December 24, 2020

A 2020 Christmas Eve

Today feels "different"--not at all like Christmas Eve. COVID has really made the holidays not feel real this year. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas, actually.

I took Joey for his usual walk this morning, and holy cow--it was SO COLD. Yesterday, the temps reached 55 degrees and it was great. Joey and I stopped at Roomba's house and the dogs played for a while outside (Joey even ran into the lake). Then today, the "real feel" was 12 degrees with the wind at 25 mph. I dressed with a lot of layers and I'm sure I looked ridiculous, but dang. I was freezing!

Walking along the lake (the majority of my usual five-mile route is right next to the lake) makes the temps feel even colder--the wind blows harder and it always feels about 10 degrees colder than it does at my house (which is about half a mile inland from the lake). I think I'm going to start putting Aquaphor on my face before my cold walks. I did that once in a while when I was running--it helps a lot against the cold wind.

When I got home, I took a shower and then put on pajamas. We had no plans for today, so I figured I might as well get comfy. I wrapped Christmas gifts, which I always put off until the last minute because I hate wrapping--I'm terrible at it and a lot of the gifts we bought the kids are awkwardly shaped. The kittens discovered what I was doing and went crazy in the wrapping paper. Tomorrow should be fun when the kids open their gifts!

Jerry was very excited about today because he planned to make three different types of Christmas cookies. I've mentioned before that Jerry LOVES Christmas and even though this year doesn't feel very Christmasy to me, he has really managed to get into the Christmas spirit.

He talked for a long time about wanting to have ham for dinner so he made a made a list of ingredients to have ham, cheesy potatoes, and green bean casserole tomorrow. Then he stopped at the store yesterday and bought everything for the dinner and his cookies.

This whole thing makes me laugh--I've always been the one to cook in the house, and lately the boys (mostly Noah) and Jerry have been wanting to cook. I'm more than happy to let them! ;)  My mom said she'll make a couple of side dishes to bring over for us and we can give her some of our food to take home and have dinner with my dad.

I had a relaxing afternoon after I wrapped gifts. I watched a movie and played Best Fiends while in my pajamas. And Jerry played Christmas music on his headphones while he baked cookies, hahaha.


Noah made BLT's for dinner (yum!) while Jerry and I played Pandemic. I'm not sure what to think of the game just yet--we've only played it a couple of times, so I'll have to play a little more to really decide.


I really want to play Catan--I read the entire instruction book a couple of days ago (which literally took me an hour and a half to go through!) and was totally ready to play. I started setting it up on the table to try to figure it all out before actually playing, and then I realized that you need 3-4 players and you can't play with just 2. So, I might just have to pick a day to make the kids play with Jerry and me. It looks like an interesting game!

After dinner, we all sat down to watch a movie together. We decided that we'd each pick a favorite Christmas movie this year to have a movie night for each one. Joey feels SO special when the boys let him lie on the couch between them during a movie!


It's been a really nice Christmas Eve. For years, we used to go to my aunt's house for dinner on Christmas Eve and it felt special. I always looked forward to it. We haven't really had a tradition since then, and this year is just not at all "normal". But we had fun doing our own things during the day and then spending some time together this evening.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas tomorrow, considering the unusual circumstances!

7 comments:

  1. Merry Christmas! Which movies did each of you pick?

    A Christmas Story is my favorite. And my family likes to torture me and claim Jeremiah Johnson is a Christmas movie.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Pandemic. It can be played with 2 people, but I really think it is best with 3-4. I haven't enjoyed it as much when I play with just one other person.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like you had a really nice Christmas Eve, even though it was not your usual one. :) It might not be a bad tradition at that -- BLTs (one of my favorite sandwiches!), cookies, and Christmas movies. The best part of the tradition will be the gentlemen cooking dinner tomorrow! ;)

    We had In-n-Out hamburgers, Zoomed with some friends, and watched a few different versions of A Christmas Carol tonight. All in all, not a bad way to spend the evening of December 24th.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You and Jerry need a copy of Rivals of Catan, it's specifically designed for two players. My husband and I play it all the time, it's awesome! If you wind up liking it I also recommend 7 Wonders Duel, also for two players. Here's a link to Rivals.
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00486TI3M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_qxD5Fb9EF8N96

    ReplyDelete
  5. Brieanna RothDecember 25, 2020

    My family recently started playing Catan. I prefer it with 3-4 players but we were able to google 2-player directions and print them out. I have tried it with 2 and it works so give it a try!

    ReplyDelete

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