Merry Christmas!

You know, every year, I swear I will not be out running around on Christmas Eve, buying last minute gifts. But, as usual, I was out Wednesday afternoon, running around like a crazed woman.

Today, my sister Dorothy was cooking all day. She had a prime rib roast and a bar cookie in the oven (not at the same time), cooking two kinds of greens (one with meat and one without for Scott, the vegetarian and Jessica, the vegan in the family) and gravy to go with the beef.

Cheryl was heating up the Honey-Baked Ham that I bought along with green beans and mashed potatoes. My sister Nancy made her famous deviled eggs. My youngest sister Patty made tiramisu and her husband, John, made roast turkey.

Obviously, we had more than enough to eat.

Unlike Thanksgiving, when we had about 40 people over for dinner, it was just our family and Cheryl's youngest brother, Burt and his family. It was a very nice evening.

Instead of buying gifts for everyone, last year we started a new thing. We each buy two $25 gift certificates. We throw them in a basket. And then we draw two. And if we get one we don't like or won't use, we trade them.

Like my mother got a gift card for Amazon.com She didn't want to mess with that, so she swapped with Scott. So he got a gift certificate for Amazon.com and she got a gift card to Wal-mart. Fred got one for Publix and Jess got one for Home Depot. Being a vegan, of course, Jessica was anxious to trade with her father! I don't think anyone else swapped. Everyone was happy.

If I can get a photo from this evening, I'll post it. The batteries in my camera ran down, so I didn't get a picture. I'll have one of my sisters send me one.

I'm really thankful to be surrounded by people I love and all that we have.