Merry Christmas All Day Long

7:30 AM Part I

5:30 AM and the phone is ringing faintly. It's faintly because I'm asleep and as I sift through levels of sleep to surface to the louder ringing of the phone I try not to curse at being awakened after another fitful night of rest. Picking up the phone and cradling it between the pillow and my ear, I try to not get to full wake fullness. I have a plan and it involves drifting back to sleep as soon as this conversation has ended. The house is chilly; the furnace has been turned off so I'm not in a hurry to get up.

The husband is on the phone and in a talkative mood so I give up on the plan I had to go back to sleep. His job has finished and he has to make a visit to the client to bill him for the job and then he will start home. He is only 3.5 hours away so he figures he will be in by 1PM. As soon as the conversation ended, I crawled out to the coffee pot, flicking the furnace on as I came down the hallway. It's 37 degrees here but we will be in shorts and tee's by noon. A few cups of coffee later and I get the roast seasoned and in the oven for a long slow roast. It's roast beef and vegetables cooked in the broth with hot rolls and sweet creamery butter for our Christmas feast.
I'll be sitting here waiting on everyone to arrive for the gift exchange. I'll continue this later.

10AM

I'm showered and dressed and preparing to do something with my hair. I'm almost ready.

I just called daughter's house. Everyone is up and opening their gifts and Carrie has noted Santa's visit to her house. I could hear the sounds of laughter in the background they will be here soon. Camera batteries are charging and I'll slip them into the camera as I see them arrive in the driveway. The aroma of roasting meat fills the house and stirs the taste buds. A few more hours and it will be ready to be carved and served. The hot rolls are almost doubled in size not quite ready for their visit to the oven. I'm waiting.

3PM

Everyone arrived at noon and the gift exchange commenced. Ted and Elise were delighted with their I Pods and Carrie grew instantly attached to the pink Nintendo DS Lite. She had played games on it before and knew exactly what to do. When it instructed her to blow into it she did. It would tell her to blow harder and the sensor knew how much more air she needed to blow to get the slider to go higher. Verbal instructions were given from the Nintendo which she knew to follow to get the game to respond. Technology! It's just amazing what we can do. Ted's IPod Nano is also a camera and a video recorder and it all is about 1 1/2 inches wide, 1/4 inch thick and 3 inches long. It also holds music and I gave him an I Home so he can plug it into that and listen to it via the speakers while it charges up.

Shoes, cameras and IPods and they were happy. The roast beef was tasty and enjoyed by all after the gift exchange and then everyone was off to a different part of the house to explore their new toys. Elise is downloading music to her IPod while Ted plays with a Nintendo. Carrie left with her mother to visit a friend and will soon be delivered to her grandparents in Lydia for their Christmas dinner tomorrow. Poor Carrie. All this waiting and last night she had to be taken to the ER for an ear infection. She was crying in pain and indicating her ear for the source of that pain. She was a bit subdued today, not her usual rambunctious self.

4:44 PM

Ted is anxious to get home but Elise is still downloading music for her IPod so we sit and wait on her to finish. I'm ready for a nap. The kitchen is cleaned up and Ted just had eggs, bacon and toast for dinner. It's been a pleasant day. I'm grateful that the big day has come and almost gone.

I'm ready for a nap. I have started sneezing and have a nasal drip going on. It might be my turn to have to cope with whatever has been going around here lately. I'm so not looking forward to this. I'm done.