A 2008 Heatherly Christmas

The Heatherly house at Christmas

Well Christmas and New Years have come and gone. I doesn't seem possible that it has already passed by after all the preparation and busy schedules building up to the big day.

The Heatherly Living Room at Christmas

Christmas day was very traditional here this year. All the kids and their hubbies were here on Christmas day. Susan sister and bother-in-law came and we all had a big dinner after opening huge amounts of gifts that morning. Dinner was the same as last year which was a daring departure from the menu of every Christmas the past 33 years. No more turkey, ham, dressing, etc. for the Heatherlys these days. We are now doing Fillet Mignon and grilled shrimp. It was big hit this year and last year.

I (Don) didn't get to attend Christmas Eve church services this year for the first time since becoming Lutheran 35 years ago. That left a big hole in my overall Christmas experience this year. That always make Christmas special. Why didn't I attend this year you ask? Well Murphy's Law decided that Christmas Eve night would be the time when the septic tank would become full. While taking a shower the bathroom floor suddenly became flooded and every drain and toilet in the house was stopped. Nothing was flowing out.

As you can imagine, I had no hope of finding a plumber on Christmas Eve at 4:00 PM and even if I did, I doubted he/she could fix my problem and get things back to normal that night. After three attempts and as many rejections, I called Roto Rooter. They are as nice as could be and were at my house digging up the septic tank within the hour. They had the tank pumped out and everything back in order by 8:30. I really felt blessed. I had imagined us having to spend Christmas at a local hotel this year.

The kids playing Bachi Ball in the front yard Christmas Day

New Years evening we went to a movie with the Crout's. We saw the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still". The original was a standard SiFi flick from the 50's that Susan and I have seen dozens of time since we were kids. We had to see the remake. I wasn't expecting much and that made the movie not too bad. I actually enjoyed it. The update to modern time as done well. I heard comment about Keono Reeves performance as stoic and dull. Well, you had to have seen the original to know that this is how the character, an alien, was suppose to act. If you go see it, go rent the original movie and see it first.

New Years day we attended a dinner party and some old friends of ours. They do this every year on New Years day and we look forward to seeing them and catching up as don't see them as often as when we were next door neighbors a few years ago.

That's the scope for the Heatherly holidays. Other than the sewage debacle, it was relatively smooth and nice.