A Much Needed Day Off

It was sooooo nice to be able to just lounge around on the couch today under my new down throw blanket and fuzzy slippers while Johnny set up my iPod and loaded up the new CD's. We had a full weekend and it started with our Company Party at the Bottom Line on Friday night. Here are some pics...


Handsome Matt enjoys a beer with William



Joey, Michelle and William



Val and Sean wait for their yummy sandwiches



Mookie and Fred chat about the old high school days



Shackie and Mangey stop by for a few martinis



Fred and Johnny mug it up (John's gonna kill me for posting this pic)



Jal and Joe (of "A Very Joe Christmas" fame)



Sean and Mike lookin' mighty scared (of Freddy's dancing?)

I think I captured everyone at the party. It was small, but was nice to see everyone. We exchanged gifts and John and I got a couple that were addressed "From: Their Butts". I had 3 drinks (vodka and cranberry) which pretty much just made me very sleepy. John and I got home around 1:45 or so... we haven't been out this late in a while!

Saturday, we lazed around late in bed but had to go grocery shopping for the evening's festivities and to prep for Christmas day hosting duties. Lots more present wrapping had to be done too. A sad call from Susan saying she was sick and the gathering at Ron & Karen's had been postponed meant my chicken & grape salad would be shared between Linda and Diana instead of the three of them. John and I stopped over at Mom B's to check out her tree and hang out before heading to Nate & Linda's. What a lovely feast they had going on over there with both Nate's and Linda's family in attendance. After a short visit, we were off to Robert & Pokey's. This year's gift distribution frenzy was moved up to 11:00 PM, despite Grandma Moreno's objections. She likes to wait until midnight. Lots of gifts were passed out to the little ones mostly. I don't think there was as much given out this year.

Sunday was our big day. Both John's family and mine gathered at our house for ham, mac & cheese, kraznapolski (spinach & cheese cassarole), nutty buttery green beans, and loads of cookie treats. We also had snacky things like cheese, crackers, summer sausage, chips, veggies and dip to start, as I was running a little behind and was still prepping the side dishes when everyone arrived. We're very happy Freddy and Mike M were able to stop by and help us eat some food!

We had a flurry of presents too, as Mom B brought over a carload of things to spoil her grandkids and new favorite daughter-in-law. LOL. John also spoiled me with a beautiful Tiffany necklace, some cordless TV headphones, Lantern Moon knitting needles, a Perez salon gift certificate, and an iPod! I got a lot of awesome gifts from Mike and Diane, Jim and Ann, my folks and aunts, and friends too. Although I didn't spoil John the way he spoiled me, I did get him a 19" flat screen monitor. As I write this entry, I'm thinking, "Man, this screen is ginormous!"

So, today was a clean up and laze around day. John was on call and he didn't want to tempt the fates by leaving the house and then getting an elevator emergency call. We ate lots of little ham sandwiches and cookies.

Hope everyone had an awesome holiday weekend and I look forward to hearing about everyone's activities!