...he's so great. He's Italian and from NY just like us...so we relate very much to him. And as mass was over, he said 'don't slip on the snow outside!' and we all laughed. Then we go outside and he's got a snow machine and he's sitting in a sleigh with his dogs as reindeer. lol It was so funny.

It stormed really bad in the afternoon and several TORNADOS ripped thru central fl. The weirdest bit was it ruined a few buildings at Embry-Riddle...an aeronautical uni in Daytona. It ripped the shingles and insulation off one of the buildings, and underneath it across the whole frame was written MERRY CHRISTMAS. Obviously the building was erected during the Christmas season. But it was weird still.

Anyways, everyone's safe and sound....the storm passed. And *I* made a turkey! wooo hooo!

But D is really sick and may have pneumonia, so send him some get well mojo so he doesn't have to go to the hospital

Anyways, how was YOUR Christmas?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

It was so nice,had the whole family over. Carol made some traditional brazilian dishes,champagne rice and farofa with a HUGE ham mmmmmmmm and of course a great game of jenga.

And WOW, my wife is soooooooooooo pretty!

Edited December 26, 2006 by CarolsMarc

[Traviesa 0]

It was weird...bittersweet I suppose. Of course, the whole thing was tempered with the mourning of the passing of a member of our family-Christmas was a fun time for Willie, to watch him open gifts was always so amusing, and he always had a "favorite" that he would not let go of for the entire day. Christmas isn't going to be the same without him around. Of course, then something good had to go and happen and lighten my mood, lol. I received an amazing Christmas surprise in the mail. My old car insurance company just finally finished cancelling my policy and evidently I was due a refund for some miscalculations that they had done. Anyway, I got a $600 check from the insurance company. As some of you may know, I have a lot of financial difficulties, so much so that when my lease is up after February I'm moving in with my grandma in order to get my debt paid off. Anyway, I was still really concerned about these last few months because I was coming up like $500 short...so this just completely relieved that burden from me and now I don't have to worry about bills for a good long while! I was even able to buy a Christmas gift for my mom and dad-I got them a gift card to Outback. And since my company gave each of us a $200 bonus, I was able to take my grandma out to a nice dinner... So Christmas giving worked out for me, after all. Christmas day had kind of a weird start. I slept over at my parents house and my dad was in a really bad mood (he's completely lost since Willie has been gone) so at first it was like we weren't even going to open presents. But finally he came around and I got some nice things from my parents-a good Calphalon set of pots and pans (they've been setting my future kitchen up little by little over the years) and some kitchen items, as well as some cute clothes and gift cards. All pretty low key but then again, there's not really much I needed or wanted. Grandma came over around 11. I prepared a good half of Christmas dinner-my famous green beans, Watergate salad, stovetop stuffing, and the dessert which was apple crisp. Then we just hung out and watched the traditional Christmas movie-White Christmas, played some games, took a nap...yeah it was pretty good. Didn't want to come to work today, that's for sure...

I forgot to mention another important aspect to things. I saw the Nativity movie on Saturday with my mom, and it was amazing, and it really helped me try and remember to celebrate Christmas for it's true meaning, and forget about all the other selfish things I've got occupying my mind...

Edited December 26, 2006 by Heina

[Jasman0717 9]

Ours was primo

[Savanphil 3]

It was Awesome!! This was our first Christmas together in one Country :dance:

On Christmas Eve we went to my grandmother's house and all the family ewas there. We ate, laughed, joked, watched TV. Then it was time to exchange gifts and pollyanas (sp?). After that we played a game of UNO, (a new electronic game without cards). After that we played Yahtzeee, this is one our all time favorites.

On Christmas Day we went to his family's house and had a BIG Jamaican breakfast...YUMMO I still can't believe how much I ate. We opened gifts and later watched the Disney Parade and took a long nap then We freshened up and got ready for dinner. A BIGGGGG DInner....we had everything, both Jamaican and American cuisine. I didn't even eat that much on Thanksgiving. It was fun laughing and joking sharing and caring with family and friends.

There was so much love.

Edited December 26, 2006 by Savanphil

[RaspberrySwirl 20]

Got off an a bad start. We had a flat tire on our way to D.'s sister's house.

But it was cool after that.

She had a bunch of nummy appetizers made (Stuffed mushrooms ftw!) and I had a load of cookies with me.

We just sat around and talked mostly. Had a couple of grasshoppers. Yum.

Opened presents and took pictures, the usual stuff.

D. and I opened our gifts the day before since his required a bunch of installation and mine was an iPod so I got started on importing my CD collection.

['my_destiny' 0]

we had family dinner on the eve of xmas then had karaoke..then of the day of xmas, we spent it with other relatives and friens who came to greet us.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

It was very nice. The only odd thing was the air conditioner running.