Ten Things Tuesday

Yes, I've been a blog slacker lately, but I did have a wonderful holiday weekend. I sincerely hope that all of you enjoyed your holiday, whatever you may celebrate!

Ten Things From This Holiday Season:

1. My slow-roasted turkey - This was my first time hosting the holidays and I was very excited to try a slow-roast recipe that I received from a message board acquaintance. I started it late on the 23rd, babysat it overnight, and it was done the afternoon of the 24th. I apologize for not taking a picture; I don't think there would've been time before my mom started inhaling all the skin. It was incredible, though, and it was a shame to pull it apart to add to my homemade chili (which was also incredible). Next year, I believe we will switch the order, so that we do the turkey/stuffing/potatoes/fruit salad/veggies on Christmas Eve and the turkey chili on Christmas Day. Mmmm.

2. Five stockings - Our holiday was relatively simple, given that the only attendees were my mom, my sister, Jersey, Max (the kitten), and me. What I love is that it was a little bigger than last year's gathering of three, and it was my first Christmas with the love of my life.3. The newest addition - Max, our proposal kitten, handled all of the chaos quite well. I did my best to ease him into everything...I started with the around-the-house decorations, added the tree skirt and stand, added the tree, then added the ornaments. He inspected everything, but didn't get into too much trouble. He was also spoiled with attention and had lots of fun with his new laser pointer. I think Max's only complaint would be the holiday sweater that my sister put on him. Poor guy.

4. The slightest hint of a white Christmas - On Christmas night, probably around 9:00 or so, my mom left my house to return to her own. We closed the door behind her, just to have her knock at it a few moments later. She giggled and waved us outside to see the little snow flurries that were floating toward the ground. It really wasn't much (especially compared to the stuff that actually stuck the week before), but the timing was nice.

5. Presents - Ok, this picture isn't great (none of them are...they're cell phone pics and I don't even have a spiffy cell phone), but there are a LOT of gifts under that tree. It would look even more impressive if not for the large number of "envelope gifts", including some gift cards and IOUs. One of the biggest hits: a console that combines the original Nintendo and Super Nintendo, and an assortment of used games (all of the Super Marios, Zelda, etc.) to be played on the console. Quite a blast to the past.

6. Christmas movies - As an early Christmas present to each other, Jersey and I bought a 47" LCD HDTV in mid-December. We've certainly watched lots of NFL football on it since then, but this was our first time watching DVDs and it was nice to have my mom and sister there for the fun. Our movies of choice? It's a Wonderful Life, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, and Love Actually.

7. A break from work - Well, I don't really have a strict work schedule, but I do stick to the normal office hours for the most part. Having the office officially closed at noon on Christmas Eve and all day on Christmas and the day after, meant that I could avoid work guilt-free... and nobody even called my cell phone to bug me! My mom had that time off as well (and she is actually required to be there during office hours; she's salaried, I'm not) and my sister was on her vacation. Jersey did have to work on the 24th, 26th, and 27th, but it wasn't too bad.

8. Holiday cards - I really love receiving holiday cards and it was fun to display them in this way (I put the picture cards on the fridge). I'm horrendous at doing any sort of keep-in-touch, thinking-of-you thing, but I'd really love to send out cards next year. Maybe my sister can take a nice picture of Jersey, Max, and me. It would help me develop the habit before we have kids and could be fun.


9. Christmas music - I can't stand the stations that start playing 24 hours of Christmas music in early November, but once Thanksgiving has passed, I am all over the holiday CDs! I absolutely love Martina McBride's and I made myself a good mix CD this year. With few exceptions, I love the slower carols more than the upbeat ones and O Holy Night is definitely my favorite.

10. Jersey's birthday - I know this isn't technically part of the holidays, but it ranks high in this household. Jersey's special day was on Sunday and we started with some homemade eggs benedict. Then she opened up her gifts and we watched four great NFL games. Finally, we surprised her by taking her bowling (where we could also watch the Chargers/Broncos game) and then played pool for a couple of hours. She doesn't like a lot of hoopla for her birthday, so she enjoyed the simplicity of it all. Yay!