Monday and Tuesday

On Monday morning, Cam left for Denver in Neely and Jamie's car.


That afternoon, Bonnie, Sam, Lori and I went to see "Little Fockers" to see if we could spot Cam in it in his role as an extra at the L--we didn't. But the movie was much funnier than advertised, so it wasn't a complete loss.


Tuesday, Bonnie, Lori and I went into the city.


We had lunch at Heaven on Seven, then we went to the Art Institute to see the new Modern Wing, plus the Impressionists and a number of other galleries there.

Boxing Day

The day after Christmas, all of us who were left--Jim, Sandra, Bonnie, Cam, Sam, Lori and I--went to Wishbone for brunch.


Then Cam and Sam got busy packing and doing laundry, respectively.


We had Mom's birthday celebration.


Then Bonnie, Sandra, Jim, Lori and I went to Fitzgerald's to hear the John Burnett Swing Orchestra's holiday show.


There were a number of great dancers thoughout the evening, but the highlight was when the two guys in the video below hit the floor near the end of the night.

Christmas Day

We opened presents beginning in the late morning, and finished in the early afternoon.



The snow, which hd begun the day before and continued all though the night, kept right on coming most of the day.



Somewhere in there we made time for Bonnie's coffee cake and Jim and Sandra's citrus salad.



In the early evening, we had Christmas dinner of pork and beef roast with veggies, Lori's mac and cheese, and my turnip greens casserole.

Christmas Eve

We got up on Christmas Eve Day and had cheese grits casserole, with biscuits and pears. Sam had picked Cam up at Midway, so we were all finally here.



Then we hung out and made lasagna for the annual Red and Green Dinner, which the Daggetts joined us for--Tom, Christine and Loren. I didn't get any pictures while they were there, so perhaps other bloggers can fill in that gap--Eliot Street? MoMich? Little help?



After dinner, Bonnie, Sandra, Jim, Lori and I went to the midnight service at Grace Church, and the kids and the Daggetts hung out and played games.

Thursday, December 23rd

By this point, everyone except Cameron had arrived: Sam a week earlier, Bonnie the day before, Neely and Jamie and Jim and Sandra hours earlier.


Lori made cookies during the afternoon.


Bonnie, Sam, Lori and I had gotten the tree the night before, and Sam and I had set it up, lighted it, and put a garland around it.


Thursday night we decorated it and had pizza delivered from DeNico's.


After that, Bonnie, Jim, Sandra, Lori and I got down to the real pre-Christmas bidness: Euchre.

The Nutcracker

On Friday the 17th we went into the city again--this time up to Wicker Park to the Chopin Theater to see a new and very good adaptation of The Nutcracker. It was not ballet, but drama/comedy with quite a lot of music.



First we wandered around a little in the neighborhood and found a little hole-in-the-wall pizza place that mostly did delivery, but also had a few table in the store. We shared a pasta dish.



Then we walked back to the theater, which was in the round. There's a short video of the space below.

Xmas in the City

We made our annual visit to the Loop on Wednesday 12/15.



Did all of our usual stuff:



Checked out the windows at Macy's (formerly Marshall Fields)--this year's theme was "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."



Went into Macy's to do a little fill-in shopping.



Went up the escalator chain (about eight floors) to see the giant tree in the Walnut Room restaurant.



Had lunch at Heaven on Seven--Lori had an andouille poor boy and a bloody mary, while I had the fried oyster salad with honey mustard dressing.



Went to the German village and bought a few new glass ornaments for the tree.



While there, we watched a live angel "sculpture."



Videos are below.



Had a cup of mulled wine--gleuwein the Germans call it, because it makes you glow, at least metaphorically.