Is it just me, or am I the only one who is glad that Christmas is done? It's like I can finally breathe a big, huge, gigantic, sigh of relief!
I got the scrapbooks done. I was still working on them on Christmas day, but I got all 3 of 'em done. And, surprisingly, I think my mom appreciated it the most! (Surprise, surprise!) They turned out pretty good, but in my haste, I forgot to take pictures of them. I was pleased with the end result, but let's just say...it may be a while before I start another scrapbooking project.
Christmas Eve at my Mom's was really nice. She made a lovely dinner of Rouladen and Red Cabbage, which is my favourite. Greg likes it too, and she really made it for him. The neighbours were invited, and they gave Greg and I beautiful pens carved out of African tropical wood that Mr. G had made himself...a la Watermen style.
Christmas Eve when I was growing up was interesting. Being German, my parents had to come up with an innnovative idea of how Santa would come to our house. At some point in the evening, my dad would pack me and my brother in the car and we would drive around the neighbourhood looking at other people's lights on their houses, listening to Christmas Carols on the radio. Every once in a while, he would point up at the sky and say "I think I see him!" (Of course, he would say it it German...("Ich glaube, dass Ich Ihm sehe!") (I shudder to think of it, but my dad was probably loaded while he was bootin' about with the kids, hand off the wheel, pointing at the sky)
By the time we got home...Lo and Behold! Santa (Der Weihnachtsmahn) would have come to our house already, because apparently Santa comes to the German Kids houses first, dont'cha'no.
Nowadays, I have to say, I LOVE that we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. We had a great dinner, and afterwards spent hours opening up gifts one by one, having a few drinks, and reminicing about Christmas pasts.
Two things didn't happen this year:
1) My brother didn't get shit-faced drunk
2) We didn't play the VCR tape of the 8mm movie I had copied years ago of our family when we were young. My Dad was, of course, a big part of that movie. We mentioned it...but this year we didn't have the great need to watch it. We did, however, light a candle in his honour. That goes without saying.

Christmas Day:
Scrapbook, scrapbook, scrapbook. #%$@%^SCRAPBOOK!!!
Went to Greg's Dad's and MIL2 for dinner.
Wonderful! My mom and brother were also invited, for which, I was, on the one hand thankful, and on the other hand stressed about.
MIL2 is an excellent cook, and she served up a feast! Greg's brother got Shit-faced drunk, my mother felt sorry for him and babied him, Greg's dad got drunk and cracked a smile, but the craziest news of the night is that Greg's sister, Louise, got engaged to Jeff! (In the future, I am certainly sure that I will have something to say about this!) My mom, had the time of her life! Maybe, because it was the first time she realized that other families have the same kind of problems, and she felt normal for a change.
Boxing Day, we usually have an open house at our place, but this year, Louise and Jeff had a dinner at their place. 2-4 was there, and I was so happy to see her! As much as she drives me crazy in the summer, I miss her when I don't see her for a while. She was in fine form, and a laugh and a half! As was Greg's brother, who was shit-faced drunk, but...not quite so funny.
All in all...a successful enough Christmas.

How were your holidays?!