Not Ho! Ho! but Ho Hum!

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When everything goes smoothly, what is there to write about? This does not mean I am asking for trouble. Christmas was delightful, but wouldn’t you be eager to read more if I said the oven caught fire?

Our son John $ and neighbors Dawn and Jeff had Christmas dinner with us. From long experience, we planned a fail-safe menu. In past years almost everyone in the family sang in the choir on Christmas Day, and we were hosts for the family gathering. Since 1978 we have served a casserole called Chicken and Stuffing which could be done ahead of time. The other permanent item is my American variation of an English Christmas pudding based on Gillian’s recipe. Gillian was a dear friend who gave me her recipe in 1982 when we moved back to the US after living in England for two years. Today we also had frozen cranberry salad, spinach casserole, and a sweet potato casserole. I enjoyed our conversations, but I didn’t ask for permission to share. Dawn knows I have a blog ,which does not constitute permission. I jumped the gun recently on sharing a message and do not want to do that again.

Gifts? Do you want to know about exchanging presents? We didn’t. Well, not yet. There wasn’t time. We quickly cleaned up the kitchen after dinner, and then it was time for John and David to go to Charlotte to pick up grandson Nathaniel at the airport. The round trip will take four to six hours. That’s why I am alone in the house and free to write. There won’t be much quiet left after I finish soaking it up. We may wait until tomorrow to open gifts, depending on how tired the fellows are when they get here. Nathaniel flew from Long Island to Philadelphia and had over three hours to wait for the next flight. Christmas will be continued later.

Meanwhile, our tree waits patiently to share the gifts beneath the branches.

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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14 thoughts on “Not Ho! Ho! but Ho Hum!”

  1. For me its the other way round, often. When things go bad as they do, that’s when I withdraw into my shell and do not want to share my life with others. I am trying to get out of that and willfully push myself out to share whatever my emotions may be.
    On the other side, I go through phases where I don’t feel like writing but just enjoy the reading of blogs written by other people.
    I envy you that you still have the gifts to open and ooh and aah over.
    Susie

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    1. John put every single ornament on that tree! He has great patience. We have half an hour left of Christmas Day, and the fellows are still on their way from the airport. I’m sure we’ll open gifts on the right day, the right day being the one on which we open gifts. It won’t matter when it is. We would all be fresher after a night’s sleep.

      xxx Christmas bear hugs xxx

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  5. I was intrigued by a chicken stuffing casserole you can do ahead. Can you share the recipe? I love do aheads especially at the holidays. The specific day you do your traditions doesn’t matter as much as doing them with the right people!

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    1. How I would have loved to see your flock! It was probably the fault of my computer, but the message said it no longer exists. I am so impressed that you have a granddaughter who blogs. Our grandsons are not interested in words. One is good at math, and the other loves to cook. I’m so happy your clan got together to celebrate. We finally opened the gifts under the tree on the 26th. It was fun, and we weren’t tired or rushed.

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