Some Fun On Sunday: Christmas

It was a terrific day! Ellen, Greg, and I got up at our leisure (good thing, as I hadn't slept well), then settled around the tree to open gifts. We all got items we wanted--or didn't know we wanted, but knew when we opened our gifts. I didn't take pictures, but Ellen did; me with a gift from Mike (he sent several), a wooden cheese board with a Jersey motif:

I got all kinds of neat things, as did El and Mike, but I won't list them here. El made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, we ate in a leisurely fashion, then I took a nap, while she went to Von's--yes, it was open for a few hours--and got ingredients for the green salad she said she'd bring to Carolyn's. About, we loaded up the car and drove to Santa Barbara (Greg opted not to go).

At Carolyn's, we found the rest of the guests in the backyard (it was in the seventies all day), we joined them, and were introduced to their new neighbors. We opened presents (I'll send mine for Carolyn later), drank a yummy concoction of Robyn's--strawberry and sparkling wine--and generally enjoyed ourselves.

We were introduced to the neighbors, Scott and Holly--an interesting couple from Minnesota. She's a Microsoft person, who works from home, he's a board game designer--interesting and enjoyable couple. They have two daughters, one of whom is the same age as Claire, 
Carolyn's daughter, and they're already tight. I took only a few pics, but here's some of the group. The activity, a new board game designed by Scott, was a lot of fun (I wrote down his web site, but now can't find it).

This is only part of the group; Ellen and nephew Steve on the left, then Claire and new friend, Dexter, Robyn, Holly, Scott, and Carolyn. While we were playing, Jeanne Painter called me from West Palm Beach, Florida. I answered, but said I'd call her back. Excused myself from the next game and went into a bedroom to do so. I'm not sure but she seemed a little addled--drinking, maybe? She mostly complained about John, her 93-and-a half-year-old paramour, then switched to how she wanted me to "witness" the fact that she and her mother were pregnant at the same time (her sister is 22 years younger than she is). She said how much she liked me at HSHS--ha!  She was pretty and popular, I was minimally with the in-crowd and this was 68 years ago, fer cryin' out loud!  We talked for about twenty minutes; I'll call her back one of these days and see what else was up.

Dinner was yummy and below, with Carolyn, is the chef, her husband Dana. It was served buffet syle and he made it all from scratch: roast beef, mashed taters, poached pears, and various sides. El brought the salad (she had asked Greg to make the dressing), Robyn some chocolate-covered pretzel sticks and cookies dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. 

The table extended from the dining room to the living room--good thing it flows--and was Christmasy decorated, and included poppers, which we all pulled with great hilarity after we ate.

It was just a lot of fun and El and I both had a great time. We didn't leave until 10:30 (gasp!) and didn't get back to El's until almost midnight. You can be sure I slept like a stone and now, Monday morning, I feel great.