DAYS BEFORE & AFTER CHRISTMAS

Monday, December 28th - Am I the only person who was not too thrill about going back to work after four wonderful days of Christmas? The office was quiet with most of the employees taking off this week and the phone only rang a few times. I was able to work on "I wish I had time" projects, organized the files for next year and even started on publication for the first quarter.
Sunday, December 27th - The snow started last night, continued with strong wind, making the drive to church a bit scary when the truck started to slide when we tried to turn into the parking lot. We were planning to drive to Hermann but decided to stay home which I did not mind at all since there were so many football games I wanted to watch. My husband could not believe that I cheered for the Colts and not the Jets. It may sound crazy but with two more games left, I wanted to the Colts to have a perfect season 16-0 but the Jets rallied to win 29-15. I was happy to see Adam Vinatieri back on the field kicking! Of course, I was very pleased that my Patriots beat Jacksonville 35-7 and Aaron Rodgers & the Packers won 48-10 over the Seahawks but I was sad that my NY Giants loss to Carolinas. Not a happy Sunday in the Manning family!

Saturday, December 26th - We decided to get out of the house and enjoyed a nice breakfast at Sunny Street Cafe. A walk around the mall, without particularly looking for any after Christmas bargains, my husband found a pair of corduroy pants and I decided to treat myself to a nice sweater. Passing by a Hallmark store, we could not resist and joined many others who purchased 50% - 70% off Christmas cards, getting ready for the next mailing!

After lunch, we saw "Sherlock Holmes". It has been almost a year since we last saw a movie (the drive-in movies on Route 66 did not count). It was rather enjoyable, mostly because of the fresh warm buttery popcorn, not so much because of the movie!
Christmas Day, Friday, December 25th - Since we went to bed so late after midnight Mass, we did not get up until almost noon! Actually, at around 7:20 a.m., we got out of bed, went into the kitchen, had coffee and toasted bagels, watched the snow falling and went back to bed after we finished the bagels. The rest of Christmas day was spent on watching our favorite movies, "The Nativity", "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story". We took naps between meals and I did manage to read all the Route 66 books I have borrowed from the library last weekend.

The Day before Christmas, Thursday, December 24th - My husband got up around 6:30 a.m. to start making the filling for the pierogies. We decided to make three dozens with different filling, traditional sauerkraut with mushroom, mushroom and chopped onion, and ground meat with mushroom. CMP also made an apple pie and a pumpkin pie. After breakfast, I helped with making the pierogies, fold and pinch them close, boiled, placed on cookie sheets, and stored in a container after they cooled. We took a long afternoon nap since we planned to attend midnight Mass after dinner. It was a very productive and fun day working together getting ready for Christmas.