Merry Christmas Eve, you wonderful old Building & Loan!!

Christmas, Part 2 is now over & done. We just finished It's a Wonderful Life. I truly love that movie. I also love walks on the beach, and cliches. No, really. I love it. We went to church this morning, and then out to eat, and then Tom and I had a Sudoku contest (I soundly kicked his arse; now I feel better for losing to my dad so badly), and then my parents went to run the sound at the evening service while I stayed home and made cornbread and biscuits (I'm making stuffing tomorrow).

What I gave/received, Part 2

to my parents: M*A*S*H, the Martinis & Medicine Collection- all 11 seasons, plus the feature film and 2 disks of extras- from my sister and me
to my mom: some fancy gardening gloves and an antique glass creamer pitcher (she collects them)
to my stepdad: that new Tony Bennett duets cd and work gloves
to my sister and brother-in-law: House, Season 2
to my sister: a Rachel Ray cookbook
to my brother-in-law: a Dallas Cowboys Christmas ornament
to my niece: a beaded necklace that I made myself, plus 2 ornaments (a reindeer and a snowman bell with her name on it)
to Tom's parents: a donation to UNICEF in their name

from my parents: Gilmore Girls, season 6, Gray's Anatomy (the actual reference book, not the tv show from which it derived its name), a coffee table photo book of movies filmed in NYC, 2 Christmas ornaments (a coffee cup and a teeny set of scrubs), and an armoire that my stepdad built around some antique glass doors I bought last summer. It's straight-up awesome, but I'm pretty sure I can't take that back on the plane with me, so it will be a late addition.
from my sister and brother-in-law: The West Wing, Season 7 and a stethoscope
from my niece: a Narnia ornament
from my stepdad: a cold

I just left Santa a Coke, took some Nyquil, and am ready to fall asleep. I have a lot of baking to do tomorrow before I head to an overwhelming Christmas dinner which includes 5 children, 23 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and takes time to remember the baby Jesus, and Mary and Joseph, and the rest of those who traveled to see Him, and to contemplate for a moment on the wonder they must have felt, knowing that one day that baby would grow up and bust the world wide open, and nothing would ever be the same again.