Friday, December 25, 2020

Rain on Christmas Eve!

 

Christmas Gifts

We received one of the best gifts we could have had from Mother Nature, today!  Rain!  It was more of a steady drizzle than a downpour, but, it was enough to wet the ground!  

It is Christmas Eve and I am watching the broadcast of the Midnight Mass from the Vatican - a tradition I have been observing for many years, now.  

This has been a rather busy week for me.  On Monday, my daughter and I did the grocery shopping, among other things.  On Tuesday, she helped me order the last few gifts, online, as I needed gifts for all the young ladies on my gift list.  Also on Tuesday, neighbor T and I exchanged gifts and I had my piano lesson in the evening.  There will be a two week break before piano lessons resume after the new year.  We made coconut flat bread for dinner and, later, we baked some spritz cookies. 

On Wednesday, my daughter and I cooked a dinner of rice, chicken curry, dhal, and sauteed cabbage and took it to her friend P's parents home, along with gifts for them.  We left the packages on their doorstep for them to take in.  Later in the evening, I wrapped a few more gifts.  

Today, I wrapped the rest of the gifts.  I used gift bags for some of my gifts, like the jars of jam.  I didn't have many small and medium sized Christmas gift bags in my stash, and, since I didn't think to order them, I used what I had, gluing some Christmas cards to hide the printed logos on some regular store bags. 

Friend A called in the morning and stopped by with gifts and cake; daughter and I gave her and her daughters their gifts.  In previous years, we would go over to their house to share Christmas lunch with them, but, that is not possible, this year.  Later in the afternoon, daughter and I drove by friend S's house and dropped off their gifts, leaving them on their doorstep.  Still later, in the evening, daughter's friend P dropped off a gift for her, some specialty Korean groceries she had wanted, and some Vietnamese meat pies P's family had made.  

Daughter made dinner, tonight, cooking a Korean version of chicken and vegetable stir fry, with mushrooms, zucchini, and Savoy cabbage.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Rain!

- Being able to order gifts online

- Next day delivery!

- Daughter making dinner

- Being able to exchange gifts with family and friends

Today's joyful activities included exchanging gifts with friends.

How was your Christmas Eve?

18 comments:

  1. I had a wonderful Christmas Eve, with a few unexpected doorstep visits from family and friends.

    It sounds like you had a very full, but enjoyable day. I hope that Christmas Day is just a lovely for you both.

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    1. Merry Christmas, Eileen. It sounds like you had a lovely Christmas Eve; those 'doorstep' visits are wonderful, aren't they? Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas, today.

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  2. You've had a great flurry of Christmas activities and even though you couldn't spend time with people in person, you've found a way to wish them a Merry Christmas.

    Lots of great food is happening at your house. And spritz cookies. I really like them but never could manage to get the batter the correct consistency to be properly spritzed lol
    Do you put food dye in your batter and decorate them?

    It's raining here and windy. Not a good day for taking a walk but the light will be dull and gray so the lights on the Christmas tree will look pretty all day even when the sun comes up.

    I will be putting our Christmas roast in the crock pot soon and the house will start to smell like a holiday.

    Merry Christmas.

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    1. Merry Christmas, Debra.

      It got really busy during the last couple of days! No matter how early I prepare, it always seems to sneak up on me at the last minute! LOL.

      I'm glad to know that I am not the only one who struggles with the spritz cookie dough! We left the dough uncolored and didn't decorate them, either. We made little tree shaped cookies and flowers for the most part and daughter experimented with one or two other shapes, as well.

      Yes, the lights on the Christmas tree will look especially pretty on a dull day! Enjoy that delicious roast and have a wonderful Christmas. :)

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  3. Lots of joy to be found on your Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas!

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    1. Merry Christmas, Martha. I was feeling just a bit frazzled by the end of the day - gift wrapping and tagging seems to take up the entire dining table - but, I took the time to watch Midnight Mass and the day ended on a peaceful note. Today, we are relaxing!

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  4. Merry Christmas Bless, to you, your daughter & Dancer. ... Mary-Lou

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    1. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, Mary-Lou.

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  5. Happy Christmas! I hope you and your daughter have a lovely one. We will be delivering food and dropping off gifts later this morning. It certainly is a strange one!

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    1. Happy Christmas to you and yours, Sharon! We, too, will be delivering food and dropping off gifts, later, today! Yes, it is a very different Christmas, but, it will be a Christmas we will be talking about in years to come!

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  6. Our Christmas Eve was quiet with a few last minute gift wrappings, exchanging gifts with friends and neighbors, and baking an apple pie for today.

    Merry Christmas, Bless and Daughter!

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    1. Merry Christmas to you and yours, June. Your Christmas Eve sounds lovely and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Day, as well. Enjoy a piece of that apple pie, for me! :)

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  7. Merry Christmas! Blessings for a hope-filled 2021.

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  8. It makes me happy to know you have your daughter there to share this all with. We enjoyed a lovely walk on Christmas Eve, but we have rain today - too much rain. X

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    1. Thank you, Jules; I'm so happy to have my daughter with me! I'm glad you were able to enjoy that walk on Christmas Eve - hopefully, it will tide you over until the rain stops and you can go on another walk! Maybe on New Year's Eve?

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  9. How lovely to have much needed rain!
    We finally fetched our Christmas tree indoors on Christmas Eve and got it decorated and were happy to have made the effort even if we are just the two of us. Now it can stay up for 12 days!

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    1. It was wonderful to get some rain and the forecast says there will be more in the next couple of days!

      I'm glad you decorated your tree, Bushlady; the more we keep things normal, the better, I think. I, too, plan to keep the tree up for 12 days!

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