Christmas Eve

Slept late, and then skipped my exercises to do some housework before Daughter came for a visit. She arrived a little after noon, bringing gifts for Mother and me. Mother's gift is a box with hanging photo sleeves. There are about 100 sleeves inside the box, and five more can be inserted in frames around the outside and on top of the box. She got the box at a greeting card shop. It's really neat.

At the same shop, she bought a recordable "It Was the Night Before Christmas" book. I've collected most of the regular little storybooks from the shop over the years, so she knew that the recordable book would be a welcome addition.

We had a nice visit for the afternoon. We had already eaten a lunch of chicken noodle soup, made with the homemade noodles I bought in Branson, but Daughter was ready for a steaming bowl of it, too, which she had with crackers and Italian Cream Cheese ball.

Later, she mentioned that she missed seeing "The Little Drummer Boy" animated feature, which is no longer shown on TV. As it happens, I have that feature in a DVD collection of animated Christmas features that I bought several years ago. So we sat down to watch that, plus "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," which precedes the Drummer Boy feature.

It was after 4 p.m. by the time the features were over, so Daughter headed home. There was a threat of wintry weather for the evening, and she didn't want to risk driving in it. The threatened weather didn't materialize, but it was good that she was able to get back home before or just after dark.

Earlier, we entertained the notion of eating out for supper, maybe at the catfish restaurant, but it was so chilly out that Mother didn't want to go. So I scrambled eggs, made gravy, and baked a can of biscuits.

Then we stacked our gifts under the tree. We hadn't had them under there before, because we knew the cats would have a field day tearing the wrappings off.

Around 7 p.m., we opened the gifts (it's our tradition to open gifts on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day, when we are busy preparing dinner). We each received several nice things. Mother got a soft cushion that fits inside her wheelchair, including on the arms; a set of warm bed sheets; a Snuggie blanket; a box full of intimate apparel that includes tights and long-sleeved shirts to wear over her other intimates and under her outerwear (should help keep her warm on these winter days); a couple of cryptogram puzzle books; another can of her favorite hairspray; and a jigsaw puzzle featuring a photo of her cat.

These gifts are in addition to tickets to the Andy Williams Christmas show that we enjoyed in Branson in early November, and the various items she got during the 12-Days-0f Christmas. As Sis would say, she made out like a bandit this year.

Hubbie got an electric paper shredder; some head bands to wear while gardening; several western movies on DVD; two burgundy shirts...one long-sleeved, one short-sleeved knit; a large Ziplock bag of peanut brittle; and a bottle of beauty salon shampoo...supposedly good for dry scalp.

I got a beautiful pendant necklace from Hubbie; a gift card to a favorite clothing store; gift certificates to a downtown cafe'; a gift certificate to the greeting card shop (from Mother); a box of chocolates; and a laptop computer cooling pad.

These may not seem like exciting gifts to some folks, but they were all delights to us.

Afterward, we enjoyed slices of rum soaked chocolate date nut cake, with dollops of whipped topping, and cups of chai tea.

Then we played three games of Skipbo...Hubbie won two, and I won one. Mother went home afterward, and Hubbie and I headed to our bed. It was a good day.