on the last day of christmas

My last day of Christmas break was spent refinishing this cast iron tub.  Sounds like a great time, right?

 But it was better than the first day of Christmas break.  That one was spent doing all my Christmas shopping and then driving 2 hours in the other direction to pick up all my pedestals from school and then driving back home to unload them and begin the process of cleaning and repainting them.  Long story.  We don't have time right now.

 There was a good bit of the fun Christmas-ery though.  I grabbed the above photo while we were playing one of my mom's famous Christmas party games at the McAbee party a week before Christmas.  We have lots of kids and grand kids.  They are passing around a gift wrapped box and if the music stops while you are holding it, you get to unwrap it and see what's inside.  It's almost always another smaller gift wrapped box but there's usually some treat with each unwrap.  It's always fun.  My mom's awesome.

 Everyone got in on the spirit of giving this year.  Zeke brought us a fresh deer leg from the woods.  He ate most of it, but it's the thought that counts, right?

 Violet got some baby dolls.  This one was a gift from Laura Jean.  It was a big hit.

 Blue got a cool Spiderman wrist shooter thing that he loves.  I could have shown you the photo of him posing with it, but I just love this photo so I used it instead.  He shares my love of the sweets.  That one was at G's family Christmas Eve Shindig.  

 And then just our family of McAbees had our annual late breakfast eat-a-thon at my mom's on Christmas morning.  Eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast casserole, bacon breakfast casserole, blueberry muffins, biscuits and I can't see or remember what else is down there by the Blue Bonnet.  If you're jealous, you are feeling the correct emotion.  It was delicious.

 G found the Blue Like Jazz movie for me for Christmas.  I think I watched it that night.  It was really good.  I love Miller's books and his approach to thinking about spiritual things.  Different from the book in story, but it's all pretty much there in content.  Very nice.

 And I may have devoured the whole box of Godiva chocolates while watching it.  

 Then Blue helped me set up the solo exhibit in Spartanburg.  That's him up there making me nervous by touching the artwork.  He's wearing his Spiderman hat and mittens, also from LJ.  Oh, and you should go see the show, or better yet, come to the reception on Jan 17.  Since the show is about my dad, we've decided to feature some of his favorite foods at the reception.  Mom's making a few butternut cakes and Ginger is figuring out how to serve chicken, rice & gravy to gallery visitors along with some sort of peanut butter banana concoction and you can get some sweet tea to go with that.  We'll have stern bartender Ali there serving wine too, but the sweet tea is going to go best with the foods.  Trust me.  

 G and I found our gift to the bathroom too.  This one was rescued from an old mill house in Lyman, SC.  The rust was free.

 After a day working with power tools and a wire brush, the paint made it look a little better.

 Then there was the birthday hike at Caesar's Head.  I milked the birthday for all it was worth by dragging everyone up to the top of the mountain, then forcing them all to walk down a mile through the woods to a waterfall and then a mile back up to the car.  They're welcome.  

 I got lots of cool birthday loot.  Blue made me a lego creature, Violet made me a lego "house" and both drew me cards.

The birthday came at the end of the break so after tiring everyone out with the hike, I dragged them to downtown Greenville for good BBQ and then came home to enjoy my S'mores cupcake courtesy of Ginger and Delightful Dishes.