Overall . . .

Overall, I've had a good Christmas. Moments have been sad, puzzling and frustrating. But overall, it was good.

I took last Thursday off to prepare for visitors arriving on Friday. Originally, I thought the HUSband's parents might even come Thursday night. As the day got closer, I learned that they probably wouldn't even be in Austin by lunch-time on Friday. That was somewhat of a relief since it would be one less meal to plan.

Wednesday night we went out to dinner with a friend to celebrate her birthday. She lives in Dallas and stopped over at our house on the way to her parents' house in the Hill Country. So, Thursday morning wasn't as productive as I'd hoped (that's what vacation is for, right?). We met up with "the girls" for a yummy Mexican lunch. It was a place I'd never been and they had some scrumptious tortilla soup to keep me warm. Then Thursday PM I went to the grocery store to get everything we needed for Friday's and Saturday's meals. The HUSband had already purchased the turkey and the ham arrived from Omaha Steaks, courtesy of my Great Aunt, so I just had to buy the stuff for to make side dishes and desserts.

I woke up fairly early on Friday to begin making my Dad's birthday cake. It turned out good - - I'd forgotten how many steps there are in making a cake from scratch. It was a recipe for a Mexican Chocolate Cake from Cooking Light. Yum!

Just as we were getting in the shower (I was actually already in the shower), the HUSband got the call from his parents that his Grandmother, Mimi, had passed away. She'd been in the hospital since just before Thanksgiving and just didn't have the strength to pull through the long recovery from her most recent surgery two weeks ago during which a rather significant part of her colon was removed. Mimi was a wonderful, caring, kind person. I'm so happy that I had a chance to know her. We're headed to Minnesota next weekend for a memorial service. Brrr...

Needless to say, Mimi's death put a bit of a damper on the rest of the weekend. She typically comes to Texas around Thanksgiving and stays 'til just after Christmas. The original plan was that she would make the drive back from MN after thanksgiving w/ the HUSband's parents and fly back to Arizona on 1/1. She went into the hospital in MN the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and didn't make it home (although she did improve enough to spend a week or so at a rehabilitation center). So, this was only the second Christmas in about 20 years that she hasn't been in Texas. It's also the first time we've hosted in Austin rather than spent it at my in-laws.

The best part of my long weekend was sleeping in yesterday and not leaving the house at all. Sure, there were tons of things I could have done. I enjoyed the down-time while the HUSband was at work. I updated my addresses and synced the Palm (got some new games). I paid bills. I watched too much E! - - damn True Hollywood Story. I didn't get around to vacuuming, but I did do two loads of laundry.

I'm back at work today - - another 3 day work week. :) We're off to Dallas on Friday for a party w/ some friends and the Christmas celebration w/ my Mom's side of the fam on Saturday.