Christmas and New Years

Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve this year were spent with Karen and Bob at their house in Greensboro, again with neighbors, friends, and family. Their living room this year displayed a new grand piano and an enormous Christmas tree. The tree was bigger than they imagined it would be when they bought it still bundled up tight. It opened up over the holidays as wide as it was tall but it was glorious.

The Christmas eve tradition at their house is Bob taking command of the kitchen and making fresh pizza. Everyone got half of a large pizza with the toppings of their choice. I brought marion berry pie and my own holiday traditional snacks of butterscotch haystack cookies and ruffles potatoe chips with French onion dip, just like my grandmother Crowe always served on Christmas eve (although she always made cake rather than pie).

Christmas day was just spent quietly at home with MonsterMustDie. We opened gifts and ate leftovers.

New Year's eve was a potluck followed by fireworks in the street at midnight. They had gone to South Carolina to buy the good stuff to bring back to welcome the New Year.

New Year's day, MonsterMustDie cooked blackeyed peas and kale, which we had with rice in front of the TV.