Life After Windbird, Day 134: Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to All
Date: Saturday, December 24, 2016
Weather: Overcast with Rain; High Temp 42, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home with Heather, Jed, Sam, Jonah, and Ollie, East Falmouth, MA

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to all. Today was a day for melding traditions. It was the first day of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve, so Heather deemed it Christmukkah. I had an early morning phone call from Mary Ellen and Lee, Mark’s sister and brother-in-law, and then I got things together and headed to Heather and Jed’s. Heather was determined to have a clean house on Christmas morning, so she spent a great deal of her day sweeping and mopping. But she also did a lot of food preparation for dinner. I started to pitch in to help, but got a phone call from Kevin and Claire which got me out the work! They are in California with Kevin’s family and will be heading to Vancouver to be with Claire’s family after Christmas. It was great to talk to them and we were on the phone long enough to give Heather time to finish her cleaning. Whew, I got out of that work! I then made Hanukkah cut-out cookies with the boys and we made a Hanukkah snack bowl filled with pretzels and gelt (chocolate coins which are a Jewish tradition). While doing that, I got a call from Justin. He and Jo were working like crazy to get their new home ready for Christmas Day. They took possession this morning, cleaned all day, and although they have not moved any furniture in and have no electricity until Monday, they really wanted to have Christmas morning there. So they set up their Soul Pad tent and will sleep in the tent and cook on a camp stove. But they are so happy to finally have their own home that they don’t care, and I am so happy for them. But back to the Goldstones . . . we managed to light the first Hanukkah candle just at sundown. Ollie had the honor of lighting the first candle this year and he looked so adorable all dressed in his fancy vest and red Santa hat.01-heather-helps-ollie-light-the-first-hanukkah-candle02-sam-and-jonah-watch-as-ollie-lights-the-first-hanukkah-candle After the lighting of the candles, I had to go home to get my Christmas presents for tomorrow morning and get my overnight bag, which left Heather and Jed alone to fix dinner. By the time I got back03-oma-delivers-christmas-presents we had antsy boys as we all waited for the ribeye roast to cook. It took way longer than any directions indicated. Sam got the first serving as he is the meat lover in this family and he immediately said it tasted funny. Heather took a bite and almost choked. The very expensive, grass-fed beef roast that took forever to cook was not edible. What a disappointment for Heather who had worked so hard to prepare a wonderful dinner. Thankfully there was plenty of food without the roast. She had clams and shrimp for appetizers plus deviled eggs I made, and then there were beet and potato latkes and fabulous roasted Brussels sprouts with pine nuts. After dinner the boys played with the Super Stadium Baseball Game I got them as a Christmas Eve-Hanukkah present and then we all headed upstairs to read The Night Before Christmas and sing a few Christmas songs. Jonah has a beautiful voice and sang a couple of solos for us. And then the singing ended with Ollie and I singing, “Must Be Santa.” It is his favorite song this year and we have sung it together a few times with him singing parts of the song solo. Heather and Jed had never heard him sing this and they were duly impressed. Sam got the treats for Santa and his reindeer ready and set up his camera to video Santa when he appears.05-treats-and-a-note-for-santa This is an almost ten year-old little boy wanting proof that Santa really exists, so trying to catch Santa on video is his creative way of doing this. I tried to tell him his battery might not last long enough to catch Santa, but he was insistent on trying. After a couple of hours of wrapping stocking stuffers, the living room is absolutely filled with presents. Add Santa’s gifts and stockings to this, and I think we will have a full morning of opening gifts.06-presents-under-the-tree