Christmas day recap

As I eluded to earlier, Christmas day is pretty low-key for me and my family. All the kids have grown and scattered to the wind, and my family was never fond of big events anyway. I don't ever recall my aunts & uncles and cousins over for dinner - it was always just our family, and there was the 5 of us. This year, after the great turkey announcement (as in no one in my family apparently likes it), and my brother deciding he's allergic to my parent's place, it was just me, Mom and Dad for dinner.
I started my Christmas festivities by visiting my former roommate and her family last night. They always gather on Christmas Eve, as it's her father's birthday as well. This year he turned 81, and looks fantastic. He is a runner, having taken up the sport in his mid-fifties to combat high cholesterol. In the last 30 years, he's run 5's, 10's, half's and full marathons, including qualifying for and completing Boston! He's my running idol. It was nice discussing running techniques, and thoughts of marathons, and hitting walls, etc. Fascinating man to chat with... After the kids went to bed (my friend has 3), I stuck around, sharing a bottle of wine that I brought and helping her wrap all of her presents! Seriously...I don't wrap mine, for crying out loud! Kidding...but, between wrapping and getting caught up, I did not get home until after 3 this morning! I did not leap out of bed to bake cookies this morning...I'm lucky I managed to make a cup of coffee!
Got to M&D's just after one, and prepped the prime rib. Garlic, horseradish, grainy mustard, olive oil and S&P got mixed and rubbed on the outside. I then seared it in a very hot oven, before turning the heat down to let it roast to medium goodness. And O.M.G. if I didn't make the best freaking gravy EVER!!! I had the roast sitting on a bed of carrots, onion and garlic, so once the roast was done, they were all deep brown goodness in the bottom of the pan. Yummo!!!! Potatoes, carrots and some corn rounded out the dish. I was thinking about making Yorkshires, but then completely forgot in the excitement of my new Christmas tradition...
Defrosting a deep freeze...yes, people, that's how I spent Christmas day with my family. With my head and a kettle and hair-dryer stuck inside an upright freezer with a good solid four years of ice build-up in it! After hauling away a hideously embarrassing amount of ruined food, I spent the afternoon/evening doing my best to not just whack the shit out it and destroy the freezer. When I left, the freezer was clean, ice free, organized and running smoothly. I can not say the same about my fingers and nails! I also clipped the cat's claws, made dinner and cleaned up. Would have vacuumed too, but there's only so much fun one person should have in a day! Kidding!
Must remember anti-histamines the next time I go to M&D's though, as I really am allergic to cats (yes, I understand the irony of having two said furbabies of the feline variety right here at home!), so after spending the day, and getting covered with their dander clipping the nails, my eyes are about to fall out of my head! And my sinuses are slammed shut...oh well, nothing a nice, soothing snifter of Baileys won't cure.
I hope this post finds everyone slowly coming out of food comas, all having had enjoyable days. Don't get me wrong by the way...I do treasure all the time I have with my parents, because one never knows when that will cease. It's just fun to rant about it!
Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day for those that do that sort of thing (there is NOTHING I need that badly to venture to any sort of shopping store tomorrow!), and now we countdown to the New Year...feels like I just did this.
Later,