Our tree!Well what a weird Christmas! I decided early on on Christmas morning that it really wasn’t Christmas, it was actually just a random day in the middle of June that we decided to have a summer Christmas party on.
On Christmas Eve we all got up early to go down to the special Xmas Eve Farmers Market. Diva picked up supplies for Christmas Day Brunch (We split the Christmas food: I did all the baking, Diva did brunch, and then Laurie did Christmas Dinner in the form of appetizers) and we wondered around for a while. The market was pretty busy, but not as crazy as others had warned us. After that we split up to get other last minute things done- like groceries, liquor, and last minute gifts! I swam and then went home and made the Christmas morning coffee cake, while Diva and Laurie went for a surf. It was pretty busy in town. A ton of last minute shopping. I swear people here woke up on Monday morning and thought to themselves: “Gawdammit, Christmas is on Thursday, isn’t it? I guess I should maybe do something about that.” I’m pretty sure the majority of this town’s 9,000 residents were out and about getting their Christmas shopping done.
Later we created a makeshift Christmess Tree out of a branch I'd pull off a pine type tree the night before. Then I had a Christmas Eve (Eggnog and Kahlua- the eggnog here is not surprisingly not the same. It tastes the same but the consistency is a lot thinner, like milk), Diva and Laurie had Coronas, as decorated our stockins and then proceeded to chop and cook vegetables for Christmas Dinner at the trailer park! A few of Laurie’s friends from home are living in Byron as well, and one couple live and work in one of the trailer parks. They invited us all to have turkey dinner on Christmas Eve and we were to bring the veggies. We made roast potatoes, parsnips, yams, carrots, and onions. Yummy. We also brought dessert in the form of Christmas Tim Tams. We were a little disappointed upon our arrival to the TP to learn that the turkey hadn’t been stuffed (no stuffing) and the gravy was out of a can. Sad day for Sally. Anyways, when we first got there it had just started pouring rain and the thunder and lightning was intense! Once the storm passed the snow shone briefly and we saw a rainbow! Dinner was very good and the turkey was excellent too, especially for first time turkey cooker Justin, and in what looked like a large toaster oven! The turkey was actually, mistakenly, cooked upside down, but in the end I think this really helped make the breast meat moist and was somewhat appropriate as we are Down Undah. So after dinner and several mojitos, a bottle of white wine, and a few beers hilarity ensued when a few glowing snowmen sent from Canada were violated.
We got home pretty late, around 1am, pretty drunk. Forgot to read ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ and neglected to put out cookies for Santa since we knew the cockroaches would definitely get to them before Santa arrived anyway.
On Christmas morning I woke up around 6:30am to the neighboring kids screams of Christmas joy and a brutal hangover. Later Koral and Pablo were up and being loud as usual around 8, so I was out of bed by 9:30am, first time before 10am in probably a good 6 or 7 years.
We started the day with coffee and presents. We decided a few weeks ago that we would stuff each others stocking with a limit of around $10 for each person. After presents Diva made brunch, which consisted of a fruit plate and an excellent giant omelet/frittata, and mimosas, and the coffee cake I’d made the day before. It was so good. I was hoping the mimosa would act as the hair of the dog or whatever that expression is, but I think it only made me feel worse. And then I brought out the candy tray and that only added to the hung feeling.
On Christmas Eve we all got up early to go down to the special Xmas Eve Farmers Market. Diva picked up supplies for Christmas Day Brunch (We split the Christmas food: I did all the baking, Diva did brunch, and then Laurie did Christmas Dinner in the form of appetizers) and we wondered around for a while. The market was pretty busy, but not as crazy as others had warned us. After that we split up to get other last minute things done- like groceries, liquor, and last minute gifts! I swam and then went home and made the Christmas morning coffee cake, while Diva and Laurie went for a surf. It was pretty busy in town. A ton of last minute shopping. I swear people here woke up on Monday morning and thought to themselves: “Gawdammit, Christmas is on Thursday, isn’t it? I guess I should maybe do something about that.” I’m pretty sure the majority of this town’s 9,000 residents were out and about getting their Christmas shopping done.
Later we created a makeshift Christmess Tree out of a branch I'd pull off a pine type tree the night before. Then I had a Christmas Eve (Eggnog and Kahlua- the eggnog here is not surprisingly not the same. It tastes the same but the consistency is a lot thinner, like milk), Diva and Laurie had Coronas, as decorated our stockins and then proceeded to chop and cook vegetables for Christmas Dinner at the trailer park! A few of Laurie’s friends from home are living in Byron as well, and one couple live and work in one of the trailer parks. They invited us all to have turkey dinner on Christmas Eve and we were to bring the veggies. We made roast potatoes, parsnips, yams, carrots, and onions. Yummy. We also brought dessert in the form of Christmas Tim Tams. We were a little disappointed upon our arrival to the TP to learn that the turkey hadn’t been stuffed (no stuffing) and the gravy was out of a can. Sad day for Sally. Anyways, when we first got there it had just started pouring rain and the thunder and lightning was intense! Once the storm passed the snow shone briefly and we saw a rainbow! Dinner was very good and the turkey was excellent too, especially for first time turkey cooker Justin, and in what looked like a large toaster oven! The turkey was actually, mistakenly, cooked upside down, but in the end I think this really helped make the breast meat moist and was somewhat appropriate as we are Down Undah. So after dinner and several mojitos, a bottle of white wine, and a few beers hilarity ensued when a few glowing snowmen sent from Canada were violated.
We got home pretty late, around 1am, pretty drunk. Forgot to read ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ and neglected to put out cookies for Santa since we knew the cockroaches would definitely get to them before Santa arrived anyway.
On Christmas morning I woke up around 6:30am to the neighboring kids screams of Christmas joy and a brutal hangover. Later Koral and Pablo were up and being loud as usual around 8, so I was out of bed by 9:30am, first time before 10am in probably a good 6 or 7 years.
We started the day with coffee and presents. We decided a few weeks ago that we would stuff each others stocking with a limit of around $10 for each person. After presents Diva made brunch, which consisted of a fruit plate and an excellent giant omelet/frittata, and mimosas, and the coffee cake I’d made the day before. It was so good. I was hoping the mimosa would act as the hair of the dog or whatever that expression is, but I think it only made me feel worse. And then I brought out the candy tray and that only added to the hung feeling.
The aftermath
By this point the overcast sky had started showing some blue, so we headed down to the beach. Christmas on the beach only added to the feeling that it was decided by the town that Christmas was taking place on a random day in June. A lot of people wore Santa hats and a few had little Christmas trees sticking out of the sand. There was also a Borat surfing in a one-piece thong bathing suit, and some guy dancing with the Hazardous Surf sign. We spent about 4 hours on the beach and all got a tad burnt, but that’s only because it was so humid and hot out that we kept sweating off the sunscreen that we’d applied multiple times.
Borat posing with the life guards
We came home and Laurie prepared a spread of cheeses and crackers, veggies and dips, and other appetizer type foods. Along with the candy tray and a cookie tray we were pretty stuffed quite quickly. We ended the night by watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while enjoying the Frozen Christmas Pudding that I'd made earlier in the week. It was basically just candy cane ice cream, but a pretty appropriate end to the day of Christmas on the beach!
I guess what learned- well learned isn’t the right word because I’m pretty sure that I’ve known this now for a few years, so it is more like a previous notion being reinforced- is that Christmas isn’t about presents, it’s about getting together with the people you love and eating good food. It’s about spending time with your family and doing all those little traditions you’ve established together over the years. And without those little things it just doesn’t seem right, hence it seeming like, to me, that today is a random couple days in June that we decided to have a Christmas themed 48 hours.
Now today is Boxing Day and I was hoping for big sales at all the cute little boutiques in town. I ended up only doing about half of town and there weren’t many sales but I still managed to buy two dresses that I sort of had had my eye on before and one was even $5 off the regular price, woooooooooo. Today has been pretty low key though, got up and went straight for the coffee cake and candy tray… probably not the best idea as I felt sick for a few hours after that. Got to webcam chat with the fam for a little this afternoon and that made me feel much better. I think I was having a bit of the post-Christmas-abroad-blues earlier. Now I think it’s time to hit the Bacardi and use up the rest of the mint for some mid-summer mojitos! Holla!
P.S. My back got a little sun burnt yesterday so my clever Merry Christmas is now semi-permanent. Weeeeeeeeeeee!
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