Merry Christmas!

OK technically, I know it is Christmas Eve. But, I don’t know if I’ll get to write anything tomorrow.

I called my SIL to ask if there was something I could bring for dinner tonight. She says there isn’t. But, then she tells me that we aren’t going to open ANY presents while we’re there. The presents will be given to us, but we’re to put them all in our van and bring them home to open. The reason? She cleaned her house and would rather the kids just play with the toys that are there for the evening instead of opening up new. WTH? I spent HOURS trying to pick out the perfect gifts for those kids (the hooligans) so I could see their faces when they open them. I wonder when she planned on telling me this? I mean, I already got Kenny and Evan all excited to go over there by promising them that they were getting presents to OPEN. Kenny understood when I told him, but Evan is going to be upset. Oh well. Christmas with my family tomorrow.
I made a gingerbread house. I cheated a tiny bit. I bought a kit where the house is already assembled. But, I added all the icing and brought out a bunch of my own candy for decorations. Thank goodness for the icing-in-a-can (think cheeze wiz style)! The icing in the kit had to be kneaded for 5 minutes, but the stuff was almost as hard as a rock!  I ended up microwaving it a little bit so I could outline the windows, doors, and do the icicles.  I like it. I’m not entirely sure if it’s edible, but I’m taking it to my SIL’s as a centerpiece type thing.

I made a nice Christmas dinner for Nathan and myself last night. A ham, real mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, wine, green beans and rolls. I managed to undercook the potatoes. Oh well, they weren’t horrible. The wine was not great, but it was effective. The ham was marvelous. We had ham and eggs for breakfast this morning. Yum.
I fell down the stairs about an hour ago. My feet slid right out from under me and down I went down the bottom 4 stairs. Pulled both my shoulders, my right groin, and my back hurts. I managed to not land on my tailbone though (a miracle I am grateful for). Thank goodness I have Aleve stashed all over the house.
Evan has a pretty bad cough going on. We missed Thanksgiving, but we are NOT gonna miss Christmas. I warned my SIL that he had a cold. It’s her turn for her kids to get sick from mine. My kids always catch something when we go over there.
My friend Jody (the editor friend) finished reading my book and she liked it! She gave me a couple of suggestions for helping it along too. But, she said it actually needs very little REAL work and that the book i s spot-on for my chose demographic.She’s also going to write the blurb for it for me. That way, I don’t have to write it. I’m horrible at stuff like that. I’ll use her blurb to send it off to Agents. Fingers crossed!
Got a bonus check from work this year too. Two weeks salary. Not too shabby! And supposedly, we’re all getting raises this coming year too. I hope I get something decent.