Thursday, January 13, 2011

Christmas Day 2010

We are having another snowstorm here and I was sent home from work at noon as the roads are icy and the storm is intensifying. I love days like this and am happily enjoying the quiet with only some howling wind keeping me company. I'd love to just put on really snuggly clothes and hunker down but I have a dentist appointment, not to be missed, late this afternoon. Meanwhile, I have a quiche (I added sauteed rainbow chard, shallots, and bacon, and placed sliced grape tomatoes on the top) in the oven so thought I would take advantage of this gift of time to finally post a few more pictures of Christmas.

As I noted in earlier posts, I took a side job house sitting for my boss's dogs for 10 days over Christmas. The commitment was made about 3 months early and I warned all family that I would be pretty much unable to do more than show up for brief visits during the time from 12/17-12/27. When talk of what to do Christmas Day came up, LM offered to make a dinner for us and for his adult children and I didn't need to do anything. He did a fantastic job of not only cleaning out the very cluttered dining room at his house (it only took 2+ years), but also setting the table and making us a delicious baked fish dinner, AND, he did all the dishes. We had a great time and in due time I was back with my canine charges.
LM lined everything up in the kitchen so that we could help ourselves to a plethora of lovely fresh vegetables, the fish and sauteed potatoes.
LM in the charming outfit he chose for the day!! LOL....he loves that shirt with all the fish surrounding a Kliban cat, and he was warm from rushing around doing the cooking.

There is a history behind this scene. LM's daughter, Meg, being a fanatic Boston Red Sox fan, detests anything to do with the NY Yankees, so, when her dear Dad saw a Yankees cooler he thought he'd hide her Christmas gifts in the cooler and she would have to touch it in order to retrieve said gifts. It was all pretty hilarious as she kept refusing to touch the cooler.
He reiterates....no cooler, no gifts.....poor Meg.
John enjoying the little repartee.....(on Jan 18, John returns to court....since his forays into bad behavior in Nov, he has been doing well and we are hopeful he will not be jailed again).
Gingerly the package was opened......she loved her little assortment of gifts including a nice gift certificate for a Japanese dinner. She loves sushi!
So that was our pretty quiet Christmas Day. The kids were off to other visits and we were off for a quick visit to drop gifts for Kristi.
For those concerned that Ms G was not included in the festivities, she did make an appearance and go round the table to greet everyone. She is completely spoiled everyday of her life, as LM showers her with love, attention, playtime and more than her fair share of treats. Do take note of the fact that Ms G's treat dish and her extra supplies have a place of honor in the living room on the coffee table....she's addicted to Whiska Lickens. It's a BAD thing.

We shared a lot of love and laughter over the holidays and I hope that was the same for all of you!

7 comments:

mrspao said...

Happy New Year! Looks like a lovely Christmas and LM made a wonderful feast. Hope the snow doesn't get too bad.

Anonymous said...

Gotta LOVE LM's sence of humor! What a great idea to hide her gifts. I'm sure she'll remember that forever! Glad John is doing well. The Christmas dinner looks really good! How nice that LM cooKed AND did the dishes. WOW!! The trip to mom's was cancelled due to ice and more snow. Madison will be here in about 20 minutes because school was called off....debbie

Linda said...

LM appears to be quite a tease. Hope John can turn his life around. Looks like it was a fun time for all of you.

MsGraysea said...

Hi Everyone,
Oh, yes, he is a bit of a tease but a very kindly and fun one, for which I am thankful. That cooler was bought last summer when we made a trip to LI, NY and needed one at the last minute to bring back some food purchased during our trip. He was delighted to find the perfect one to use at this later time for his Meg "surprise" and first tried to give it to Meg on her birthday in August. That was a truly raucous event and he chased her with the thing. She never did touch it on that occasion for fear of jinxing her beloved Red Sox.

Sally Wessely said...

I loved the way LM set the table and the way he did such an awesome job of preparing a Christmas feast. What a guy! His sense of humor is something to really treasure. I love the way he "plays" with his daughter. Thanks for sharing.

Erin | Bygone Living said...

What a beautiful table setting! Lou should have a career in party throwing :p

That gift idea is so funny! I should do something like that to my brother; though it'd have to be the opposite (a Red Sox container) because he is a fanatical Yankees fan! Hehe. I don't think Lou's daughter and him would get along very well... ;)

Glad you had a nice Christmas. Hope everything is going well ♥

Judy said...

What a beautiful table! LM is great--love his shirt and teasing his kids. We are put here on earth to get back at our kids for all the stuff they did when they were little--I love to harass my older kids!!! John looks happy and relaxed, hope it all goes well for him.