Christmas catch up

I think I'm recovered enough now to write about Christmas. First I need to mention that my brother saved Christmas when he brought over their tree after ours fell. Everyone came over to decorate it while Mom and I were at work - including Taylor, who calls it "My tree." They hadn't gotten around to putting it up since Vez was busy with the new baby and Taylor was sick. Vesna said maybe it was for a reason!

This was the first Christmas in a long time that I didn't have to wake up and come over, since I'm living at mom's now. But we did have to wait until around 9:30 for everyone to arrive. Mom started the bacon, which stunk up the whole house, and I went downstairs to make some coffee and put on the Christmas music. I think Aunt Lorraine was the first to arrive, followed by Randi, Khoder and Rocky, then Grandma, then Mike & Co. When Randi was living at home, we opened our gifts first and then opened more when everyone else came over. But this year we all opened them at once and it was CHAOS! I could hardly get any photos or even watch anyone else open their gifts because I was busy handing them out. Taylor had such a huge pile. She wanted to play with things right away, and didn't even realize there was so much more behind her. She got Cinderella's Castle from mom along with the other princess play sets, a bunch of stuff for her Dora house and clothes for her Dora doll from me and Randi, plus clothes, books, puzzles. Rocky got a ton of treats and a new puffy orange coat. Mike got a Bob Ross art kit, which he's wanted since he was a kid! Randi & I gave Lorraine one of the 3 little pigs along with the story book - that was what she always read to us when we were kids. Grandma cried when she opened the calendar I made and then she cried again when she looked at the wedding book! (Mom & Randi got their copies on Christmas morning.) I can't even remember what everyone else got because there were just piles and piles of wrapping paper and boxes everywhere.

I can tell you what I got: a new memory card for my camera; a Darth Tater; an R2D2 mug filled with M&Ms; Littlest Pet Shop hamsters (yes I know how old I am - my sister has been saying she's going to get me a pet for years and these are the nice low maintenance kind.); a nice pink sweater; photo paper; ink; Simpsons seasons 6&7 with the Marge and Homer cases; Sex and the City Season Six 1&2; new sheets; some dvds - Muppets Season 1, Raising Arizona, Annie; The Concert for Bangladesh CD; an Alice in Wonderland snow globe; a lace angel that Grandma made; books - Eargon and the Eldest, A Million Little Pieces, some Lemony Snickett Books; and lots of chocolate. Not too bad. Will have to wait a while to buy the new computer because the donations to the computer fund weren't what I expected, unless I sell off the gifts!

Mike and Khoder made pancakes and eggs, which is our newest Christmas tradition. Then we got ready to leave for Aunt Eileen's, which is 2 hours away in South Jersey. Mike and Vesna packed up the toys - they were going to see Vesna's family - and Taylor was upset that the castle was going to live in her grandma's house. She was a little crazy all morning - but she did actually hug Lorraine and usually she's afraid of/mean to her.

I forgot to mention how cute Kylie looked. She was wearing a little Santa suit! She got lots of clothes and a few toys. We'll spoil her more next year! But she was so good and very quiet. At one point when Randi was holding her, Taylor wanted to climb up there too.

The ride to Eileen's was BORING. I tried to read my camera manual, but I started feeling sick. It rained most of the way down. We also saw a horrible car accident - an SUV wrapped around the tree. So horrible to see that on Christmas. I really feel for that person's family.

At Eileen's, dinner was just appetizers. Different things and dips put out all day long. YUM! I made my cheesy spinach ranch dip and then some people were asking me if there was fish in it. GROSS! I hate fish. I think they were crazy! We all just sat around the kitchen eating!

When Renee arrived with Tyler and Danielle, Danielle started crying because she is afraid of Khoder. So Khoder let her put make up and nail polish on him and now they are friends! As Tyler said "You're not a pretty girl, you're gorgeous." Got lots of photos of that!

I didn't think I'd be getting any gifts, because once your 21 you're cut off! But I did get a huge star filled with Ghiradelli chocolates and a cheese sauce.

Later, Uncle Rob's girlfriend Diana had to read one of the weird Night Before Christmas books. Eileen and Bruce have a collection - there's all different spins on it. And we love to humiliate people who are new to our family gatherings. This was Diana's first Christmas with us so she got to read the cowboy book, while wearing a cowboy hat and boots.

My cousin Erin had got this weird air gun for Christmas and she was going around shooting it at people. It made me crazy. But not as crazy as the noise makers she and Randi were playing with. Those came out of the pinata and we big kids always steal the good stuff from the kids.

Later, while we were eating some more snacks, we had out the ipods and sang along to Bohemian Rhapsody. Then Melissa and I listened to her new Rent Soundtrack. I was feeling exhausted, but we couldn't leave because Khoder was busy playing Rob in darts. Now, they could play any time at home since they only live 20 minutes away from each other, but once you get these guys started they are impossible!

We finally dragged Khoder back upstairs - after much plotting, including a pie in the face - and headed home. Luckily there was no traffic. I was so beat I went right to bed. I woke up a few hours later and watched some Simpsons.

I had the last few days off and I tried to spend it cleaning. I cleaned the room up a bit, unpacked another box and even hung up some posters. Yesterday, I cleaned up the office, reorganized my digiphotos, and started backing up my external drive. I'm not even sure what to scrap now, since I'm done with all of my projects, but I vowed not to create another LO or buy another kit until I everything on CD, because my New Year's resolution is going to be getting and staying organized!