They say that X is for the unknown factor, so I never normally use this term for Christmas. But I am wimping out over the letter X, but only to a certain degree because X is probably an unknown factor about me that most of you don't know. My birthday is Christmas Day. I turned 74. So here is my Christmas/birthday picture to celebrate:
Our beautiful Christmas centerpiece, but surrounded by all my birthday cards!
The first thing I am usually asked is, "Do you get two presents -- one for birthday and one for Christmas?' My answer is a resounding "Yes!". As far as I can remember I always have. In fact I think it was harder on my brother than on me because when he was younger he didn't understand why I always got more presents than him at Christmas time.
We had a wonderful Christmas/ birthday. I even cooked a turkey dinner -- which I think will be for the last time. My oldest son and his family came over. My youngest son called from Boise. Everything went very smoothly except....
.... the kitchen sink backed up and the cat threw up.!!! We had to leave all the dishes and pots and pans until we could call a plumber the next day. The blessing behind all this is that I had totally finished cooking and was putting everything on the table when the drain gave up. The cat has now thrown up for three days in a row so we're wondering if he has found some nibbles somewhere. He doesn't eat people food for exactly that reason.
Just a couple of family photos to finish:
We had roast turkey and gravy, roast potatoes and carrots done around the roast, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, my special version of cranberry jelly, salad and bread rolls, and Martinelli's apple cider. Dessert was my chocolate chip brownies and Harry and David's sweet, sweet, juicy pears.
Please forgive my bragging, but all year long I tell everyone that I don't cook or bake, which I don't -- unless I have to, but I can if it's for a special occasion.
SO I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL XMAS.
(I'm sure you all know that the first letter of Christmas is, in the Greek, the letter Chi which looks like an elongated X so I didn't wimp out on my convictions too much.)
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This entry for the letter X is part of ABC Wednesday, Mrs. Nesbitt's highly entertaining and educational project. Please click on this LINK to see more.
25 comments:
Ohhhhhh Chris - loved this - so humble, so lovely - centre stage -thge cat throwing up! lol! Us catlovers/owners relate so much! Infact as I type thgis - our puss is asleep in the hamper basket! lol! Merry Christmas Chris to you and yours - even today, when we went over to Scarborough and I saw the sign for Brid I did as mental "Hellooooooooooooooo from Chris to all in Brid & Flamborough Head!" I do it every time .....you are part of it all now.
Dxxxx
Happy birthday, were you always happy to share your birthday with Jesus? We sang happy birthday to Jesus in church.
Hi Ann: My family never went to church, although Christianity was taught in our regular schools. I think I always believed in God, but recognizing Jesus Christ as my savior and the forgiveness of my personal sin was not something I realized personally until I was nearly 18 years old.A happy and blessed New Year to you!
Oh Chris, please keep your eye on Kitty...one of ours just had emergency surgery....the first symptom was throwing up after she had eaten.
Happy Birthday...belated, I know, but heartfelt anyway.
Jane xx
I enjoyed every bit of your Xcellent post. Happy Birthday to you and Merry Xmas too.
Happy birthday, you young thing. It must have been a drag when you were a kid to share your natal day with the Nativity. Happy Xmas, too.
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
Well Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday...What a special Day for you.
41 years ago, I was SO PREGNANT...and gave birth to our youngest daughter on December 30th.
She always gots lots of present too.
So sorry to hear about your kitty, but very proud of your wonderful dinner, and the table looks so festive and family so happy!
Lovely family you have ChrisJ.
X-mas or Christmas, which one do you approve of? May you have a prosperous new year!
Happy Birthday! What a lovely celebration but I'll bet you could have done without plumbing and cat probs...
And I spotted the painting of Flamborough!! Many thanks for the lovely fabric - I keep looking at it and letting my mind race! xx
Wish you Happy Christmas.
Well...Happy Birthday to you ChrisJ!!! I never knew the origin of the X in Xmas....thank you for clearing that up!!!
So glad you had a lovey Christmas -- and b'day. Seems strange to see my nephew in shorts on Christmas Day! We finally have snow on the ground!
Happy Birthday and glad you had a great 'X'-mas. As always - a great and entertaining blog.
a great post and i hope you had a great birthday
http://jobryantnz.wordpress.com/2011/12/29/x-is-for-xanthippe/
Happy (belated) birthday!!Anyone with a birthday near Christmas certainly gets the short end of the deal. And you cooked your own bday dinner to boot! I hope the kids take over from now on. Or, go out to eat! Lovely family, centerpiece and table setting.
Well happy birthday! I'm happy your family keeps the two events separate. Our youngest was born on Dec, 23rd and we always tried to keep her birthday separate from Christmas. You can see my Christmas baby at http://bit.ly/w1SQxT ! :-)
I've never had Harry & David pears...can't seem to get past their dark chocolate covered cherries!
Merry Birthday! Happy Christmas! I agree it's best to share the day than have it just before or just after. Yesterday Josie & I went out for lunch to celebrate her birthday, which is usually forgotten in all the bustle. And tomorrow is my sister's birthday, which she not so fondly remembers as the "leftover turkey casserole and Xmas pudding with a candle stuck in it" for her dinners when younger. lol Wish I could have been at your table this year, but we did have a nice dinner. Happy New Year! Hugs,
Leslie
abcw team
So you were a Christmas present to your parents, lol !
It seems you had a wonderful Christmas, except the sink and the cat fortunately everything was ready on the table.
When we came home on Monday I also found a cat"present" just at the entrance !
Happy belayed birthday !
Xmas and your birthday at the same time !
Did you get more gifts ?
Belated Happy Christmas and Happy Birthday, Chris. Your celebrations sounded wonderful:-)
I hope Scruffy is feeling better now, poor boy.
Happy belated birthday Chris.
Your Christmas table looked beautiful and its always the best when family is gathered around it. So sorry about your kitty. Hope he is feeling better now.
Plugged drains have visited our house on occasion too. Its pretty icky to say the least.
My Hubby celebrates his 70th birthday on January 1st!
It seems it always took a back seat to the rest of the holiday celebrations.
Wishing you and yours a very blessed New Year.
Our son was born on Dec 22, so planning his birthday when he was a child took some ingenuity.
I'm glad you had a lovely dual celebration.
I hope Scruffy is not seriously ill--will be watching for an update.
Several of our cats throw up when they have a hair ball issue, which means getting gobbits of sticky hairball paste down their resistant gullets.
Hello.
Well, your Christmas:Birthday was certainly eventful. At least you got to spend time with loved ones & can laugh about the mishaps next year. My mom turned 80 years old on Boxing Day
Lovely post.
Thanks for sharing.
Xanadu: This Lush, Tropical Garden
thanks for sharing your day
ornamented joshua
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