Thursday morning we headed to the mall to catch an early matinee of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The theater wasn’t too crowded which was nice. We had watched all six previous films, in release order, leading up to Thursday so the saga was still fresh in our minds. Some people felt the movie was boring and predictable but I thought it was very interesting and I enjoyed all the new characters they introduced. I dare say it was my favorite of all seven episodes.
Before the movie we browsed Kohl’s for a bit and Joe ended up buying a pair of jeans and knitted cap. After a 15% discount and the $5 I earned from spending $100 before Christmas on a pair of shoes for Joe and some bras for myself, the total was only $21.
Christmas Eve was spent at my parents per usual. E was with us and Brother # 1 even got me presents this year! I’m so happy he put an effort into picking out something he thought I’d like too.
Funny books, candy (Sour Patch Kids), and some fuzzy slippers for my perpetually cold feet. I got him a Funko Pop Olaf character and a $30 Netflix card for the whole family (even though I doubt my parents will really use it, but my brothers will more than make up for it). We also brought a couple of gifts for E to open (CDs). There was no crazy BINGO this year but my cousin stopped by with some yummy cookies and we all played a fun game of Aggravation.
By the time we dropped E back off at home and got settled down it was past 1 am, yet we were still up at 7 am on Christmas day. It was a very lazy one with just the two of us. I didn’t even cook since we had leftovers from the night before. My mom made the same Parmesan chicken recipe that I make but hers came out so much better. I think it was the mayo she used; it had olive oil in it which contributed to the flavor.
Here’s all the gifts Joe got me:
Here’s what I got him:
I actually insisted he open the Star Wars t-shirt on the right and the orange hat before Christmas so he could wear them to see the new movie.
Saturday E came over for our Christmas celebration. He arrived at noon and opened the rest of his presents.
Not pictured: a 32″ Samsung Smart HDTV we gave him for his bedroom at home. We wanted to get him one last year but he kept mentioning that his grandma was talking about getting him one. We waited to make sure he hadn’t already gotten a new TV before bringing it downstairs. Funny thing is when he was opening his CDs he’d joke, “it’s a TV”, so when he started unwrapping the actual TV, he made the same joke, and then kinda gasped and exclaimed “it really IS a TV!” It was so funny; I wish I had recorded it.
We had bought a shank ham from Walmart this year and decided to cut it up and heat it in the crockpot. I still made a glaze which I poured over the pieces. It turned out so good! Very moist and flavorful. I think we’ll be doing it that way every year.