A pre-Christmas Christmas

Darr's family is dispersing for the holidays so we decided to host a pre-Christmas Christmas at our house last Saturday, we were the only ones who had bought and decorated a tree. As during the week my housekeeping duties are lax at best, that meant waking up early and getting started with a thorough cleaning of the house so the in-laws didn't think I was a complete and total slob of a wife. Vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the glass on the coffee table, putting away and/or hiding the various piles of crap (e.g., magazines, unopened mail, etc.), laundry, making the bed, folding the clothes, putting the clothes away, washing and drying the dishes, and food prep. Whew! I'm tired just rehashing all of the work that goes into having people over. But it is totally worth the effort because the house remains clean even after the people are gone so you get, at the very least, a few days of clean house before the crap and dirt and disarray creeps back.

Anyway, our guests started to arrive around 4pm and Darr got to work preparing the pork roast and the various side dishes that would comprise our pre-Christmas Christmas dinner. It is truly amazing how much food you can consume when you're doing nothing but sitting around gabbing to family members. Olives, peanuts, chips, s'mores (provided by Jyla) were all snacked on while we waited for dinner and the gift exchange. And, your alcohol intake can be pretty impressive over the course of an evening. I don't know what all Darren drank (mulled wine, wine, scotch, rye, etc.) but I do know the following morning he had a wee bit of a headache.

And finally, we ended the evening unwrapping our presents. I have to say that watching a baby open gifts is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Seriously. What's wrong with us? Why do we torture ourselves with having the baby awake to unwrap gifts? Okay, the baby is cute, but it just wants to eat ribbon. This is just the beginning of Gavin's first Christmas but he was loaded with stuff, including super cute outfits, a gazillion toys, and lots of books.

Darr got wireless headphones, I had to tell you so I could include the photo of him wearing the headphones. How hilarious is that?! We got two beautiful Shun kitchen knives and a gift certificate to some Japanese restaurant in Tigard. I got a lovely Coach Mini Skinny wallet and the Nike + iPod gear so I can start tracking my workouts. Now I just need to go and buy another pair of shoes...