Xmas prep

Okay, so my last 'Winter Blues' post was an attempt to get a little sympathy
which didn't work. I guess I shouldn't have posted those beautiful tropical
photos in the next post. Crystal, you know I'd rather be freezing my tushie
off with you than be stuck here in Madang with Coconut trees, dolphins, and
the warm Pacific Ocean out my front door. :) Serious, though. Serious.

Snax Beef and Bill had the best of times decorating the tree I found in our
storage closet. They wanted to make it extra beautiful for Grandma...well,
Bill did anyways....he was totally consumed by it. Brown noser. It's
difficult to get into the holiday spirit this year for several reasons. The
first being you drip sweat the second you step out the door. Other reasons:
I can't buy boxes of 'Christmas Oranges' (did you know that's a Winkler
term?), our tree smells like mold...like everything else that's been in
storage (including all my sweatshirts), the salt dough ornaments we made are
falling off the tree due to extreme humidity, no eggnog, no Papa juice, no
Crystal, no cream cheese balls, no Dick Ville.

BUT it DOES feel like Christmas because (drumroll...) Mama V is here! She
saved Christmas just by her presence alone. She's the best Christmas gift
EVER. The moldy tree, soggy ornaments, and lack of everything else familiar
has now faded into the background. Yes, Mama V is here and we now have
family here in the flesh to enjoy the season with.

We are pulling out all the stops. We're making the VB family traditional
Christmas Eve meal. Pizza buns (homemade buns of course), Mama V's
Christmas punch (homemade sherbet), itty bitty pickles (we found some!!),
cookie salad (got oreos in the mail from my bestie - Love. Love.) and
something that will be an all right substitute for Bugles. And I
miraculously had a tin of cranberry jelly in my cupboard so we'll be making
Mama V's famous cranberry meatballs for Christmas day. We are in good
hands, folks. We are in good hands.