Christmas is over! As I get older, Christmases seem to come and go with more rapidity, but this year's celebration was great. Elizabeth and her girls spent the night so Santa could be here at the crack of dawn (well, more like 8:30 - all of the adults were chomping at the bit to get to the stockings!); Mary was here from Austin, and Great Uncle Bobby ("What's so great about Uncle Bobby?") was here from Pecos.

I had decorated with help from Andy and Meg who were here for Thanksgiving for our annual Christmas Party, and Mary and Byron helped in taking it all down. I love the sparkly lights and poinsettias, so it seems sort of bare around here now.

We all benefited from an Elizabeth-Dad shopping spree prior to Thanksgiving - new clothes all around (many compliments on my outfits!) and lots of practical gifts like the package opener (once we got one open with a knife, scissors and lots of cursing, it was a cinch to open the seven Barbies and other gifts which were tied/glued down as if made of gold and the mint was making sure of a slow getaway.)

Our menu included the traditional Dean eggnog and traditional chili and beans AND a breakfast egg casserole, cinnamon rolls and other pastries. I tried a beef tenderloin for lunch, but I just don't like rare beef. I'm making beef stroganoff with the leftovers tonight.

While I'm thinking about it, and avoiding looking through the Christmas cards to update addresses, here's how I do our Christmas Party - in case someone should want to continue the tradition.

1. If you are going to need parkers, engage them and the kitchen help early. I once forgot to do this and called the parking company late and we had to beg to get parkers - we got some - probably recruited from the homeless shelter had to cope with a torrential rainstorm.
2. Move all the chairs away. Obviously, if you are having elderly or infirm guests, you'll have to have some chairs, but don't make it easy for guests to sit around. One, you'll never get them to leave and two, they won't mingle around.
3. Decide on a menu that doesn't require forks. The point is to have people wander around. Have food stations everywhere, but not the same food on every station.
4. Have someone act as bartender. You can have glasses of wine poured and set out, but don't let some guest start making mixed drinks.
5. The hosts should stand at the door throughout the party - unless everyone you invited is already present, then you can close the door and go mingle yourself.
6. Invite a variety of people - neighbors, relatives, work friends, your children's teachers. Miss Manners (my idol) says that children need to see how adults behave at parties and adults will behave better if children are watching. This doesn't include your teenager's friends, but at least you'll know where they are.