The Day Itself

I did say that I don't prepare well for Christmas Eve, right?
Good. Glad that's settled. Now I don't need to explain why I stayed awake all night, sailing right through into Christmas morning. (And, somehow, all-nighters on Christmas Eve are usually peaceful and fun instead of depressing.)

The girls awoke too early for me to finish their gingerbread girls, and when I heard them tumbling down the stairs, I forewent the colored frosting for hair and eyes and made them white-haired old women.

Elderly Millie MOE.


Elderly Annika.


Elderly Susannah. (She'd already been nibbled upon when I grabbed the camera.)




Piper fared worse, but she didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Puzzling...


We ate our holiday cookies and sugar cereal and eggnog for breakfast, and then spent a leisurely morning opening stockings and presents a bit at a time. It was lovely.

I have one blurry picture. Here's Mildred, excited beyond belief that I bought her a pair of fuzzy socks from the dollar store. "I've been WANTING a pair of fuzzy socks for SOOOO long!!!!!"




We ate a ham feast for lunch, and then because I invited all the local and visiting family to our house for Christmas afternoon dessert, I scurried around and picked up paper and vacuumed and cleaned, totally neglecting to tackle the dishes from an all-nighter spent baking. Ah, well.

Here is my one picture from the afternoon. No, it's not of family or of gifts or of make-Martha-proud decorations. It's a blurry picture of tteok (dduk, ddeok?), on which I end the post to once again make you jealous that I have a Korean sister-in-law who's a fabulous cook.

Sweet rice dumplings stuffed with sesame paste and steamed with pine needles from my parents' Christmas tree...SO THERE! These dishes could use a better photographer, though. (Forgive me, Jae-Ryong.)