Yesterday the new kitchen got a full workout. It was a tight squeeze on the new stove (even with a couple more burners than the old one) but in the end we did manage to make room for everything.  

After I prepped the turkey (the smallest one I'd been able to find was almost 16#, so there will be lots of leftovers) and popped it in the oven, I spent the remainder of the morning readying everything else.  Peeled and diced a lot of spuds to fill our largest cooking pot, with thoughts of copious masher leftovers; mashers always seem to get polished off on the first leftover night.  But somehow I think we'll manage to keep up with that tradition. 

And speaking of tradition, yesterday we did have to 'retire' the shaker Tom uses for the flour mix he adds to the turkey drippings when making gravy; the plastic lid broke during shaking. (But what's a holiday meal without at least one mess in the kitchen?)  We also had to toss another oldie, his favorite ceramic mixing bowl, after that cracked down the side and across the bottom.

Forget Martha Stewart... I don't think Mrs. Patmore would have approved of the crescent rolls I baked and served with dinner.  When I popped open the canister "somehow" they didn't unroll as standard-sized triangles, so the resulting crescents ended up in varying sizes.  And Mr. Carson also would have been appalled since I certainly wasn't using a ruler to make sure the plates, silverware, and chairs were all in their "correct" places.

Alex had put some of the old family videos, starting circa 1996, on the TV while a lot of the prep was going on, and for the rest of the day we all cracked up over the antics of two of the most adorable kids ever!

Since Alex and I had been MIA during Chanukah we opened all those gifts yesterday, along with the ones Santa brought. 

Not surprisingly, there were a number of kitchen related items that had been on my wish list, like the small "blender" to make my workout smoothies, and a wonderful toaster oven.  I got a couple of books (always welcome!) and a beautiful bird calendar with stunning photos - one for each day! - so now (maybe) I can get my 2018 life organized. 

I unwrapped a wonderful cardigan sweater which I wore for the remainder of the day - and which may just become my new favorite.  (When I was young I didn't like cardigans - they seemed like something old people wore - but now that I'm old I find them very convenient!)  There were also pretty socks, a nice stainless spoonrest to coordinate with the kitchen, and of course let's not forget all the usual miscellaneous chocolate goodies that were stuffed inside my stocking!

Today <sigh> I'm back at the gym. Since I haven't been since before I left for California I'm expecting a few difficulties... and "possibly" some soreness over the next few days.  No doubt I will also be ruing all the good eating I've been doing this month...

Dessert last night did turn out better than I expected. I sent Alex home with the leftover angel food slices, strawberry topping, and Cool Whip since Stephanie was coming over.  Not sure if there will be any leftovers coming back this way... but it's not like I really need any more sugar, right?

Lisa called yesterday to wish us a Merry Christmas.  It sounds like things have been a tad chaotic at her end recently, capped off by a near-crisis yesterday:

Well the good news is that kiddo likes crab! The bad news is that his immune system does not.  He is fine; Rob and his whole family are heroic sweethearts; we avoided an urgent care visit; the 24/7 nurse line that our program provides is amazing. Merry Christmas!

Haven't seen Tom yet this morning.  He was definitely under the weather yesterday so unfortunately he couldn't enjoy the festivities as much as usual (or feast as much as he would have liked!)  Hope to find he's feeling better today.