Christmas et cetera

Monday was Christmas day. Very beautiful, homey, and more full of gifts than usual. We got up late, dressed. Papa, Ruby, the Brothers (with some help from Fric) made omelets for breakfast. It was experimental, to be sure--we used Ziploc bags in a pot of boiling water to cook the egg batter with all the delicious onions and peppers and bacon and cheese inside them. For twelve minutes.

They cooked to perfection. We ate them up with toast and tea and they were very tasty. Also, there was no skillet to wash.

Well, breakfast ended around 10 AM. I helped Mama put the last of the last little things into stockings (fruit snacks, bags of crackers, and Clementines) while Fric went to get dressed and the others helped in the kitchen.

Finally, we gathered in the family room. Pervinca had the camera snapping away, and Andrew Peterson playing in the background as we all settled down. Papa read us the end of the Christmas story. The beginning, we had already heard at church the day before. But as it turned out, Fric was completely ignorant of the Nativity story. So Papa went back to Luke 2, and we heard the whole thing again.

With great anticipation, we handed out gifts one at a time. To list all the presents would take quite some time. Fric received Nellie, her American Girl Doll. Nellie was, strangely enough, a very good likeness of Fric herself: strawberry blonde/brown hair in a cute bob cut with bangs, bright blue eyes, and a few perfect-looking freckles across the nose. Mama's trying to find the perfect pair of glasses to complete Nellie's look-alike look. Fric wears glasses.

Fric would love her to death, but the watchful older sisters have become Nellie's guardian: making sure she stays safely in her box, and that her hair isn't brushed too much. Fric drags her out and dresses her up just about every day.

Present-opening took at least a half hour. But afterward, a flurry of activity ensued.

I went back to my room, trying to finangle (how do you spell that?) some space to keep all the beautiful things I received. I hung some pictures on the walls, found space for some photographs on my nightstand and desk...

But it was very shortly time to leave. Papa started work in the kitchen, and all of us kids bundled up and drove with Mama to the Gamgees' house, where we watched "Highschool Musical," hung out, exchanged a few last gifts, and made general disturbance. After the movie, us older gals did a little bit of work on dinner. Marigold and I put together a couple pies. Perv and Sam set the table.

Mr. Gamgee and Papa came in with extra butter and a smallish turkey. Papa carved the bird on the end of the table, and also a ham. Papa would make an excellent country chef. He knows how to roast juicy turkeys and mash potatoes to perfection.

It was a very tasty dinner. It filled us up very fast, but most of us had seconds anyways.

And that was our merry Christmas.

We watched "A Christmas Story" last night. We laughed just about all the way through. Even Fric, who often can't understand movie humor, thought it was just hilarious. It was my first time to see it as well, thanks to the fact that it had some language in it that my parents didn't want us to hear. They've grown a bit lax on this point--go ask them why, I don't know. :)

And since we're talking about movies... The days since Christmas have been a flurry of activity. There has been a rash of sleep-over parties among the various highschool/college sets of our church, and I've been to two since Tuesday!

I saw "Superman Returns" and "Lady in the Water," both excellent movies in their own right, with some reservations (of course).

I had senior pictures taken. When the proofs come back, I'll be sure to let you all know. >_>

I read "Postern of Fate" by Agatha Christie. I shouldn't have bothered finishing it. The mystery was more loosely written than her others (you knew about as much by reading the dust-jacket as you would ever find out).

Part of what made the book tedious made it interesting for other reasons. "Postern of Fate" details the exploring of a small-town estate house for clues to a historical mystery. Tommy and Tuppence are the detectives, and at this point they are grandparents in their early 70's. They make for an extremely fun mystery.

Speaking of books. My Calc text (the next installment) came in the mail, as well as a bundle of music books. I'm very excited. :)

And various other things have happened as well. But I'm about ready to let this post fizzle out. I have laundry to finish.

The Song Quiz

From Pervinca's blog. I also used the same song selection that she did.

What does next year have in store for me?
Grandpa, Tell Me 'bout the Good Old Days
In heaven.... ?_?

What's my love life like? Fairy Dance (Peter Pan)
my love life is about this substantial, I must say. :o)

What do I say when life gets hard? Walk the Line (Johnny Cash)
I wish.

What do I think when I get up in the morning? Bring it On Home (Little Big Town) not exactly.

What song will I dance to at my wedding? Far Country (Andrew Peterson) ROCK AND ROLL, MAN!!! We're going on a honeymoon! >_>

What do you want as a career? Take it Away (Sean Watkins)
so, I'm an aspiring busboy??

Your favorite saying? Seven Wonders (Nickel Creek) "Seven Wonders, crowed the man/knowing six are gone/and how the great Illusion lingers on..." Someone tell me this is a saying...

Favorite place? The Eleventh Reel (Chris Thile) The eleventh reel would definitely be a favorite place of mine, if I ever got to it. I love dancing.

Where'd you go for a road trip? No Names (Kate Rusby) That sounds exciting. Is it like No Man's Land?

What would you listen to while driving? On Ice (Sean Watkins)

WHEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAUGUGGGGHHHHHH!

What do you think of your parents? Should've Known Better (Nickel Creek)
petitio principii: is this referring to *me* or *them*?

Where would you go on a first date? All Shall be Well (Andrew Peterson)
There's a Wishing Well.
Why not an All-Shall-Be Well?

Your life's theme song? It Ain't Me, Babe (Johnny Cash)
Pretty much.

Describe yourself? Little Jack Frost (Kate Rusby)
With a heart of ice...

What is the thing I like doing most? Locking Doors (Sean Watkins)
Shutting doors, to be more precise... The Insane Tack will agree with me.

What is my state of mind like at the moment? Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash) A bonfire of pleasant thoughts.

How will I die? Matt and Nat's (Natalie MacMaster)
THIS MAKES NO SENSE!

Your funeral? [I Love You and] I Lose Again (Alison Krauss) well, it's pretty rotten when one whom you love dies. But this song somehow doesn't come to my mind... koff

On Taking a Break

All my grades have come back. Besides Calculus, which was a B, I received A's in all my courses. The year has somehow (and in some form) ended in general satisfaction.

Papa says (and I concur)--I've been very out of sorts for the past month or so. I'm owing that to the fact that I was overstressed for an extended time, all the while suffering from spiritual malnourishment (my own fault).

Now I am very fiercely and passionately taking a break.

The first two days have been marvelous. I'm attempting to complete American Literature I, American History II, and Economics I--three semester-long courses in all--in the space of three weeks.

Economics has been the boringest and most easy study ever. But American Lit. is just amazing! I'm reading excerpts from the Puritans right now--Anne Bradstreet, John Winthrop--and while the study isn't extremely in-depth (how far can LifePac workbooks go?), I'm enjoying it immensely. Especially Anne Bradstreet. (has anyone not bought me a Christmas present yet? :D)

I've also been fiercely busy procuring Christmas presents. This is even more fun than literature--I've been knitting and crocheting and shopping up a storm... so far spending a ridiculously little amount of money on great hordes of treasure. One of my unattainable goals for these three weeks is to put a large dent in my craft drawer. Yesterday night I knit up a yarn remnant. It transformed into something sweet-looking and a bit nontraditional. I have no idea who will get it, but it feels beautiful. It needs to be blocked.

Anna and I went out for haircuts today, and afterward we took an afternoon on the town: starting with Elite Repeat and ending at Aspen Coffee Co..

It was blustery and cold. Thanks to our resident President of Republican Women's Association/beauty salon proprieter, we had beautiful-looking hair.

We walked to the bank, where Anna traded in her loose coin collection for cash (this time amounting to $26.57), and I made a couple transactions.

Then we went to Elite Repeat and found some random Christmas gifts. I'd love to spoil your surprises, but no thanks. :) Suffice it to say, Anna and I had great fun. We treated it like a treasure-hunt, poking through all the corners, on all shelves, for random, sweet and useful things. I love resale shops, because it's easy to find gifts with personality. None are perfect, but all have recognizable personality and beauty. We found some figurines (I think they were just plaster) for Ruth and Dani--both about six inches high and off-white in color. One was a girl in a fancy dress, posing in an armchair with a bouquet of roses (that's Dani's, could you guess?). Ruth's was a standing figure in a cloak with a basket.

Next stop was Karmen Korner. Anna found a formal dress that went down past my feet, with a high waist. It's a beautiful peach color. It has a colorful and tasteful print. It's mine, even though my skin is too pale at the moment to wear it well. It requires minor altering (that is, it needs to be narrowed at the side seams of the bodice, if I'm ever to wear it). It made me sing "Shall We Dance" from "The King and I."

And there we found more random Christmas presents, altogether suitable and charming. (you'll be the judge of that.) I even found some spools of cotton thread, very cheap and full of promise. MORE LACE CROCHET! HURRAY!

So you see, my quest to empty my needlecraft drawer is futile. Just as I consumed one scrap, five more appear in its place!

Well, after a couple hours of this shopping business (treasure-hunting), we walked to the coffee shop. Anna bought a lime cream-soda, and I bought a fruit smoothie. We discovered that one receives a taste shock if they try the cream soda right after the smoothie. O_O Anna took out Bahnsen and I took out McCullough, and we tried to read for awhile before Mama took us home...

In other news, I've officially begun Driver's Ed. Yet another one of my Christmas Break Resolutions.

Uncle Marshall took me out for my first drive yesterday. I can tell you about that--but not on the Internet. It's singularly boring. The short story is that things went well. No mailboxes were totaled, no cars wrecked, and no one ended in the ditch. :)

Merry Christmas, readers! God bless your worship of Him, as you celebrate the life of Christ.

Vale!