The Day After Christmas....

Hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone!  

We kept things pretty simple here at our home.  All the decorating, shopping and wrapping was done early, so those last few days before Christmas seemed oddly quiet and peaceful.  It actually felt a little weird not to be running around like a chicken with my head cut off at the end, though......

I did do a bit of tweaking on decorations in the final week.  I found some lovely snowflakes at Dollar Tree and put a bit of bling on the trees out on the porch and the garland wrapped around my snow globe display.  I love the snowy effect it gave and it only took a couple of packages of snowflakes.  Total cost - $2. 

The family came together at our home on Christmas Eve evening and enjoyed a very simple meal.  We put out sandwich meats and cheese, along with mini croissants and rolls to make sandwiches, and a variety of dips, chips and veggies.....what could be easier?!?!?  And, everybody got to have exactly what they wanted.  I also warmed apple cider with cinnamon and orange slices in it to sip on throughout the evening.

  
Then, chaos reigned while gifts were exchanged and opened!  We watched Christmas movies for a while and everyone just drifted out, taking their leave as they got tired.  It was a wonderful time and definitely the highlight of our holiday.

We left all the Christmas lights on, both inside and outside the house for the night and snuggled up as a bitter cold front blew through.  On Christmas morning, we awoke to snow flurries and we had a decent dusting of snow for a semi-white Christmas.  After a quick lunch of leftovers, we bundled up and headed out into the cold.  Destination - the mall theater with our pre-purchased tickets to "Les Miserables" clutched tightly in hand.  We arrived early enough to get terrific seats and munched on way too much popcorn while we waited for the movie to start.

I must say that I totally enjoyed the movie!  The music, the cinematography, the acting - I thought it was all superb.  And, hard as I tried, I couldn't keep the tears from my eyes in the final scenes.  The theater was packed and I think Eddie Dale and I have found a new Christmas tradition - the movies, of course!  When we returned home, we snacked on leftovers (again!) for dinner and popped in "It's a Wonderful Life" on the dvd player.  The perfect ending to a pretty perfect day......

Now, I've spent the better part of the day at the office and have come home to a quiet house.  Eddie is at work and the pups are all glad to see me.  I have another full day of work planned tomorrow, so this evening I am going to curl up and read....or maybe watch one last holiday movie that I recorded off the Hallmark Channel.  I'm having a hard time letting go of the Christmas feeling this year.....the tree and decorations still look beautiful and I plan on leaving everything up until the new year. It just feels so warm and cozy....I can definitely enjoy this for another week!

When do you take down the decorations???  

I've done it as early as Christmas evening, after the children went to bed.....and as late as the first week in January.  I guess it all depends on the year and what else is going on....

I hope you and your family/loved ones/friends had a wonderful and blessed Christmas!  Now, we can all look forward to the new year - 2013 - with great hope and anticipation!!!

Hugs,