Well, there's another Christmas to Remember......

Well, there's another Christmas to Remember.....

We had a great Christmas and I hope you did, too..  I took the 24th off as a vacation day and was up early as usual.  I let Charlene sleep in until 9 am.  As I gently awakened her, she went into a frenzy:  "It's Nine! OMG, I've got to get to the store and get a roast and get it prepared and I've got to get........" this went on for a minute and then she ask the time again as if I was just kidding the first time. "Actually, its 9:15", I said.  Then back to the "I've gotta get up and get going right now", but she got up and got going, right then and there.  After doing the bathroom thing, getting even more beautiful and eating a quick breakfast, she sets off for the Christmas Eve Dinner fixings.  I start cleaning stuff up for the dinner and present opening later.  Whenever you see a photo, click on it to see the bigger size, then close that window to return here.
     

Charlene returns and as she is prepping the Ribeye roast, we both finish the cleaning.  For the next several hours, I incessantly ask, "Can we open presents now", to which she constantly replys, "No."  Like the Simpson kids.   Travis wants to be a Chef and starts Culinary College at Oxnard College next month so he's always in the kitchen cooking or assisting.  Here he is checking the roast.  Notice the pyrex cake pan that Charlene cooked the roast in...........

We were just minutes from serving dinner, the table beautifully set by Charlene......

So, the roast is done, gotta make gravy.  Charlene usually just uses the pan the meat/poultry was cooked in and sets it on the top of the stove, turns on a burner. First time for doing that in a pyrex pan.  Last time, too.

The next 4 pictures are what I call "The CSI Scene.  Twice in the last 14 years, Charlene has had a Pyrex glass pan shatter into a million pieces, once by setting hot dish on the counter, the other by setting the hot dish on the stove grates.  This is a new way to shatter glass....Whoa!  As she was stirring the gravy, Trav was just to her left side fixing potatoes  when it went.  Charlene was fine, Trav caught a big piece of glass in in lower leg.  Not a bad cut, just an artery.  Blood went everywhere.  She made him lay on t he couch, leg elevated and used a compress to stop the bleeding.  I went in to clean up the CSI Scene........here's the stovetop

Here's the floor after a quick sweep......

....and here's the corner of the stove where Trav was standing......

I got the mess cleaned up and we had a delicious dinner (without gravy) and then proceeded to open presents........

     After dinner, we opened presents.  Big Cat enjoys the festivities, Scout high-tales it outside till the 'opening' is complete.  Here's Cat enjoying a bow.......

Here's
Scout, saying" I'm out of here, open the door!"

So we had fun opening presents, including Charlene's new guitar and my new camera.....

And Trav?  He's fine.  Here's a pic of him opening presents with his new "Red Badge of Courage" (without the red).

So, hope your Christmas was merry and less red than ours.....
            Kelly, Charlene, Nicolas, Travis, Cat and Scout.