Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and instead of gathering 'round the beef tenderloin at my brother Chris' house, I am 3000 miles away, sitting in my living room, sipping a Mexican coffee (tequila & Kahlua & lowfat whipped cream out of the can from Trader Joe's). I'm getting ready to work my first Christmas Eve shift at Vito. It's supposed to be crazy busy there tonight. My guess is there will be a wicked rush early and then everyone will be home and in bed with visions of the Fettucini Burino (cream sauce, mushrooms, peas & pancetta) dancing in their heads. At least that's what I'm hoping for because I don't want to leave my husband alone for too long on Christmas Eve. Sam will, of course, come up for part of my shift but I don't expect him to stay too long because he'll have visions of his Wii dancing in his head. Yep, you heard me right, Sam got a Wii for Christmas from Uncle Balls. Nate and Ivy are gonna be so jealous!

Last night Uncle Balls and his girlfriend Beth came over and showered us with presents. In true Bean/Johnson form, we had nothing to give them. We actually did get Paul a present it just hasn't come yet. He got us some incredibly thoughtful gifts: a Wii, Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray for my hair (for that just-stepped-off-the-beach look), an awesome pair of fancy khakis for Sam, and a camera for me! We got Paul a full body unitard with a hood that looks like this:


My old camera died. Just stopped working. I took it someplace and they said water had gotten in it and the inside was all rusted. This was really bad news as buying a new camera now with the strike and all seemed like a frivolous investment even though I like pictures to be the driving force behind this blog. I had been relying on my Treo for all my pictures or on the kindness of others with I know was growing old. But Paul totally saved me. He loves electronics and buys a new camera about every three weeks. He parted with one of his old favorites and I couldn't be happier. So at last I present to you a couple of pictures from last night's Giftfest 2007.


Sam opens his Wii.


Paul, Beth and Kerri watch Sam open his Wii accessories.


Sam and Paul both looking happy. This is minutes before Paul drops the Wii on Sam. He knows how hard it's gonna rock Sam's world hence his ear to ear smile. I don't think I've ever seen Paul look this happy and he should, he gave us one of our best Christmases yet.

I miss my family and my usual Christmas traditions but it's nice to shake it up a little as well. Merry Christmas!