Christmas Begins

Well, we're just about ready for Christmas. As of Friday, everyone's Christmas shopping was done (finally! I hate shopping at the mall during the holidays; makes me feel claustrophobic), so we could focus on the white elephant party that evening. The party was a lot of fun, and we all enjoyed it. We played a couple of games, including paper telephone and movie charades, and towards the end we watched "Napoleon Dynamite." Mom tried a wassail recipe, and oh, it was delicious! Nothing like hot apple cider to brighten a cold and otherwise gloomy day. The elephant gifts went well, and I got a goldfish in the process. No, it wasn't dead, and in fact Artie (the fish that I've been forbidden to re-name) seems to be doing splendidly in his new glass bowl with fish-friendly water. One of the gifts that evening was the infamous mannequin head that Mandy calls "Erica." She and Bethany found it in a box years ago, and the thing creeps me out. It was a gag gift last year, and this year she made a comeback and is now back in our house. Cliff loved the Vienna sausage we gave him (I had the idea of putting it in a Victoria's Secret bag to see if I could scare anyone with it. It didn't work, but it was fun anyway), and people liked the ball hoop you could put on your head... well, as long as you're not wearing it and become the target. All in all, a good evening. The next day, Seth and Mandy went to a birthday party and saw "Avatar" with some friends afterwards, which they enjoyed.

With all the presents wrapped and such, now it's time to focus on the food aspect of Christmas. Mom bought two pumpkins, and since yesterday I've been helping her mash them up to make real pumpkin pie. So far, one pie has been made, and it looks delicious; we're going to try it out on the family on Christmas Eve. Not only that, but we're having the entire Bowman family over on Sunday (since their two oldest sons are visiting from Texas during that time), and so Mom's got the menu planned out. It looks to be a good yet busy weekend coming up.