Our Celebration is Today
FIL arrived yesterday about 2:00 pm, and we hung stockings and watched the DVD of the original Miracle of 34th Street.
FIL made Beorn's favorite fish meal for our dinner and we past the evening quietly.
This morning I had our Chr-stmas CDs playing (mostly TSO, Manheim Steamroller, and the A Winter's Solstice collection) while Beorn went through his stocking and unwrapped his gifts. FIL gave Beorn a 1 oz. American Eagle gold coin, along with a lecture about the value of such and why gold coins are a monetary investment as well as a numismatic one.
Paul and I got Beorn a Wii. This is be the one game console we'll have in Gator Town, compared to the Dreamcast and GameCube here at FIL's. Since playing with the Wii involves physical movement, we figure it will be a way of getting some painless exercise for the entire family (
www.wiihaveaproblem.com notwithstanding…).
Because of Beorn's AS, he is still developmentally behind in maturity, and is really just beginning to question the existence of Santa. At 3, his attitude has been pretty much like the boy's in The Polar Express at the beginning of the movie.
We usually limit Beorn to a total of two hours of t.v., DVD, computer, or video input a day; and usually that's only on weekends since between school, homework, and therapies, not to mention time spent outside, there usually isn't any time on school days for him to spend on those things. So, when his stocking gifts consisted of two video games and three DVD movies, and his wrapped Santa gift was labeled 'To: Beorn, for your room From: Santa,' he had no doubt there was no way Mommy, Daddy, or Poppie got him a combination 13" T.V./DVD player. He just knows we would never even consider such a gift!
That's all we were able to get him this year, besides the traditional stocking space fillers of underwear and socks. But he is so happy with what he did get, that I don't think he ever even attempted to pull a Dudley Dursley and count how many gifts there were.
Paul sent down a wrapped gift for me that I finally opened this morning since we waited to 'do Chr-stmas' until FIL got here. It's a 25 piece set of the Ronco 6 Star knives, the solid food injector (which is the item I really wanted) and a four wheel knife sharpener that appears to work the same way as my two wheel knife sharpener from Wusthoff.
The knives are very lightweight, compared to my Wusthoff, but are extremely sharp. I'll have to see how well they hold an edge, and how well the sharpener works.
I have Diane's Yorkshire Pudding sitting to receive it's occasional stir, the standing rib roast has been in the refrigerator 'aging' per AB's directions, the mashed potatoes are made ahead and ready to be reheated. FIL will make a nice tossed salad, and I'll make some southern-style green beans for Beorn.
The rib roast is a five and a quarter pound roast with bones, for the three of us. I am planning on using what's left of it for tomorrow's planned over dinner of Laurel's Beef Stroganoff. Since I cook the rib roast to just barely medium rare, it shouldn't over cook and be nice and tender in the stroganoff.
I picked up some so called Chicago Hard Rolls at Publix (Beorn's favorite) and we have some KerryGold Irish butter for them. I made a Swiss Chocolate layer cake (doctored up Duncan Hines) with home made vanilla buttercream filling and frosting yesterday, and we'll call it a meal.
Beorn and FIL have gone out for an afternoon bike ride, and I'm taking some me time at the computer.
All in all, although Paul isn't here with us, it's going pretty well.