Christmas Eve/Fourth Night of Hanukkah

We enjoyed a raucous but warm family gathering last night, filled with sisters, brothers, husbands & wives, countless (or so it seemed) nieces and nephews, new babies, and the newly betrothed, and of course, WAY too much food.

Today is a quieter day. Judy is working (though, so far, no patient's families are requesting to be seen). This afternoon, probably without Judy, we'll get together with a bunch of other, mostly Jewish friends to see a movie and then afterward, have dinner out at a Chinese restaurant. Judy will be done with her shift by then and able to join us.

Judy bought me a very nice heavy-weight flannel-lined shirt for Hanukkah. Nice. And on the second night, she offered me a second wrapped present, in violation I might add, of our agreement to exchange just one gift each. She was let off the hook though, when she explained that it was really a gift for the 'house'. It was a new crock pot. Very nice. I fulfilled its promise by making sauce (in my family, a spaghetti-style sauce is simply referred to as "sauce") for last night's gathering. It had sausage and meatballs in it. Judy said it was the best food ANYBODY brought last night. Awwww, shucks!

Over a succession of days, I've bought four different pieces of clothing for Judy as Hanukkah presents. Finally, last night, I presented one that fits... AND she likes it! YAY! Thank goodness Hanukkah is eight days long, one finds space within its span for redemption. :-)