Christmas at home

On Saturday afternoon I arrived back in Detroit to a house full of 30+ people. I have no idea how my parents fit everyone in our tiny house, but I'm sure it helped that for the first time in years our basement was actually functional. For the past couple weeks my parents have been clearing out the basement both for the Christmas party and in anticipation of moving, if and when they actually find a house that suites them. I saw all of my cousins, most of which I hadn't seen for quite some time. Seriously, how cute is my youngest cousin Nathan?

We had our traditional huge family dinner, opened presents and had 17 participants for our annual ornament exchange.
On Sunday the 23rd I helped my mom with some last minute Christmas shopping and met up with some college friends at Buffalo Wild Wings that evening. It was great to catch up and see some people I haven't seen since this summer except I realize how spoiled I am by having both New Jersey and New York non-smoking.
Sure enough I woke up Christmas Eve with a killer sore throat which didn't help my already existing cold. I went to get a manicure and pedicure and then Adam and I finished up some of our last minute Christmas shopping. Christmas Eve we went to my grandma's for dinner and presents and then came home to shower and get ready for midnight mass.
On Christmas morning my mom had to work so for the first time in 24 years we woke up and didn't rush to open all the presents under the tree, instead waiting until the evening when everyone would again be in our pajamas gathered around the tree. During the day I relaxed, trying to kick whatever virus I had.

We went to Adam's grandmothers house and then his aunt's house. We got these from Adam's grandparents, his is the beer mug and mine is the wine glass.

Unfortunately, I felt miserable around 8:00pm and my right eye which seemed to have signs of pink eye earlier in the day had spread to my left eye which was now burning and runny. We came home a bit earlier than planned and opened presents around the tree with my parents and sister. Here are some of the highlights from the evening.




Last night I spent the night on the couch for fear of getting Adam or my sister sick. Luckily I have one more day at home to rest and get better before heading to Vegas tomorrow. I'm on antibiotics and I'll soon be on eyedrops for my eye, so whatever this is, I think I'm prepared.