Christmas

We are just home after spending several days with E's family for the holiday. The past few days have been jam-packed with playing with the nieces and nephew, eating great food, making fun of the dogs, and general merriment. Our 8-year-old niece is often the only kid at family gatherings, so it was nice for her to have her adoring 3-year-old nephew trail around after her. At least, it was nice when he wasn't trying to nab the toy she was playing with at the time. Our little almost-1-year-old niece was shy about being held by anyone but her parents, but would tolerate it when blissfully asleep-- she spent about half an hour zonked out on me this morning.

As usual, E's mom put out an incredible spread for her houseful of guests. On Christmas Eve, we had a ham dinner with roasted sweet potatoes and kale salad. I skipped the Swedish thin bread and cookies, instead enjoying some eggnog for my dessert. Christmas morning was the traditional family breakfast of bacon and a special woven bread ("candy cane bread"). I'm not kidding about the bacon; there were 6 pounds cooked for 12 people. I'm pretty sure I ate my fair share, along with some fruit. Dinner was the great lasagna feast! Though I couldn't compete with my mother-in-law's cheese and pasta variety for sheer mass appeal, almost everyone sampled my paleo version and pronounced it tasty.

I was expecting some controversy about not eating gluten anymore. When asked, I tried to keep it light and just explain that it makes me feel sick. This approach worked well, and everyone was pretty understanding. Gluten-free diets have more mainstream recognition, I think, than our usual paleo way of eating. It's a little harder for me to explain the whys and wherefores of paleo eating. I have a general grasp of the concepts, but really would prefer to just hand people a book. In mixed settings, I'm more likely to summarize what we do eat (lots of high-quality meat, eggs, veggies, and some fruit), explain that it works for us, and leave it at that.

Though we had a great time over the holiday, I'm happy to be back at home enjoying relative peace and quiet. Reba and I took a cold walk around the neighborhood, and I had a cup of tea and a Facetime session with my sister and nephew in Wisconsin. We're planning to have some leftover lasagna for dinner and a low-key evening before getting ready to head back to work in the morning. Just two days of work before another long weekend-- I think I'll survive.