A senior moment and some Dick

Christmas is done, thank heavens.

The Stooges, DH and I all had a good Christmas. The boys seemed very happy with their gifts, and I got more presents than I expected. There was no fighting, no biting. What more can a mom ask for?

The cats enjoyed the mess, although Sophie was a bit confused. She's been enjoying having people at home to use as furniture. Vader of course knew immediately the best thing to do with such a mess.

I fixed a delicious turkey with all the fixings, including yummy dressing and giblet gravy. Mmmm

I did some tatting. These are some earrings for Mom (she used to keep bees).

I also crocheted some toys, catnip balls for the cats of my siblings and for Mom. We all have at least one cat - we know what's good! (Vader almost didn't let me wrap these. He found some and slobbered on them.)

The next day, we visited family. My sister in Charleston came with her family, and we all met at other sister's home (the one who lives across town). Mom came too. We had a lovely dinner and exchanged presents. Cats were admired. (Here, DH is petting their top cat Sasha. She rules the roost.) Mom loved her earrings. And the cat toys were appreciated, as was the homemade fudge and spiced almonds that I gave.

Mom then gave me this little item, which puzzled me. Canned English custard? She explained that it originally came from my Uncle Kent, a lovely English chap who is married to my dad's sister. Kent was one of the children shipped to the English countryside during the bombing of London in WWII. At this year's Christmas gathering, Kent gifted everyone with the above custard and...

Yes, Spotted Dick. Mom passed this along to me as she thought I would be the only one who would appreciate this. And she was right. It is more of a novelty item for us, and remains unopened.

I asked the Stooges if they wanted to eat some Spotted Dick. They all blanched and giggled. Larry allowed how it sounded like something with perhaps a disease. Oh my.

The next day my Charleston sister and her family wanted to see some sites in Hotlanta, so we went to the King Center. Our father was a big local advocate for the Civil Rights movement, so this means a good deal to us.

And while there I chanced on this sign. I couldn't resist. Mom offered to stand by it, but I just couldn't do that to her. It was bloody cold, so we didn't stay long to admire the sign.

So a good Christmas was had by all. We did miss Festivus though. I mentioned this to DH as I was getting in bed the night of Festivus. I had meant to cover our broom handle in aluminum foil and let us dance about it, and have some arm wrestling (a feat of strength). I told DH that airing of grievances was part of of Festivus; did he have any grievances that he wished to air? "Yeah, I will when you can stop talking," he replied.

And so it goes.