December 25. 2009

Merry Christmas! This is our first Christmas since we retired, and it’s been a pretty good one.

Yesterday we were invited to an open house at our neighbors John and Janet, so we went over there for dinner. Janet is a good cook – she made chili, appetizers, cookies and a soup with potatoes, hamburger and dumplings. Some of the other guests had spent a few years in Alaska so we talked with them about what we can expect there.

In the evening we joined almost everyone else in the Park at the Christmas service. We really enjoyed most of the service – someone read the Christmas story from the Bible, and everyone sang well-known Christmas carols. But there were also some guest singers who didn’t seem to know how to stay on key, and we could have done without that part!

This morning there was frost on the car, which was a surprise to me. I didn’t expect Arizona to get cold enough for that. But it did warm up a bit later in the day and it’s a lot better than the weather in the Midwest right now. We and 6 other couples met together for brunch, with everyone bringing a couple of dishes. Randy made smoked salmon and bagels, Bloody Marys and individual bacon, egg and cheese quiches. Other folks brought ham, biscuits and gravy, fresh berries, egg casseroles, monkey bread, and a lot of other great food. Everyone also brought a $5 gift for a gift exchange. I picked up an envelope with a $5 lottery ticket in it, which had the potential to win up to $500,000 - but unfortunately it wasn’t a winner! The gift package Randy selected had a 6 pack of beer in it, so although my gift had more potential, his gift will be enjoyed a little longer. We tried not to overeat at the brunch but we wanted to try a little of everything, so we decided we didn’t need to have the big prime rib dinner that Randy had planned for tonight. Instead of dinner, we played pool with our next door neighbors. And now he is practicing his new Guitar Hero!

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