Christmas passed

Look, a penguin in my stocking!

The Village in the "blue" room
Claire loves her antlers

Fairies in the air...

Christmas approached with increasing speed and then was gone in a flash. The presents are opened, the cider is finished, the dinner is completed. We started Christmas eve by deciding to fill stockings this year, since we were alone. We thought this might add a little excitement to Christmas morning, and it did. We started off with one rule:EVERYTHING had to be purchased at Walgreens. I went off first, dressed in red blazer with red plaid scarf. I stopped at a Marathon station to fill the car up, such a pleasant experience, now that prices have dropped drastically. As I was walking back to the car from the convenience store, a pickup pulled up and a young man yelled, Maam! Maam! I went over to the passenger side and the driver said"Maam, you look like a Christmas present! God bless you!" Needless to say, this random comment made my day. Next, I headed to the Honeybaked Ham company and queued up with the masses buying the world's best ham. Finally, I ended up at Walgreen's and loaded up on necessary and not so necessary stocking stuffers, which was a lot of fun. Next, D. headed out and was back shortly with Walgreens items and two pounds of Starbuck's Christmas blend, yum. After a dinner of wild caught salmon and asparagus, we drove through the drizzle to look at Christmas lights, but although there were many lovely houses tastefully lit, we were disappointed at the lack of Jax Beach tacky, giant inflatables, cheap icicle lights hanging off the roof, strange combinations of lights, a few strands thrown on to a bush or two. So when it started to pour, we headed home, done with tasteful lighting displays. Later, we went out into the drenching rain to 11 pm church services at the Main St. Presbyterian Church, a lovely candlelight communion service with beautiful music and gorgeous decor. We left feeling like it was Christmas Eve indeed. After filling stockings we went to bed with the knowledge we DID NOT have to get up early.