christmas fun for my return from the cruise!

No less than four of the programs I watch all had Christmas themes!

The ones on PBS, the ones on AntennaTV, it just seemed they'd had a meeting and decided that was needed to welcome me home!

 

"My Life Is Murder", the one with Lucy Lawless as a police consultant in Australia, was the first I watched.

That episode was "Silent Lights" and concerned a death around Christmas time, with a man falling off his roof.

The neighbors insisted it was an accident, but his wife insisted that one of them had killed him somehow.

Get this: it was the 25th episode of the show!

Sounds like Christmas to me (even though it originally aired Oct. 2, 2022)!

Next up was "News Radio" with an episode from Season 2 that originally aired Dec. 19, 1995.

Clearly, "Xmas Story", meant for a US audience, aired at the right time for that annual festival of lights!

Everyone gets ball caps from the billionaire boss, causing quite a stir.

To complicate matters, 'Bill' is having a rough time with the lobby Santa, who keeps threatening to kill him.

Yes, hilarity ensued from the misunderstandings!

Then in the line-up was "Just Shoot Me!", this time from Season 6, and was the last episode before their Christmas break.

Airing Dec. 13, 2001, "Christmas? Christmas!" is one I actually watched twice!

That's because it had real-life Ray Liotta as himself, the 47-year-old movie-star cousin of the nerdy mailroom clerk (who is the actor who plays the geologist in "TBBT", Brian Posehn, whose last name on this show was 'Liotta').

Already I liked it!

Then Ray turned out to be a Christmas fanatic, with lots of traditions to share with 'Maya' as he whisks her into a holiday romance - most excellent!

Of course I watched it twice!!!

The last of the quartet came from "Midsomer Murders" (which, in the USA, always runs as pairs of 45-minute episodes to solve the case). 

Aired January 4, 2004, in merry old England, as a post-holiday treat I'm sure, "Bad Tidings" starts off with a college secretary getting killed, then a retired doctor.

What secrets had they been hiding all those decades?

Very much a good who-done-it to stir up the gray matter!

My thanks to the Universe for those...

I have really enjoyed them! 

Now, off I go to Music Bingo!!! 

counting flowers on the wall, that don't bother me at all

Not when I have "The Finch Who Stole Christmas" to make me merry!

Yes, boys and girls, "News Radio" was on with this episode very early today, narrated by Kelsey Grammar.

And why ever would the Finch be so upset?

The whole office chipped in for it!

But it's a turtle calendar... from that year... so it wasn't even new!

What the fresh hell?!?!

So, in the company of the little dog he had to puppysit for the boss, he set about wreaking havoc on the gifts for the others.

"Bah!!! Humbug!!!", he cried with glee!!!

Meanwhile, Nina had gone was a drink to raise her spirits.

She'd watched "Titanic" and felt forlorn about all those fashions that went down with the ship!

And who should appear but a friendly 'lumberjack' named Jay Crew?

After some afternoon delight, she saw the error of her ways and embraced casual wear!!!

That was just in time for a forlorn Elliot to bring in a tree to decorate the office.

Goodness gracious - shades of Charlie Brown!!!

It looked pretty sad, but seemed to bring him great cheer, so that was good.

Then a wondrous thing happened: the Finch discovered that the turtle calendar had a special gift written in for Christmas Day!

It was a cruise, just for him, with lots of perks in every port!

They did like him, they really, really did!

(smile!)

Now, right on cue, it's time for me to go out to lunch with my Hinesville peeps!

Oh, what's up with the Statler Brothers song in the title?

Ivan of the League of Savannah Bloggers was grousing on fb about a botched delivery by the Instacart folks.

He wrote "smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo" ... and, justthatfast, my mental jukebox kicked in with a response!

"Playing solitaire 'til dawn with a deck of fifty-one!"

Hahahaha! Good times, good times! 

seuss would have been so pleased!

Hooray! I feel like I hit a home run right out of my living room!

Both Miyah and Chloe loved the Christmas crackers!!!

I think having it in the wrappers I'd fashioned from the "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" stationery (that I've had since 2000) had a lot to do with that.

They immediately switched necklaces, since Chloe liked the blue one better and Miyah prefers gold, but the erasers were spot on!

Here they are, still playing with the necklaces!

Get this: they were the ones who noticed that the cubes were actually dice!

I guess I'd never looked at them that closely!

Miyah has hers wrapped around her wrist, like a bracelet, like I do with long beads - nice!

She's also singing into her pencil like it's a microphone - good thing we had that section of the place all to ourselves!

On this rainy evening, Carey the H on Skidaway was fairly empty, so that worked out in our favor.

Good call, my first niece!

Nice of Anthony to chauffeur her around so she didn't have to drive on slick roads!

She's not a fan of driving anyway, as I told him.

A car is just a means of getting from where she is to where she wants to be.

I love the actual act of driving between those two points!

I miss that, and plan to do more of it as warmer days with more daylight hours near.

She had missed these little glass hummingbirds, once intended as a Christmas gift for me a few years ago, then "put into a safe place"... and promptly lost!!!

Hahahaha!!! She most def takes after me with that trick!

I'm so glad she finally located them.

They'll be so lovely in my sunroom when it opens for spring!

She also brought me another treat: Girl Scout cookies!!!

I have been waiting for these for at least three weeks!

Now, I have so many choices for dessert tonight... and tomorrow night... and for many nights in the foreseeable future.

All right on time to bring sweetness for Valentine's Day!

What a wonderful treat this has been: time with my girls, and cookies, too!

We even played rock-paper-scissors, in memory of the origami! 

So much love!!!

time for christmas crackers!

She'll be here soon, so I'll make this brief. I finally can give the Seussian Christmas crackers I made to my great-nieces!!!

"She... you mean your first niece??? She's coming from Hinesville on a weekday?"

She is! She sent me a text this afternoon, so I told her I'd be home instead of at the book reading at Asbury Memorial. It's part of the Savannah Book Festival that was held last weekend.

"I'm sure she would have understood if you wanted to attend that."

Hey, she has Girl Scout cookies that I need to pay for, so that's got some priority. Mostly, though, I really want to see her and the girls. It's been months since we've been together!!! That's why I still have the Christmas surprise I put together for each of them!

"I see. I think Cedric Stratton would get quite a kick out of those."

I agree.

"So, what's inside those little packages?"

The inside flap has a bookmark from a One Hundred Miles about shorebirds, as well as a large sticker that says "READ" from the PINES library event. 

"Those will be nice surprises for the children!"

They should be useful, for sure. Then, inside the package is a variety of items. The biggest item is the ticket for a free game of mini-golf! I'm hoping that I'll be invited to come along when they return to town to do that. (smile!) Then there's the beaded necklace from Las Vegas - four different ones, so each girl's will be unique. The Christmas-decor pencil and Christmas-themed eraser cap were from a fundraiser at their schools, and those were all different, too. Oh, and I included a mini Tootsie Roll. No cracker would be complete without candy!

"Oh, I know those are going to be very popular gifts!!! Which girl gets that one?"

That's for Miyah. She has the blue-cube necklace and the Santa eraser. Chloe has the gold-cube necklace and a reindeer eraser. Alyssa will get a gold-beaded necklace with a snowman eraser! And Leila's cracker will have a green-beaded necklace and green tree eraser. I guess I'm fixing to find out how well I chose those items for each!

"I guess you are!"

I have no doubt that Christina is going to love the "Coat Of Many Colors" ornament. That's not only a good Bible story and a fun musical, but Dolly Parton has forever immortalized it in song. Yes, I'm sure she's going to like that! I'm just hoping the girls will remember playing putt-putt with me on vacation. That was two years ago.

"Yes, that's a long time for little ones. All the more reason for y'all to go to Bogey's and make some new memories together of that experience!"

Yes, that's right! I'm trying to give them an experience this year, not just a gift. Okay, let me get down here before they arrive!

welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart and hand in hand

Fahoo fores dahoo dores

Welcome Christmas come this way

Fahoo fores dahoo dores

Welcome Christmas, Christmas day

Welcome, welcome fahoo ramus

Welcome, welcome dahoo damus

Christmas day is in our grasp

So long as we have hands to clasp

Fahoo fores dahoo dores

Welcome Christmas bring your cheer

Fahoo fores dahoo dores

Welcome all Whos far and near

Welcome Christmas, fahoo ramus

Welcome Christmas, dahoo damus

Christmas day will always be

Just so long as we have we

Fahoo fores dahoo dores

Welcome Christmas bring your light

Fahoo fores dahoo dores

Welcome Christmas, Christmas day

Welcome Christmas, fahoo ramus

Welcome Christmas, dahoo damus

Welcome Christmas while we stand

Heart to heart and hand in hand

Fahoo fores dahoo dores

Welcome welcome Christmas day

Welcome, welcome Christmas day! 

 

 

I guess it's clear what was on my mind!

Yes, I recorded "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", the original one, and watched it this morning.

This has been part of my holiday ever since I was 8 years old.

That little song in 'Seussian Latin" is ingrained in my brain after nearly 6 decades!

Thank you, Albert Hague, for those lovely, loony, lyrics.

Please know that I sing along every time!

Thank you, Tony and Laura, for hosting the Christmas gathering for your clan and inviting me to share the festivities!

Thank you, Hope and Damon, for coming with your children to celebrate and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus for his 2025th birthday!

Thank you, Smitty and Mary, for joining us for the holiday spirit... and spirited eggnog!

And thank You, God, for this gloriously warm day to be together!

such a surreal end to this day...

First, let's hit hit the highlights, shall we?

I started off with pizza for breakfast, as well as a second viewing of the double episode of "Ghosts" from Thursday.

Titled "It's A Wonderful Christmas Carol", it very nicely paired up two of my favorite traditional holiday shows.

Remember how much I liked that in the show at Tybee last year?

In this TV show, 'Sam' finally has enough after 'Thorfinn' zaps her and lets his hippie girlfriend take over her body as a Christmas gift, to satisfy her munchies.

It completely trashes an important TV interview, resulting in 'Sam' declaring "I wish I'd never been able to see and hear the ghosts!'

Poof! Her wish is granted, and next thing she knows, 'Carol' appears and takes her on the rounds of how her life would be without them.

Eventually, 'Sam' realizes her life was pretty good as it was, so she takes back the wish, waking up on the couch.

Was it all a dream?

Had that really happened or had it all been in her imagination?

Then she found the candy cane that 'Carol' had given her.

Wow.

It wasn't Zuzu's petals, but it still made me cry.

(smile!)

Soon it was almost high noon and time to head off to The King & I!

Dawn and I had our Christmas luncheon scheduled and that's our place!

She even broke out her camera for those Lamb Chops!

Such a grand meal we had, starting with soups and ending with crab cakes.

No, that isn't some new dessert - hahahaha!

Plus, she gave me her veggies and rice to take home, and I used those in a soup I had for dinner.

I'm so glad we both had two hours to spend together!

Then, as I was taking care of things on the computer, I had the TV tuned to the Kennedy Center honors for some musicians.

 

A familiar voice made me pause.

Was that the POTUS introducing Gloria Gaynor???

Surely that was not anything Trump would do... right?

I took it as a ploy to butter up female voters.

Then he was back to give the intro for KISS.

How totally surreal.

I'm glad the cameras panned over to the honorees to catch their reactions.

Gene and Paul both had flat expressions on their faces, leading me to surmise they were also aware of the surreal nature of the event.

Good for them for staying cool.

They got lively, though, a little later!

Cheap Trick paid tribute by performing "Rock And Roll All Nite" and they jammed!

I'm talkin' 'bout Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and even Peter Criss, were up and dancing and smiling!

That's pretty cool, as they're 76, 73, and 80, respectively.

That makes all of them contemporaries of Trump, with only Peter Criss being older than the current POTUS, who is 79

Honestly, that all makes it more surreal.

 Must be time for bed!

die hard violent night

I started my day with one of my favorite non-traditional Christmas movies: "Die Hard".

Why not treat myself to those three gorgeous men again?

Especially as it was free!!!

Yippee-kiy-aye!!!

Then it was off to my neurology appointment at Savannah VA.

I've been waiting for this ever since I last saw Dr. Peter Urban for my vision.

Remember, he told me I was having acephalgic migraines?

I had thought I was getting an MRI today, but, nope.

Instead, this was a consultation with Dr. Diaz for him to determine whether an MRI was actually warranted.

As it turns out, he agreed with Dr. Urban, so now I await the scheduling of that test, most likely in April.

He also liked what I said: "Better to know what bogeyman is there than think there is no bogeyman at all." 

On that note, off I went to "The Housemaid" at AMC right next door.

I had no idea how appropriate that choice would be!

Right place, right time. 

That will most likely be my only A*List film this week, so I'm glad it was a good one.

I first thought it might be horror, but it was a thriller, featuring one of those surprise endings that I so love!

It was also a woman empowerment movie, like "Heathers", or "Ready Or Not", so chances are I'll watch it again while it's in town. 

I needed to stay to the south and west area so I let Melaness treat me to a Christmas slunch!

I'm not saying she was actually there, but I had the Texas Roadhouse gift card she gave me for Christmas, so that's her by proxy, right?

That's the way I looked at it!

I started off with that fabulous House Salad, side size, then ate half an order of Tater Skins for the meal - totally yum!

The rest of that will be fancy hash browns one morning... oh, yeah!

Then I headed over to the Two First Posts club for the sixth time.

Yes, that's correct: the sixth American Legion meeting for December.

At least it looked very festive, having been prettied up by Sabrina Scales and a few others with Post 500.

Honestly, without them putting in the manpower, none of the chairs or tables would have ever been assembled.

Tonight, I was the sole representative of Post 36.

Post 500 had five people: John Parker, Eddie Patterson, Brenda Pough, Eric Bolden, and another guy (maybe Leon Johnson?).

Savanna Newsome, the former CB for the Navy and the head of the company that made this place habitable, was also there.

All we really accomplished this time was verification of the Certificate of Occupancy, as well as the maximum number of people for this space.

That would be 200.

That brings up why the place was decorated: an event was held by the USO for 100 children and Santa Claus on Saturday morning. 

I made sure to give thanks for Sabrina's actions and style!

After 90 minutes we adjourned and I was finally able to go home.

Peacock had another non-traditional Christmas movie for me: "Violent Night".

Free and perfect to round out this Monday!

(smile!)

2025 faith & family film festival

My gratitude to Comcast for giving me access to a channel I usually cannot watch, but always enjoy!

I must add that Up Faith & Family definitely gave me some unexpected story lines, with a bit more realism and more edge than most holiday movies exhibit.

I like that!

With this dozen films, I had one with a Marine suffering from PTSD.

Another not only had foster children facing eviction at Christmas, but also the effects of a drunk driver on a family.

Then there's the talk show host that books freaks to belittle, just to bring in advertising dollars.

The autism spectrum pops up in the lead character of another film, as a woman who writes logic puzzles.

Plus, a saboteur threatens not just property, but people, in the first one I watched!

Still, I enjoyed every one of those.

Then there were all the Vivica A. Fox movies... a total of four!!! 

Those were made in 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2025, with her sporting different styles in each.

Admittedly, two were choices made on purpose, as I sought them out simply because she was in them, and those earlier films were two of my favorites!

So, here are the ones for this year!

 

"North By North Pole: A Dial S Mystery" (2024)

Santa - Dax Belanger
festival planner Zoey - Abby Ross
her mom Avery - Andrea Reindl
co-planner of festival Dalton - Joe Scarpellino

007-clone Wilson - Aason Nadjiwon

 

All is not happy in Willow Creek when two planners clash.

All becomes worse when a saboteur starts wrecking those plans!

 

------------------------------------------------

"Dial S For Santa" (2023)

LOL!
Forgot I already saw this one last year!

insurance investigator Lana  - Sarah Dugdale
police detective Nick - Julian Haig
Santa - Dax Belanger
 

Note: It has the same Santa!

 

----------------------------------------------- 

"A Christmas Masquerade" (2022)

assistant Julieanne - Erin Agostino
public image boss Lara - Cory Lee
the client Michael - David Lafontaine

 

Starts of kinda sorta like "Working Girl", with the client mistaking the assistant for the boss at a party, then the assistant forced to follow through.

That means I liked it! 

 

--------------------------------------------------- 

"A Carol Christmas" (2003)

TV show host Carol - Tori Spelling  ***
ghost of christmas past - Gary Coleman   ***
ghost of christmas present - William Shatner  ***
 

I had the suspicion that I might have seen this before, though I couldn't have siad for sure until nearly the end, when the three ghosts are looking in the window from outside.

Good fun!

 

-------------------------------------------------------

"Festival Of Trees" (2024)

small time designer Jacquie - Kate Miner (alos producer)
her smart-mouth asst Heather - Sara Hayter
treelot owner Brandon Holliday - Greg Perrow
his sick daughter Rachel - Jojo Regina

Actually filmed at the Georgia Festival Of Trees in Atlanta that year!

 

-----------------------------------------------

"A Christmas Murder Mystery" (2025)

newspaper editor Charlotte - Vivica A. Fox  ***
autistic puzzle creator Vera - Morgan Bradley
real estate magnate Harold Sterling - Michael Paré  **
his college lit son Troy - Rob Mayes
 

The puzzle creator also works part-time as a consultant for the hometown police department.

Her catchphrase is, "Here's what we know..."

So nice to see Michael Paré again, though he doesn't have much to say or do after he's poisoned.

Trust me, I gave away nothing, as he dies at the very beginning.

 

---------------------------------------------------

"Annie Claus Is Coming To Town"  (2011)

Santa's daushter Annie - Maria Thayer
Mrs Santa - Vicki Lawrence ***
Santa - Peter Jason
toy store owner Ted - Sam Page
motel owner Lucy - Vivica A. Fox ***
her daughter Mia - Nay Nay Kirby
Dean, actor hired to woo Annie - Ryan Bittle
 

This was so much fun, mostly due to the joyous enthusiasm of the lead, Maria Thayer.

Vivica A. Fox is quite spunky and has hair to match!

 

-------------------------------------------------

"Christmas With A View" (2018)

asst restaurant mgr Clara - Kaitlyn Leeb
her celebrity chef mom Lydia - Vivica A. Fox  ***
celebrity chef hired for holidays Shane - Scott Anthony Cavalheiro
inn and diner owner Frank - Patrick Duffy  ***
co-inn and diner owner Jackie - Jess Walton
Clara's bff Bonnie - Kristen Kurnik
Bonnie's city planner bf Clive - Joseph Cannata

Love, love, love Bonnie and Clive! They're fabulous and quirky fun, constantly drawing parallels to the notorious Bonnie and Clyde!

 

----------------------------------------------

"Jingle Smells" (2023)

ex-Marine w PTSD Nick - Ben Davies
his police chief dad - John Schneider  ***
his 'Uncle Mike", the garbage man - Brad Stine
CEO of toy company Cashbro - Eric Roberts ***
action star Mason Stone - James Storm ** wrestler

Love that I had another one with John Schneider! 

NOTE: Even dedicated at the end to several military folks.
 

Two original songs in the soundtrack, too, both very funny and one with the Oak Ridge Boys!

"Jingle smells, jingle smells, stinking all the way.

He gives toys to girls and boys, a garbage truck's his sleigh."

 

Tell the truth... you just sang that, didn't you?

(smile!) 

---------------------------------------------

"Farewell Mr. Kringle" (2010)

magazine writer Anna - Christina Taylor  *** (Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!!!)
her boss and editor - Vivica A. Fox  ***
ex-lawyer, now inn owner Mark - Christopher Wiehl
formerly Mr. Wilson, now Kris Kringle - William Morgan Sheppard
 

Such a beautiful movie about finding Christmas spirit after loss.

 

---------------------------------------------

"Santa's Got Style"  (2022)

marketing designer Madison - Kathryn Davis
the fashion mogul Paul Grant - Scott Thompson
her best friend and former model Ethan - Franco Lo Presti
his assistant Matthew - Kato Alexander
 

A bit edgy, but I liked it!

 

---------------------------------------------------

"A Christmas Letter"  (2021)

foster home mother Leslie - Glenda Braganza
one of the girls Sam - Ava Weiss
that girl's brother Wendell - Callum Shoniker
mailman who teaches them hockey David - David Lipper (also wrote script) 
his wheelchair-bound dad - Enrico Colantoni (*** 'Just Shoot Me!")
guy on N. Pole Rd, S. Clause - Colin Mochrie (*** "Whose Line Is It Anyway?")
 

Most def a bit edgy, with drunk driver, foster kids getting kicked out at the holidays, but very well done!
I liked that it was set in Detroit, Frankenmuth, and Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario. 

 

--------------------------------

I was quite happy with my choices!

I'd gladly watch any of these again!

Christmas luncheon with a chemist!

Of course I'm talkin' 'bout retiree Yvonne!

We were at Olive Garden, naturally, and her neighbor, Toni, was with us.

Such a lovely two-hour respite we had from the world as we dined on soups and salads!

They had tasks to run in town, or there's no telling how long we might have lingered!

The sun was shining and the day was warm enough to not have a jacket, which was nice.

It'll be horrid tomorrow morning and again on Sunday, but there's good news in that WSAV weather song.

Christmas and Christmas Eve will be in the 70's!!!

i thank You, God!!!

That will make the family gathering at Tony and Laura's better for all!!!

Speaking of making things better for all, remember those items I'd donated to my first niece for the School Store?

That was to allow the students of the elementary school the opportunity to 'buy' gifts for their family members and friends.

She sent me this photo of the leftover items, with the shelves nearly bare and only a few things on the tree and table.

Such a big success, she said!

I'm so blessed to have been able to help!

i thank You, God!

four calling birds!

That was the line that Virginia and I and a silent singer had to sing and pantomime.

Fortunately, I'd seen the People's Youth Choir in action two years ago, so I could coach the others on what to do.

"We just place our hands to imitate a megaphone at our mouth!"

That worked out just fine all nine times that our part came up in "The Twelve Days Of Christmas"! 

The table beside us were tasked with "partridge in a pear tree".

What a cute act they choose for that line!

That was good, as they had to perform for all twelve stanzas.

However, the group that got the most crowd reaction was the table right in front of us.

Here they are, doing the squat of "six geese a-laying"!

It was such a hoot!!!

Bird pun intended! 

I'm so glad that Michelle Meece asked us to do that song for her!

It was a favorite in her family that her dad always led.

Here, she's performing "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas".

She truly has such a nice voice and a great stlye!

I think she looked like a cross between Cindy Lou Who and an elf for our Sisters In Faith Christmas luncheon party.

Very cute!

Yes, we were all gathered at Asbury Memorial, in Holliday Hall, and I'm sure Miss Virginia was there celebrating with us!

Linda Combs had called out the big guns for this event.

That's Huxsie Scott on that throne!!!

She's been a well-regarded songbird of Savannah for several decades.

She was there to sing "Because It's Christmas", a favorite song of Linda's, and one that I had never heard before.

What a treat!

Speaking of such, there was lots of good food!

There were several different kinds of tea sandwiches, reminding me of Aunt Linda's birthday celebration - good times!

I also enjoyed the sweets - so many different desserts, including that cake with coconut and pecans and dark chocolate chips!

 

I arrived late, due to the noon appointment with Dr. Urban at Savannah VA.

Noon was also the start time of this soiree!

Still, I'd been waiting six months for the eye check, so that had priority...

but I so wanted to go to the party...

and when he heard my dilemma, he let me go!

It helped that I'd not yet had the neurology meeting that he'd wanted me to have before this visit.

All told, I made it to the church while Dottie Klutz was telling a story from her youth in Germany.

Perfect!

I was able to grab a plate of food and the empty seat beside Robin Eifler with no one paying any mind to me!

Hallelujah!!!

Afterward, I helped put away the chairs and tables and decor, as I'd promised to do.

And I ended up with two goodie bags instead of one!

That's because Virginia's bag had a Christmas card in it that started out, incredibly, with "Dear Tina"... so she insisted that I take it and wouldn't take my bag in trade.

Whoever wrote the card didn't sign it, so I have no idea who to thank.

I'll be sure to enjoy the lavender hand soap, given by a secret Santa.

i thank You, God!

asbury christmas party for all!

Here we are, waiting our turn at Table 14, to be called to get in line for the annual Christmas feast!

I sat with Karen Townsend and her adopted son, B-man as he's called.

I also had Ruthie Deffley and Linda Socks, as well as a bunch of excited kids!

Ray Ellis is up there on stage with Rev. Billy, but he eventually sat with us, too.

Ray, that is, not Billy.

Billy led us in the blessing of the food, then Ray provided some comic relief in the form of jokes.

Yes, I said jokes!!!

"What does a Christmas tree do before it goes out?"

Spruce up!!!

"What did one Christmas tree say to the other?"

Lighten up!

"How do Christmas trees get their email?"

They log in!

"Where do elves go swimming?"

At the north pool!

Hahahaha! Hahaha!

We were the sixth table to have our number drawn - hooray!

I had no fewer than four types of meat!!!

There was fried chicken breast, marinated pork loin, baked ham, and smoked turkey.

The Grinch would certainly have been thrilled, I do believe!

I was also one of the few who made sure to grab a few desserts before returning to my seat there at the head of the table.

That Asbury cake, with the honey and pecans, was truly quite divine!

I made sure to take some of that home with me!!!

But the biggest treat for me wasn't the visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.

No, the best part was the pineapple casserole that someone brought.

It had been surmised that it was squash, but it certainly was not.

I knew from the very first bite: that was a dish Mama used to make.

I've never known anyone but her to make it.

What a wonderful surprise!

Right place, right time.

Some of that went home with me, too.

i thank You, God.