I say extended because my birthday falls on the 23rd so the festivities kick in earlier, although as you get older the kicks aren’t quite as high…
The nicest part about having children with money (besides being able to pay room and board) is that you get presents that aren’t made at school! DH got me a Tripp Lite Eco Green battery backup + surge protector for my desktop which gives me 10 minutes to finish programs and close everything down properly. there was an incident involving the microwave, electric kettle and apparently everything else electrical in the house that blew the circuits…
Mom sent a card with check – told her to visit the eye doctor cause there were a few zeros missing. DH gave me a card that evening with a rather nice cash enclosure and my choice of restaurants for dinner. Before the presents I was thinking SOAK HIM, but afterwards decided on Mangiano’s and honestly, don’t know why we haven’t eaten there more often. Incredible pasta deals. Figures I’d choose a BOGO restaurant, though, right?
Christmas Eve is always laid back here. Made a late morning fried potatoes and eggs breakfast (FirstBorn had picked up DD donuts the night before, saying “just give me an assortment.” Dude, you do not say that just before they close ’cause you are going to get the most god-awful stuff left on the shelf. Trust me, I thought the squirrels were gonna throw ’em back!) Watched Star Wars IV in preparation for Christmas Day’s outing to watch VII. Bought tickets to the Tivoli in Downers Grove online and, since it’s part of the Classic Cinemas chain, we paid $7 total for each guaranteed ticket – no lines! OMG, you HAVE to see this movie! Later that afternoon, DH and PITA played Zombie-opoly…I burned my retinas out playing Bejeweled and Candy Crush (how the heck did PITA get to level 347 – not kidding here – when I get you sad failure music at 35???). We exchange presents on Christmas Eve, so I got even more good stuff! FirstBorn bought us all great books, I got a coffee mug from PITA saying Tough Old Bird and a spa gift certificate from DH.
Christmas Day we no longer celebrate at my Mom’s for dinner. She decided a couple of years ago that even if we brought all the food and promised to clean up there was still a mess and she was too old to deal with it; or mean, your call. So this year we went to the Christmas Brunch at Drury Lane Oak Brook and the quality and quantity of food offered was astounding! Naturally I’d switched to a little holiday purse, so no room for zip-locs – wait, why are you all surprised – but I think DH finally, for the first time in his life, got his fill of raw oysters (and that includes happy hour deals down in Savannah)! Service staff was excellent, constantly coming over with more coffee, tea and mimosas, removing dirty plates and glasses, etc.
And yesterday we just vegged out, went to Noodles for my free birthday bowl, and then PITA and DH watched something violent between football games…wait, that’s all violence!
Hope your days were enjoyable as well.