A Rainy Day Before

Jill And Drew...Ready To Party

Enjoying The Abundant Sunshine

It's now 7:30 and I have been the only one up for an hour.  It's gray and wet outside the sliding glass doors, no snow for us this Christmas.  Everyone is still sleeping.  Jill and Drew were out partying last night at a neighbor's house and did not get home till after midnight.  And Evie was up until they got home because Hayden and Halle had four girlfriends over till then.  I chickened out and went to bed around 11:30.  Evie toughed it out like a good granny.

Like the rest of the United States, all of us hit the shopping trail yesterday, either for presents or food, braving the traffic and crowds, on the biggest shopping day of the year other than Black Friday,  I suppose.  Maybe today will be worst for those who have not planned and left everything until the day before Christmas.  Jill's plan was to leave early, perhaps around 8:00; they left about 11:00, more sensible I suppose.

Wegman's 

So all the gals, all four of them, went off to Wegman's for a massive shopping day, enjoying the rush, having lunch at their fantastic food bar and picking up dinner for us, a pizza and some sushi for the girls.  While they were gone, Drew and I stopped at the car wash, as my car was a mess from our drive on Thursday.  For 12 bucks, I got a deluxe wash, and the place was packed with people getting the inside/out special for 40 bucks.  We then stopped at Best Buy where Drew picked out his Christmas present from Jill, a pair of noise canceling head phones.  It's always nice to get what you want for Christmas.  We then stopped at Total Wines for libations for our dinners and gifts for Jill and Drew's friends.  One hundred and twenty bucks later, we pushed our cart out and found room in the back of the Subaru for all the libations.  I bought a couple of six packs of Goose 312 Urban Wheat Ale, one for Drew and one to take home. It's a beer we grew to like when we were in Dallas for Thanksgiving.

Granny And Hayden After Tidying Up

When we got home, the girls were still shopping so we had lunch, leftover ziti and Evie's vegetable soup.  The girls got home around 2:30 and it took awhile to put everything away.  I then took a nap while Evie and the girls cleaned and organized their rooms, tidying them up so to speak, and then wrapped presents.  Drew had some errands to run, so he was gone for a couple of hours, finally stopping at Harris Teeter to pick up the rib roast for Christmas dinner.

Wrapping Presents With Coco

When Drew returned, he and Jill wrapped presents while Evie and the girls finished up and I took it easy, reading and watching TV.  I still don't have much energy to do anything other than lie around on the couch.

Granny And The Cookie Girls

Around 5:30, Evie helped Jill get the appetizers ready for their party at their neighbors.  And by 6:15, they had their wagon packed with beer, wine, gifts, and appetizers and they were off a couple of blocks to enjoy the evening.  We then had a quick dinner of sushi and pizza, while organizing for the cookie decorating, a tradition whereever Evie goes.

Christmas Cookies

Ugly Cookies

Four of the girls friends came over and had a fun time decorating cookies, seeing who could make the prettiest and the ugliest.  They then hung out upstairs until they got hungry around 10:30 and came down and finished off the pizza.  They were all in rare form, so Evie taught them how to play a raucous game of spoons.

I went to bed listening to them screaming and yelling as they slammed their hands down in defeat or victory. They ended the night playing flip the bottle, Evie being the big winner to everyone's delight. The girls did not leave until 12:30 and Jill and Drew got home at 1:00.  A fun night for everyone except me, the stick in the mud.