I Suck At Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve went by very quickly. (Unfortunately, I suck at Christmas Eve.)

The day started off with breakfast at Stars, located in Hingham. For the past several years, Karen, my BFF (Kerry), my friend (Jen) and I would meet and have breakfast together. Occasionally, our friend (Joanna) who currently lives in Oregon would also join us. I guess you could say that Christmas Eve breakfast is pretty much a tradition now.

As usual, breakfast was delicious. The food at Stars is simply amazing. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) It helps that I was pretty hungry too when I arrived. I think I ate my breakfast, part of Karen's breakfast, and part of Kerry's breakfast. All in all, it was definitely fun to hang out with Jen and Kerry. One of the benefits of hanging out with a smaller group of people is that things seem more connected and involved. I feel that people can talk more among each other regardless of the shape or size of the table (square, rectangle, circle, etc.)

It's not that I dislike hanging out with larger groups of people. Larger groups allow seeing more friends at a given point in time. That is always a benefit. Conversations, however, are sometimes disjointed within a larger group because not everyone is involved in the same conversation. It's only natural group dynamics.

So needless to say, with the holidays and all, it was good to start off Christmas Eve with Jen and Kerry. Of course, after breakfast I was simply stuffed. To work off my fullness, Karen and I began tidying up our house as we were hosting dinner for the night. I don't think I have ever cleaned and vacuumed so much within a given day. It seemed like the chores never ended.

Plus, I was cooking dinner for everyone. So that is always stressful... hoping that the food comes out edible. I don't know how mothers used to do it in the past. It simply is a lot of work. Hats off to all those mothers.

Anyway, I was cooking something that I've never cooked before: ham. In truth, ham is actually pretty easy to cook because it is already... cooked. I simply had to heat it up in the oven and pour a glaze over it.

Needless to say, I think the ham came out okay. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Karen and I have been hosting Christmas Eve dinner for my parent and Karen's parents for awhile now. It's usually a small gathering, but the night is always open to any and all friends who want to stop by.

In the past, Jen and her brother (Bill) would stop by. Karen's grandparents sometimes stopped by. My friends (Marc and Kelley) have been stopping by the past few years. My BFF (Kerry) always tries to stop by, but can never make it due to her family obligations. Other friends have sporadically stopped by.

But all in all, Christmas Eve went by very quickly. I think everyone had a great time. I certainly did. The only downside of the entire day was our treadmill. Apparently our treadmill died. I was very disheartened by that. But, I am hoping to get it fixed. I just don't know how yet.