Hooray! We made it back to the States on Christmas Eve, a few hours ahead of Santa! Yes, we had a wonderful time in the Bahamas, but we were happy to touchdown on the tarmac at the Atlanta airport's international terminal ahead of schedule (of course, arriving early is NEVER a good thing, since your assigned gate is most-likely still occupied by the previous flight). No matter...we got our bags, our car, and the grand-dogs...in that order...and were thrilled to open the back door and see Missy M's decorations, including the twinkling lights on the tree and the mountain of wrapped presents underneath...which we had taken care of before our trip. In the window, the Teddy Bears were on parade, and on the mantle, the Nutcrackers had reported for duty and the stockings were already hung, awaiting St. Nick's arrival.
Say hello to the newest Harrod's Bear, Hugh...front row, first on the left
Not exactly...
Fortunately, I had prepared for our Christmas Day dinner by doubling the Thanksgiving recipes and freezing the extra dishes, and we had made a frantic dash through Publix at closing time last Monday to purchase stocking stuffers...all the while saying "all the stores will probably be closed when we get home on Christmas Eve." They were...even two Walmarts! And how do I know this? Because, unfortunately we didn't have all the ingredients for our traditional Christmas breakfast Sausage Casserole (no sausage, no grated cheese), and I made the rounds of 5 grocery stores in search of an open one.
No worries! Missy M's creativity to the rescue! She had four frozen, packaged Tennessee Pride sausage and biscuits, which she "deconstructed." First, she microwaved the sausage patties and then whirred them in her mini-chopper to make the "cooked, crumbled sausage." Then she whirred up several slices of pepper-jack cheese in place of the missing grated cheese. Meanwhile, I tore the eight biscuit halves into pieces to take the place of cubed bread, and then beat 5 eggs with milk and seasonings. And finally, she layered everything in a pie plate, poured the egg mixture over top, and covered with foil for an overnight rest in the fridge. Voilá! Sausage Casserole! And another Christmas tradition is safe.
We have had a fabulous day together, as these pictures hopefully show.
Missy M has one more day off work (to play with her new toys, like the iron and quilt tools pictured above), but Mr T and I must head home to NC tomorrow, as our own puppies will be ready to be sprung from the Glamour Slammer (our name for the Boarding Kennel). We already know that Winston had a bit of a rough start to his stay, since we had to give permission for the vet to treat him before we even got to the airport (thank goodness, no more calls while we were gone), so it's safe to say they will be more-than-ready to come home on Tuesday...woo hoo!
And then we get back to the reality of selling the house. But...that's a topic for another day. Meanwhile, I'll get busy on the Bahamas pictures and post. Until then, Merry Christmas to all y'all!
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UPDATE: I forgot to include a picture of my one FO (finished object) of the 2016 Christmas season: a
Eyelet Cowl, knitted in dreamy blue-green "Cypress" Rowan Wool Cotton for SIL LaD
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