"Merry Christmas baby!" Mrs. Florene said as I stepped through her door to the warm and inviting inside of George's house this afternoon. "We are having a simple Christmas today. We are having hors d'oeuvres and we will open presents."
Mrs. Jones got busy in the kitchen preparing the food as I asked George, "What's wrong with your mother? She was going to cook a big meal."
"She's not feeling well she says," George replied. "She says it's her nerves."
I guess I wasn't the only one letting Christmas get the better of them. I was so worn out and tired mentally after yesterday. Mrs. Florene had also cooked a huge meal Christmas day for lots of family members. She is, I believe, 74 years old. George had said his mother's sister came with all her brood. No wonder her nerves were bad.
We had those new flipside pretzel crackers with a dill and cream cheese spread. Mrs. Florene had also bought some olives skewered with toothpicks knowing I love them. We also had a platter of vegetables with ranch dressing to dip them in. I was perfectly happy with such fare - hungrily eating as I drank some of the best sweet iced tea I had ever had.
"I've got some fresh mint for the tea," Mrs. Florene said as she whizzed by me to go use the bathroom. "Look in the fridge."
Delicious!
We opened our presents afterwards. Mrs. Florene just loved her griddle I gave her.
"Pancakes in the morning and you better be here!" she told me excitedly.
George got his six pack of Heineken. I almost couldn't come up with the money for it as it was $8 dollars - $8 dollars for a six pack of beer! My God! George was thrilled, though, and stuck them in the fridge to get cold much to Mrs. Florene's un-approving eye. It was a nice Christmas spent with my black family - a family I feel much more comfortable with than my own flesh and blood.
8 comments:
Sounds like you're making it through the holidays with flying colours.
I couldn't imagine having any extra, health-related stress added to this time of year-- it's already so over-the-top, at least for me, even when I try to keep things simple.
Eight bucks for the Heini sounds decent, if you're into that kind of brew... I'm from Ontario, though- they jack up the price and tax the hell out of it compared to the States. I'm a wee bit biased, but I would definitely pay extra on import beer, compared to some of the crap I've tried while living Stateside, haha
Happy holidays! I hope things keep going well for you!
I too was pooped out from Christmas and I didnt have nearly the long drive you had. I was inbed til 1pm today.
Glad you had a wonderful holiday and evenmroe glad that your Mom found a solution to her problem and laughed at it. She is some lady!
Jen,
Somehow, I am making it through it all. The holidays are almost over and New Year's will be quiet around here. We're on the downhill slide. When I was drinker, I never paid more than $2.49 or $2.99 for a six pack of ice beer - alcoholic's beer - so the price of Heineken these days was a shock to me. I had to borrow some money clandestinely from Charlie to buy it, and he gave it to me very grudgingly when I told him honestly what it was for. Happy Holidays to you as well and I hope things are going good for you, too!
Christina,
Mom finally figured out what was wrong with her digestive system. She said tonight she was going to have to quit eating some kind of oat bran cereal she's been eating for breakfast every day. Whether this will help, nobody knows at this point. It certainly makes for interesting and humorous blog posts, though. Christina, I've slept off and on all day as well. I am just exhausted. It's more than I've done in years lately.
It sounds like you had a very laid back Christmas with your surrogate family. I'm betting the pancakes are/were wonderful.
Hope you destress and enjoy the week.
Leann, I am kind of dreading going in the morning, though. I want to sleep in and not go eat breakfast. I will be glad when/if I go, though. Roped in as they say. Don't work too hard. I bet you all are busy at work this time of year.
It is always nice to have people who you feel more comfortable with than your own family. How lucky you have that!
Sounds like the oat bran is too harsh for your mom's system. I hope cutting it out will help her.
A griddle was the perfect gift for Mrs. F. How thoughtful of u.
Lena, I treasure Mrs. Florene, and George as well despite all his flaws. Maggie and I could go live with them and we would be happy as a clam. Let's hope the oat bran does the trick! It was kind of embarrassing for a while there! LOL
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