Post Holiday Blues..

I was getting dressed the other day, it might have even been Christmas day, and as I was drying my hair, I thought "I really need to get my hair done". Then I looked a little closer. I have gray hair. A lot of gray hair. I was shocked! I mean, I have been getting "full highlights" in my hair for so long now, I don't often see my natural hair color. Shades of blonde in the summer, warmer blondes and golds in the fall. I don't usually see any kind of "roots" in between, certainly not gray ones! So now coloring my hair is no longer a fashion choice, but a necessity. I don't know if all these old age indicators were there before and I just wasn't noticing, but once you hit forty, these things seem to develop a neon glow. Sometimes that neon glow is generated by a well meaning teenager, who is always happy to point out a flaw for you. There is just something terribly abnormal about having a pimple and a wrinkle in the same spot. Am I over the hill or not? Make up my mind!

Swogorfaulds Christmas-2009

Swogorfaulds, in case you have not figured it out, is a combination of Ogorchock, Faulds and Swartz. We got together last year and had Christmas at Jodie and Alex's house at the lake, and we had so much fun, we decided to make it an annual event, and Swogorfauld's Christmas was born. Jodie put up a beautiful tree with lake-themed ornaments and had candles lit and dinner waiting when we arrived Friday night. She even had made vegetarian dishes for Courtney, which I thought was very sweet and thoughtful. Saturday Caren and I took the girls to see "The Princess and The Frog" while Jodie and the guys got ready for the evenings festivities. We had a big afternoon planned, complete with a visit from Santa and Christmas craft stations. Allison, covered in chocolate and busily moving from one station to the other, told Courtney "I love this day!". She is so sweet and so cute. While Carli opted not to take part in the stations, she was quite entranced by Santa. When he rang the doorbell, Allison said "It's a guy with a beard..." Carli took one look and ran down the hall-she was so torn-Santa was in her territory and that is not the way it is supposed to be, she usually goes to see him-but this was a surprise, and surprises are sometimes a little difficult for Carli. She likes to have a plan. Allison opened the door and let him in-she showed him what chair he could sit in, and Santa went on to ask about all her teachers-he knew their names! He knew what she had for breakfast and knew her friends names-Allison was just chatting him up one side and down the other. Carli, on the other hand, had relocated to the kitchen, where she could watch through the wall cutout and see Santa, but not actually be in the same room. But when he said "Hello Carli!" and waved to her, she blushed and smiled and said "Hi Santa". Then he asked her if she wanted to come over and open a present, she stomped her foot, and was so torn-it was so funny, she really, really wanted that present and it took everything she had to walk over to him and accept it. Then she kind of leaned into him and let us take her picture. Santa stayed awhile and chatted with the girls, and when he left, Allison looked right at her dad's video camera and said "Dad? I think that was Dr. Steve, because he wasn't here when Santa was here." Smart girl. Smarter than us, apparently!
We had a very nice dinner after that, roasted leg of lamb, potato gratin, roasted brussels sprouts and carrots and spinach salad with red pepper vinaigrette. Steve had paired some really nice wines. Then we opened gifts and sat around talking until we all had to go to bed. Jodie prepared us a delicious stratta for breakfast, and we got the house cleaned up and went home. Another marvelous weekend. We are so lucky to have such great friends. We always have such a great time together!
This will be a busy week. I am working three days and still have shopping to do and Mark and I are hosting a dinner for his branch managers this Saturday. Alex will be here Friday night to fly over to visit his mom for Christmas. I am sure she will be so happy to see him. Have a great week everyone-Don't forget to click on the "Wanna see more?" link on the right to see the pics from the weekend....