christmas eve morning

My first thought when I woke up this morning: I can't do this! There are too many things undone. But then I got a hold of myself and now I'm fine.

Ella spent the night. I picked her up on my way home from school. We hadn't planned dinner and she wanted to go to Patrick's so down we trudged for a Cha Cha basket and a flatbread pizza. Young Regis and his friend, Don, met us there.

I made meatballs when we got home. Regis browned them while I made the balls. I have an aversion to those frozen rubber things that look like faux meat. These are made from beef from the farm and ground pork. They will have a cream sauce made with real cream.

We put a little blow-up bed beside our bed for Ella but after a few minutes of "trying that out", she wanted to get in beside me. She is still sleeping soundly.

I woke up at 5 and looked around to see what I could do that didn't make a lot of noise. I chopped apples for apple sauce. The little kids love that warm chunky and cinnamony apple sauce.

Regis is going to help me bring in the big table from the garage. Things will be crowded in here but our guest list decreased by four just yesterday so it will be fine. I love lots of people to come and we'll miss the folks who won't be here.

I wish I had a day to cook before the festivities but not this year.

Somebody has to make one more trip to the stores. I want to make a Jack Daniels glaze for the ham and so I have to have Jack Daniels bourbon. Also need small buns for the ham. I can't believe how many trips to the grocery store this entails. I'm an organized cook and there are still lots of last minute things.

Here I go. A few more quiet chores before Ella wakes up. She brought two velvet dresses in case we want to be fancy and I'm sure we will.