Christmas, 2005

This Christmas goes down in history as one of the greats. For starters, we moved. We were really stuck, trying to get it all done by ourselves, and, all of a sudden, there were neighbours gathered around, helping us load up our U-Haul, their trailers, our trailer, and anything else that could hold stuff, and some of them came to our new house and helped us unload it. The neighbours around our new house helped, too. This has inspired Husband to Give Stuff Away. Anyone reading this who knows him, or me, or has been reading this blog for a while, knows how truly unusual and inspirational that is. My husband is a generous man, but he is also a packrat. I am one, as well, but not to the extent he is. I have a hard time convincing him that he doesn't need to save any and every piece of paper on which his mother wrote. Tax records from the 1980's can be shredded and tossed. Gently-used styrofoam plates do not have to be saved to feed the cats.

He has already given away a pair of pretty (useless) contemporary wing-back chairs. And a bunch of wrought iron plant stands. Keep your fingers crossed--we may be able to get everything we want to keep into the house after all!

Another think that made this year very special was that Younger Daughter cooked a wonderful Christmas dinner. I cannot begin to tell you how very strange it felt to be going to my daughter's for Christmas dinner. I have ALWAYS hosted Christmas. She cooked a ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole and stuffing, and served cheese platters, and chips and dips, as well as an eggnog cream cake. Older daughter brought a cranberry-apple pie and cranberry sauce, and we brought Mom's Confetti Dip, with more chips.

We let grandson hand out the prezzies, and a good time was had by all.