Christmas 2007, A Work in Progress

I managed to wrap all of my presents to the boys before xmas eve had come & gone. I'll take victory anywhere I can get it.

Dave R. came down from Baltimore to spend xmas eve and day with us as he has the past couple of seasons. kent4str prepared dinner for, oh, 20 or more people despite only four of us being at the table; we'll be eating turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and more for much of the coming week or so.

We collectively relaxed in the evening with a couple of movies ("The Ninth Gate" and "Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow"). Just as we were preparing to head for bed, Cartoon Network brought on Futurama with back-to-back xmas episodes so we had to stay up for that.

As the evening progressed, I was gradually feeling more miserable. Not the bah-humbug kind of miserable but more the sniffles & congestion kind of miserable. By 2 AM, it was undeniable: I was coming down with a cold. Merry xmas.

Christmas tree and loot Silver Spring, MD 2007-12-24

I slept very badly all night which made it astonishly easy to get up at 4AM to sneak into the living room to stuff stockings with candies and toys. Alas, returning to bed with medication didn't help me sleep at all and I was a total mess a few hours later when the guys woke up.

After showering, dressing and getting coffee for cuyahogarvr --you have no idea how important that last task is every day-- we opened a boatload of gifts. I'll itemize some highlights when I'm feeling better.

kent4str and I were given these cute little teddy bears by cuyahogarvr. Mine was having difficulty keeping his hat so I wore it instead. kent4str had to get a photo...

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Christmas 2007, A Work in Progress

I managed to wrap all of my presents to the boys before xmas eve had come & gone. I'll take victory anywhere I can get it.

Dave R. came down from Baltimore to spend xmas eve and day with us as he has the past couple of seasons. kent4str prepared dinner for, oh, 20 or more people despite only four of us being at the table; we'll be eating turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and more for much of the coming week or so.

We collectively relaxed in the evening with a couple of movies ("The Ninth Gate" and "Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow"). Just as we were preparing to head for bed, Cartoon Network brought on Futurama with back-to-back xmas episodes so we had to stay up for that.

As the evening progressed, I was gradually feeling more miserable. Not the bah-humbug kind of miserable but more the sniffles & congestion kind of miserable. By 2 AM, it was undeniable: I was coming down with a cold. Merry xmas.

Christmas tree and loot Silver Spring, MD 2007-12-24

I slept very badly all night which made it astonishly easy to get up at 4AM to sneak into the living room to stuff stockings with candies and toys. Alas, returning to bed with medication didn't help me sleep at all and I was a total mess a few hours later when the guys woke up.

After showering, dressing and getting coffee for cuyahogarvr --you have no idea how important that last task is every day-- we opened a boatload of gifts. I'll itemize some highlights when I'm feeling better.

kent4str and I were given these cute little teddy bears by cuyahogarvr. Mine was having difficulty keeping his hat so I wore it instead. kent4str had to get a photo...

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

Jewish Christmas!

Per our usual tradition, a number of our happy hour crowd went out for a movie and dinner Christmas day.

This year, we saw "Sweeney Todd," a welcome antidote to saccharine-coated christmas carols, followed by dinner at City Lights of China. The food was good but the service was definitely off its usual fine level: kent4str's entree somehow didn't make it onto the waiter's list and several appetizers came after the entrees. They're usually much better than that.

Big thanks to Andy for coordinating this year's outing! ( Click for photos! )

Jewish Christmas!

Per our usual tradition, a number of our happy hour crowd went out for a movie and dinner Christmas day.

This year, we saw "Sweeney Todd," a welcome antidote to saccharine-coated christmas carols, followed by dinner at City Lights of China. The food was good but the service was definitely off its usual fine level: kent4str's entree somehow didn't make it onto the waiter's list and several appetizers came after the entrees. They're usually much better than that.

Big thanks to Andy for coordinating this year's outing! ( Click for photos! )