The Holidays, They Are a'Happenin'

With my Mom gone, I decided to host Christmas Eve at my place. I figured I'd decorate, make dinner (nothing too impressive that my nephews would turn up their noses at) and do the gift exchange.

Cleaning, putting away my "normal" stuff and dragging my Christmas stuff from the storage unit took almost the entire week after Thanksgiving. But, to my surprise, the exercise (complete with Christmas music) really got me in the holiday spirit. here are some highlights:

This ceramic tree belonged to my grandmother. I love the cracked glass marbles.



















Yup, these days I put up a genuine 60's aluminum Christmas tree, complete with color wheel. Oh, and this picture doesn't show it, but I also put a toy train around the base that acts like a xylophone, dragging a little clapper behind the engine to strike color-coded keys laid out to form songs in the track. Christmas Camp at its finest!


I have a collection of cheesy snowglobes - some plastic, some glass. My thing is I like the snowglobe to be an unusual shape (i.e., Santa's belly, snowman's head, clock, diamond, etc.) not just a boring stand alone globe with a scene inside. The Avon Nativity sits atop my Ganoe bookcase.


The top of my entertainment center features my Liberty Falls Santas of the World collection. Note the stocking I've had literally as long as I can remember. I have a collection of Christmas Pez dispensers on the left speaker and a collection of nutcrackers on the right one.


Here are some family photos from Christmas Eve:

My oldest nephew, Josh.


Nephew #2, Andrew aka "The Quiet One."


Hard as it is to believe, this scrawny youngling is related to me - my youngest nephew with the most Irish name: Patrick.


And finally, my sole sibling: Tom.

Dinner (garden salad, baked rigatoni, 5-cheese garlic bread, obligatory eggnog and a baked peppermint cheesecake for dessert) went well and the 'Phews were on their best behavior.

I spent Christmas Day visiting friends and dropping off my gifts for them. This carried over onto the following day. Then, Tuesday it was back to work and "the real world." (Not to be confused with the whiny, alcohol-and-lust-driven MTV series. I'm WAY out of their demographic!

Now, I just have to find something to do for New Year's Eve...