Christmas II

Tomorrow (or I guess today, since it's 1 a.m. as I start writing this) my family will converge on our house for Christmas dinner and gift exchange. Ex brother in law's knee is still giving him pain and difficulty, so he asked if someone else could host this year instead of us doing the holiday at his place, and I volunteered. I've taken my time gathering the gifts and wrapping them, and now I'm waiting for the last of the baked goods to come out of the oven. Three batches of cookies, a double batch of brownies, two loaves of banana walnut bread, and a pan of banana coffee bread, all from scratch, have emerged from my kitchen. For some reason the shortbread didn't come out right, so they may have to do without it this year. I didn't make chocolate chip or sugar cookies but I may make a tray or two in the morning. On the other hand, I think we have enough sweet stuff between my homemade goodies and the boxes of chocolates and other confections that are sure to appear.

My intention is to keep the meal low key by calling it a hot buffet and having the food set out around the kitchen. Then people can nibble or feast at their whim. My mother may expect to sit at a dining table and be served, and if someone else wants to do that, I'll let them. By the time we're ready to eat, I'll be ready to put my feet up and relax. I'm naturally a cluttery person, so over the past few weeks the parts of the house neatened up for Thanksgiving have become hidden beneath stacks of papers, folders, catalogues, and other items of questionable importance. We've moved some furniture around to accommodate the new wide screen television, and to make better use of an overstuffed leather chair that's been sitting in a corner of the dining room. To move some pieces, others had to be removed so it's been quite a shuffling game, and in the process I've found things that've been stored away for years. My first laptop, negatives from a trip taken ages ago, ink cartridges from a printer that's long gone, sections of old newspapers that must contain articles I once thought to be of some interest but now none of them mean anything. It's funny how I hang on to things when I have no more need of them. I guess I think it's wasteful to throw such things away, preferring to find another use for them or keep them just in case they're needed. If I were better at not acquiring things I don't need in the first place, my job of decluttering would be much simpler. That's something for me to work on as a resolution. As for tomorrow, I just need to make the place presentable. I'll do that after the sun comes up. For now, the banana cake is out of the oven, so it's time to head to bed.