Merry Christmas Everybody!

(my spell check isn't working so pardon any errors you may find... okay you WILL find)

It's 9:11 am Christmas morning in Amsterdam. Like a couple of kids Marco and I couldn't wait until this morning to exchange our gifts so there's really not much for us to wake up and get excited over today. So I'm just sitting here drinking a cup of coffee, listening to my Riverdance soundtrack and waiting for sleeping beauty to decide to wake up and join me.

Christmas is a little different here than my experiences in the US. At home we celebrate Christmas Eve just as much as we do Christmas day. Here they celebrate Christmas day and what is called '2nd Christmas Day' (or Boxing day in Australia) which is basically just the day after Christmas. With no big plans, Christmas Eve was spent on the new couch snuggling up watching Christmas movies and drinking some (gross) hot chocolate.

Christmas day we had planned on going to my friend Alexandra's house for to have dinner together and celebrate the holiday and then 2nd Christmas day we would spend with Marco's parents and family. Well Alexandra called me yesterday to tell me she's very sick and that we probably shouldn't come for Christmas! What a downer but I'm really glad she warned us because, being pregnant, (and actually any time) I want to stay as healthy as possibly which means staying as far away as possible from Alexandra today. That also meant that I was going to have to figure out what to make for Christmas dinner for the two of us. Ugh. The plan was for Alexandra to make the main course and I'd bring some sides and dessert.

I braved the chilly weather and headed to the grocery store which was an absolute zoo. I have never seen it so packed with people. Some were friendly but some were just downright rude. I didn't need much so I didn't get a cart, just grabbed a little basket. Even with just me and my basket I could barely fit down the aisles without bumping into people and knocking things over. By time I found what I needed I was pissed off, pushed around, stepped on and just plain old irritated.

After all the grocery store hustle and bustle the Aarssen's are having some Merry Christmas Meatloaf for their main course. Yeah, I know it's not Christmas-y but we hardly ever have meatloaf and Marco and I both like it, it was fast and easy to grab and get the hell out of there. I'm also making twice baked potatoes, greenbean casserole, lemon thumbprint cookies, oreo cheesecake truffles and a lemon tart. Yes, there is just two of us but there was originally supposed to be 5 of us and I already have all the stuff to bake. I did leave out the sweet potato casserole so I have scaled back slightly. Plus I love baking. It's definately my weight loss downfall (one of them!) Most of the desserts are for Marco's parents house but I have a feeling the scale is not going to be so kind as it has been the last couple of weeks. Can I blame it on the baby? Probably not but will that stop me, probably not!

I must have been a really great girl for Christmas this year because I was given some really great gifts. Sunday we went and saw Riverdance (this was my birthday present) and it was fabulous. It was the 4th time (2 times Riverdance, 1 time Lord of the Dance) I had seen it and this was by far the absolute best one yet. They had live music, not a soundtrack, and it was just amazing. We had excellant seats and it was a breathtaking show. I already have the DVD but Marco Claus got me the soundtrack to listen to as a gift. It's been playing non stop ever since. I also got a new coat and hat. Marco and I got some DVD's to finish off our Seinfeld collection as well as some Christmas movies and some classics like On Golden Pond.

We also bought some new stuff for the house for Christmas gifts. We got the hall table we'd been wanting. We bought a new rug for the living room. We bought a new kitchen faucet (because I hated the old one). We bought other things that I just can't think of now but our house is definately feeling more like a home and not 'a new house that was just moved into'. We're still looking for some great wall art. I have my heart set on buying an original Greetje Feenstra (click on 'bloem' and then 6 to see the one I love) who is a local Dutch artist who paints tulips and landscapes but haven't found "the one" yet. We went through the open art market on Sunday and I found another local artist that I loved. His name is Paulo Ferreira and I just couldn't quit looking at his work. It's not very often that I see art and really am drawn to it, I just don't have the ability to really appreciate it I think, but with Greetje and now Paulo, their art does that 'oh wow' thing to me.

So that's our Christmas in a nutshell. Okay so a very large nutshell. It's to keep those rabid squirrels away, really it is. I wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season and I hope you have a wonderful and safe New Years and be healthy (well as healthy as you can when there are oreo cheesecake balls and lemon tarts to be dealt with)!!!