Twas the Day After Christmas

Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house
Not a person was happy, not even the spouse.

I may exaggerate. Christmas day, for the most part, was fine. The kids got us up around 7:30. We opened presents in record time - 1 hour. Then, Cassie, Chris and I went to Christmas Mass. Rufus and Tillie had gone to Midnight Mass the night before, so he and Gabe stayed home.

We got home at 11:30, and I commenced to preparing Christmas dinner. Turkey in the oven, and I went about picking up the scraps left from gift opening. Rufus relaxed by watching TV and playing Solitaire on the laptop. Cassie started learning Bass guitar, Chris played with his new IPod stuff, and Gabriel did a little bit of everything.

Tillie called around 1:30 letting us know that she was ready to be picked up. Rufus went to get her about 45 minutes later. They arrived, and the day continued.

Penny, Lonnie, and families came by around 3:30 and spent 90 minutes visiting. It was loud and fun. We all agreed to cook out for New Year's Eve. My only disappointment was that Rufus preferred to spend the time in the kitchen playing Solitaire than with his sisters. But then, they were talking girl and social stuff that he likely wasn't interested in.

We ate about 30 minutes after they left (to go to the movies). Afterwards, I cleaned the kitchen and prepared Tillie's leftovers. Rufus took her home about an hour later. It was a very nice visit with the MIL.

Rufus took Gabriel with him when he took Tillie home. So, Gabe was, thankfully, asleep when they got home. The evening was spent helping Chris and Rufus with their PC games and the IPod Shuffle setup. I tried to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", but I kept getting interrupted. That's when the day broke down. Rufus needed help with the Shuffle, and I had to work around him. I made a nicely placed remark about my doing all the work, and Rufus jumped at the bait. "You're not the only one who does anything around the house." No remark from me, and Rufus stalks off to take a ride. About 15 minutes later the Shuffle was configured and ready for songs.

After being on my feet just about all day, I was ready to crash. Rufus's and my little encounter apparently upset me, and my stomach rebelled. So, I went to bed and promptly fell asleep. Rufus came home, went to bed, and got up this morning w/o us talking.

Lovely Christmas.