It is a cold but very happy day at our house. We have talked to my parents and our son and they are all having a marvellous day of celebration with special dinners coming up for them all this evening. Just knowing everyone is happy and healthy and enjoying the day makes up a lot for not being with any of them this year.
I was up at 7am and found my husband sitting down in the living room with the Christmas tree lights on and reading from his favourite portions of Dickens' Christmas Carol. I watched my favourite Alistair Sim movie version last night...the proper black and white version, not one of the colourized debacles. It was the perfect way to end Christmas Eve.
This morning I got the banana loaf and the almond cake made for tomorrow's reunion celebration, then made a giant pot of beef stew. It is still cooking away in the oven and will remain there for most of the rest of the day. The pile of dishes waiting by the sink until my husband completes the preparing and baking of his own sponge cake for trifle is about a mile high it seems, but that will be a wonderful bit of exercise later in the afternoon for me. I am so glad I made an extra trip to the grocery store before church to pick up some small turnips. What wonderful flavour they add to the stew. A pinch of lemon thyme is giving it a lovely aroma and most of the lemon flavour will have baked off by the time the stew comes out of the oven. I am so grateful for the energy to complete those tasks today.
In between baking and cooking I sat down on the couch beside my husband and took in a few of our favourite scenes from the movies Big and The Princess Bride. That was fun. AND as we were flipping through the tv guide we discovered the last David Lemieux boxing match that Canadian HBO didn't broadcast live like the American HBO did, is going to be telecast this Thursday morning at 7am. I guess it was on once all ready yesterday, but we missed it. So thankful it will be on a second time!! YAY!
My husband is relaxing, cracking jokes, baking with joy and has definitely switched onto holiday mode. I am VERY glad his family is coming tomorrow for three days because it guarantees he will remain mentally away from his job for a total of 4 days in a row! YES!!!
Saturday evening we are taking our bishop and his wife out for dinner. It is so difficult to get them available both at the same time, so it is quite a coup! hahaha They are a ton of fun, so that is going to be a splendid evening. Must remember to make reservations. Our goal in the new year is to take each of the office staff out for a meal and a good visit about things other than work. In fact our New Year's resolution is to set aside the stresses and be extremely deliberate in having more company in for tea and dinners. A life apart from work MUST happen this year and it is up to us to do it! We are excited about this hopeful return to life being more the way it used to be before it got so crazy.
Despite the cold air the sun is shining merrily out there and the sky is a most beautiful winter blue. There isn't much of a wind, so it is almost bearable to be outside for a few mintues! haha Mind you, I haven't made my way over to the garbage bin and back quite so quickly in a long time....wow, it really is cold out there! hahaha
Hope you all are having a happy day today!
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