CHRISTMAS EVE MORNING... I got up fairly early, well before Ms. B., and made my usual Christmas Eve morning slapjacks. Tradition, don't you know. On a whim, I took a photo of the cast of the 1974 original Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, the lot of whom are hanging out on the shelf in my office. Then I did a little Photoshop job to post as a Christmas greeting. And as you can see, these guys are sure having a great time!
Brugger and I had ordered a bar set a while back as a Christmas present to
each other, so we spent most of the afternoon hammering it all together.
It's really quite lovely, and I made an extra run to the liquor store to insure we had sufficient spirits to stock it up. We put it
to good use during the evening, as friends
Charles and Samaire came round for treats. We ended up going
till the wee hours; a most enjoyable little gathering.
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An absolutely lovely Christmas Eve at Casa di Rodan |
CHRISTMAS MORNING...
Quite early, our houseful of housecats set to hollering impatiently to get
their gifts from Santa, so that was all she wrote for dad getting any more
sleep. The afternoon weather forecast wasn't looking promising, though the
temperature was lovely, so once Ms. B. was up and going, she and I took a
pleasant walk around nearby Lake Lanier. Then she started dinner cooking — a
big ol' pot roast in the crock pot to make shredded beef to go on jalapeno
pasta a friend gave us a while back.
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Wacky people taking a Christmas morning walk around Lake Lanier |
Friends Terry & Beth recently picked up a brand-new
huge-screen TV for themselves, so they very kindly donated their old one to
us. Brugger and I spent the early afternoon getting it set up. Then I
made mulled wine. Allison originally intended to come round during
the afternoon, but she had gone to visit her mom in Greensboro and their
festivities ran a bit late, so we'll be seeing her at some later time.
Mid-afternoon, Kimberly and I opened our presents to each other, and there
were good things. A new S.H. MonsterArts Gigan figure is a particular
favorite, and he's now up on the shelf with the rest of the daikaiju figures
that currently haunt our house. I took a photo of him and futzed around with
the scenery. After all this, Brugger set to work building a chess pie for
tonight's dessert.
The cats made out like bandits, by the way.
Our shredded beef on jalapeno pasta with roasted brussel sprouts turned out fantastic — amped up with
a bit of Smoky Bourbon Ghost Pepper that Santa put in my stocking. And
Brugger's chess pie for dessert was out of this world. For our second
dessert, we watched Destroy All Monsters
on the big-screen TV, which came purty near duplicating a fun theatrical
experience (my most memorable Destroy All Monsters experience is detailed here: "A Random Godzilla Story," September 7, 2014).
And so ended another lovely Christmas Day. Christmas was my parents' favorite
holiday, and I always find myself a bit wistful, since I am the last of the
family I grew up with. I tend to not dwell on that fact, but at Christmas,
it's easy — and, for me, desirable — to reflect on what a wonderful family I
did have and to express my love and appreciation for my current family: Ms.
B., my daughter, and, of course, our four lovable yet terrible catses. I could
hardly ask for more.
L: There's nothing like relaxing with a hot cup of coffee and a bear hard
on your trail.
R: My new coaster has bigger feet than your coaster.
R: My new coaster has bigger feet than your coaster.
