Christmas 2006, Part I

Celebrating Christmas this year was not just a single event, but a trilogy of events. Over the next few days, I'll post pictures and comments from everything from turkeys to presents to road trips.






Rachel and I started Christmas out by hosting our first ever Christmas dinner. Rachel cooked her first ever turkey (to be fair, I did help by taking it out of the oven) and everyone seemed to agree that it tasted wonderful. We weren't quite sure how you carve a 20 lbs. turkey, but fortunately Martha Stewart was able to help. She has a website where you can not only read how to carve a turkey, but watch her show you how to carve it. Of course, her turkey was perfectly evenly browned, each piece came with a sliver of skin, and none of the pieces broke off in chunks. Ours may not have been fit for TV, but the turkey sure tasted good.


My parents and paternal grandparents, Rachel's maternal parents and grandparents, Rachel's aunt, and Rachel's brother and sister-in-law were the guests. After stuffing ourselves, we turned our make shift dining room back into a living room (our formal dining room not be existent yet) and exchanged presents. Everyone seemed happy with their gifts. Rachel, who was receiving all of her gifts that day since she had to work Christmas Day, received the bulk of the gifts. In fact, she had so many presents, that you almost couldn't see her behind the stack of boxes. Also of note was the fact that almost everything was packaged in Christopher & Banks and Victoria Secret boxes. The C&B boxes weren't a surprise since Rachel and her mom have saved every box since the early '90s. However, we're still trying to figure out why Rachel's mom has so many VS boxes???

Speaking of early '90s, I did receive a copy of Beverly Hills 90210 - The Complete First Season - on DVD. In college I was watching 90210 four times a day in reruns (if mom and dad see this, this was after I completed laborious hours studying). This show for me is really like a part of the family, or at least a roommate. It seems I could recall much of my high school and college experiences by what was going on with 90210 at the time. I've told stories before about some girl I dated or place I was visiting by labeling it as "about the same time Brandon was dating the ice skater and Brenda worked at that fancy clothes boutique." Ah, memories. Yes, it's quite possible I need professional help.

Coming Soon...Christmas 2006, Part II: The Bedford Experience.