Frail Deeds Dancing: Faltering Attempt

ABFA and Son With Neighborhood Santa

Alright, I’m going to give this a shot, but please understand I am completely incapable of conveying how much fun the past two days have been. Christmas, by the lofty standard I set for the amount of fun it should be, is undeniably challenged every year. I was concerned that with the absence of the California element of the family I wouldn’t be able to have as much fun.

The East Coast element however more than rose to the occasion and despite my slightly broken wing the promise of the holiday was once again redeemed. After my early morning Christmas Eve meet and greet with employees I returned home to the smell of turkey cooking which ignited the memories of basically all prior Christmases for me (except for one spent in the Middle East).

Night Before Turkey Prep

After a power nap to rally corporeal forces for the battle ahead I headed for the kitchen for my rendezvous with Christmas Eve dinner which I was in charge of preparing. We had the windows open as the temperatures hovered near seventy. Buddy was particularly disappointed in that another window, opportunity-wise, was opened and my Favorite Panamanian jumped through it to administer a back yard bath for the wonder pooch which he didn’t really appreciate. By mid-afternoon the Favorite Son and the ABFA arrived to commence festivities. After a time out for church services the noise level rose to appropriate levels and we even entertained a visit from the next door Mafioso dressed up as Santa Claus.

Buddy Getting his Christmas Cleansing

The Tree Was Ready

In what is fast becoming a trend my sister and her husband showed up ahead of time from Rhode Island along with their two dogs, Bailey and Remy. It wouldn’t be Christmas without dogs, right? I was being ably assisted in the dinner prep by my favorite son as he took over some of the lifting my elbow was unwilling to entertain. Buddy learned a valuable lesson of checking temperature of fallen food when he swept in to gobble up a piece only to discover that not only was it a piece of squash, but it was still boiling hot. I have to give him an A for effort though and it was comical to see him attempting a field expedient method of flossing trying to get the hot squash out from his teeth. He was undeterred by this episode and held vigil throughout the turkey carving.

The Overly Proud Chef

Buddy and the ABFA's Dad Watching the Turkey Carve

Wife and Santa

If You Can't Look Silly at Christmas - Then When?

I really liked having the big dinner on Christmas Eve. I found it much easier to work on without the several beers are usually down range on Christmas Day when I did this on prior Christmases. We had a great time sitting round the table enjoying each other’s company which is for me what is best about the holiday. There were several video calls with the daughter, Wingman, and First Blog Reader out in California. I could tell they really wanted to be here with us, almost as much as I wanted them to be here.

Christmas Eve Dinner

After dinner I discovered a huge mistake we’d made in terms of canine coordination. We thought it would be best to leave the dogs in the basement to get reacquainted while we ate. Remy is a fast rising challenger to Buddy’s title of worst possible begging for food so we thought they would be fine and better away from the temptation of the dining room table. As soon as I opened the door olfactory evidence was abundant that we had erred in our estimation. Remy had deposited several prodigious mounds in front of Buddy’s cage and in the ensuing play time one of the dogs had stepped in one of the piles and tracked it around. My wife had stored a couple Christmas presents down there and Remy decided he wanted to not only open the present but devour the contents within. This was not a good move and not well received by certain Panamanian elements. For his exuberance Remy’s holiday was spent either on leash or in his cage; an ignominious fate for the young pretender to the throne. As stated above, dogs are part of the Christmas equation in my book and you have to take the good with the semi-insidious.

She's Ready for Christmas!

After some fabulous desserts we settled in for the annual viewing of Love Actually, something we’ve been doing for over ten years now. Similar viewing of the same movie was underway in California. My wife made midnight mass but was able to join us for Sam’s run through the Heathrow and Jaime’s proposal to Aurelia. A very good night indeed.

Buddy and Bailey on Christmas Morn

I had my usual early morning alone time with the dogs on Christmas morning. Since grandchildren are starting to appear I don’t know how many more of these I have in my future. I had all three dogs out in the back yard when the next door mafisoso yelled over holiday greetings. Their grandchildren are on site so they had already been up for a while.

Son and Brother in Law

Gifts Going Out with Canine Supervision

Remy Attacking my Son

I brewed some coffee and eventually the crowd wandered downstairs for the annual denuding of the deposits left under the Christmas tree. Buddy got to open the first gift which was a noise making pillow with “Nice” on one side and ”Naughty” on the other. He immediately got to work on chewing the naughty off. My granddaughter, not wanting to miss all of her first Christmas, woke her parents up so they joined us via video conference at the ungodly hour it was out in California. It was funny that we were twenty degrees warmer in Worcester than they were in Los Angeles yesterday.

ABFA

ABFA and Son Sorting

The gift giving culminated when I asked my son to take a bag of discarded wrapping paper to the garage. When he opened the door he found his big present, which was a riding lawn mower. It was a nice moment, as he was obviously surprised. He then undertook my daughter’s usual job of making the morning mimosas while his sister looked on from L.A. My wife took the ABFA under her wing to teach her the intricacies of fried dough and hojaldras. Before we knew it the whole family was gathered around the dining room table again for the Christmas morning brunch which had a lot more lunch than breakfast in terms of time.

Son Sitting on his Big Present

Hojaldra Lessons

Son Grilling Kielbasa - T-Shirt Christmas Weather

Since I didn’t have a meal to prepare this year the rest of the day was a very nice, comfortable slide. We had to bid adieu to the New Hampshire contingent so they could head north for ABFA family requirements. We used the afternoon to fill a gaping hole in my sister’s pop culture education. She’d never seen the Christmas Vacation movie and we laughed the afternoon away together watching the Griswolds and Cousin Eddie.

Brunch

All too soon the sun set and the Rhode Islanders had to pursue similar family requirements down south. Remy was happy to escape what had become an extended period of solitary. The next door mafiosos appeared as well to help delve into our excess turkey supply before disappearing into the night.

Keene Friend Making his Way Through Multiple Boxes

The last event of the evening was the tardy arrival of the Keene Friend, which seems to get later and later each year. It did mark the final event of our customary Christmas celebration though. He took my wife’s wrapping of his present in good stride. He’s known to over-tape whenever he sends a package and my wife exacted a measure of revenge by making him go through no less than four wrapped boxes before he arrived at his present.

Meanwhile Out in California

So a very good time, if it did lack the presence of some sorely missed Californians. The good news is that the celebration has not ended. The Keene Friend made one of his patented early morning escapes this morning so he could return home to prepare for the annual day after Christmas party at his house tonight. The party will go on. I hope everyone reading this had at least a fraction of the fun that I did. If you did, you had a great holiday.