I felt like Christmas had snuck up on us very quickly. Being totally preoccupied with the wedding and the family visit, it felt Christmassy but it just felt like it was here way too soon. This is a long post – be prepared!
We had all our presents and decorations in order. The only thing we had to do was get up to Albany and back. Our plans were to do the following –
Supply –
Trifle
Pavlova
Christmas cookies
Thursday –
Visit Camille, Michael and baby Eveleigh and then leave the city for Albany, book into the hotel and get a good sleep.
Friday –
Get any last minute things done during the day,
Christmas Eve dinner at Pauline and Rob’s.
Mass at Holy Spirit.
Saturday –
Christmas Brunch/everyone hang out at Bill’s parents.
Eat during the day.
Maybe go to the movies at night.
Sunday –
Family lunch.
Return to the city late.
Monday –
Return car – 8am.
Bill goes to work.
This is the story of how Christmas came to be very different to what was planned.
On Thursday I spent the day packing our things, organizing some last minute gifts and getting ready. It was really cold outside so it was nice being inside. I also spent the morning making a Pavlova to take up. I had a cake carrier so with the trifle all ready, the pavlova would be easy. This was the first time I had made a Pav from scratch and it looked FANTASTIC. In Margaret Fulton’s recipe it said that when it finishes cooking to turn the oven off, leave the oven door slightly ajar and let it cool in the oven. Of course, with the weather being so cold our kitchen was not the warmest. Opening the oven door just slightly resulted in the pavlova collapsing. It would still taste fine but it looked awful. Then, once I got it on the cake carrier it was then that I realized that the pav had grown too much and was the lid could not cover it. So I had it on the tray and put it in a Macy’s bag. Ugh. Margaret Fulton’s recipe was actually not good because the oven door should really stay closed.
Bill got out of work early and went and got the car and while he was gone I bought all our luggage, presents and food downstairs so we could just load the car and go. I moved our suitcase and presents into the little foyer where we buzz people in and… bang! The door slammed behind me. Problem was – my handbag with keys were in the lobby. Ugh! Luckily someone came in not long after so I was able to move everything else. The trifle looked amazing but spilled a little as Bill was loading it in the car. After the great Christmas Trifle Tip-Over of 2008 I was not happy! But we bundled the trifle with all of our luggage so hopefully it wouldn’t fall over on the journey up.
We got to Camille and Michael’s on the Upper West Side and got to spend some time with Camille’s parents from the south coast of NSW and also Katie who dropped in as well. Awesome! With just a six week old bubby Camille did an amazing spread and made the most beautiful red velvet cake. She is a star and her and Michael are doing an amazing job so with Miss Eveleigh – she is adorable!
We bundled into the car at about 9pm. Traffic in the city has been SO bad I was anticipating a journey time of at least four hours to get to Albany. But… it wasn’t to be. With a quick stop we made it up there by 11.30!!! We kept saying “We are going to hit traffic here…” but we never did! It was a Christmas miracle and it was great to get to the hotel and have a good nights sleep.
We got up on Christmas Eve and had the Fairfield Inn breakfast and then I went back to bed to relax for a little bit. I feel asleep for about 30 minutes when I woke up to Bill on the phone. His mum was calling to say Pauline was really sick and Christmas Eve was postponed until dinner on Christmas Day night. Oh no! Bill popped down to Wal-Mart to brave the crowds to get some things we needed and then we went and dropped off some things and his mum and dad’s. His dad had been sick during the week… and now Pauline had it. It was so sad! We went for a drive in the afternoon and we found a whole lot of wild turkeys! They were just by the side of the road –
Our nieces, Emily and Rebecca were devastated at the cancellation of Christmas so Emily decided to try and resurrect it. A few of us headed over to her apartment for some Christmas cheer and she made some amazing pasta filled chicken breasts and we made do to be as Christmassy as possible in her one bedder with a game of charades after dinner. We then had to run as we had to make it to Mass as we were meeting Steve and Colette at Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit had Mass happening at 4, 6, 8 and 10pm. It was so nice to be back there so soon after the wedding and it was great to be able to catch up with Fr. Joe as you are so rushed after the actual ceremony.
The church looked beautiful –
We went back to the hotel and I got everything ready for Christmas Day so we could just get up and go in the morning. I had a Skype chat with mum and drifted off to sleep. I was woken early by Bill on the phone to his dad. Overnight, his mum had come down with what Pauline had – OH NO!!!!! Christmas Day was cancelled at their place and we still didn’t know if Pauline was even well enough… this was just awful with everyone sick and all these cancellations. Then, Rob rang. We were going to do it like the Marines and make do with what we have and that Pauline was better so Christmas Day was now at their place and it would be without Bill’s mum and dad. Eileen was baking muffins and we were to just get over there for brunch. We did that and sat around eating bagels and then did our present swap. That was all done by 11.30 – so then we had to work out what we were going to do for the rest of the day. The beef roast we were going to have for Christmas Eve had now been postponed until Boxing Day. So we were one meal short. We were debating between chinese food (the only places here that are open on Christmas Day) or trying to find some chickens and roasting them. A group went off to find chickens while Pauline, Rebecca and I caught up. In no time, they were back. A decision had been made – we were going to cook the beef roast. So this is where Bill took over and used a Test Kitchen method for the tenderloin… we had a big bowl of mashed potatoes and carrots and in no time we were sitting around enjoying a roast. Everyone pitched in and we made it happen and had a lovely Christmas sitting around a kitchen table just ‘making do’.
The next couple of hours were spent playing Apples To Apples and avoiding watching ‘A Christmas Story’ on TBS again! We then all piled in the car and headed to Chatham to see the 7pm showing of ‘Little Fockers’ – that is a whole separate post. On the way back we drove around looking at Christmas lights.
Check out this display –
On the way to the movies I checked my iPhone and I had an alert for a winter blizzard that would affect NYC on Sunday. I said straight away to Bill “What are we going to dooooo!??!?!” He was so cool and calm and suggested we do exactly what we planned and that we would drive back to the city late Sunday – he has driven in bad storms all the time Upstate and it was no issue. So, by the time we left Pauline and Rob’s it was nearly 11pm! We were heading back to the hotel when Bill suggested we should get something to eat because we hadn’t eaten for ages and that way we wouldn’t be starving. I felt like just a couple of chicken nuggets… of course Maccas was closed. The only place open was the Denny’s that is in the hotel carpark. Obviously, every one else in Upstate New York felt the same way because that place was happening! The car park was full and so we bundled in there. We got cherry limeades and a small nachos and Bill got a toasted sandwich. So, this was how we ended Christmas 2010 –
Ohhh another thing, my Christmas cardigan! Mum got it for me when we were in Orlando. It is from Talbot’s and it is just beautiful! It might just be one of my favourite cardigans ever!
After Denny’s I managed to sneak a Christmas call in to nana and then while Bill was sleeping I spent time checking out all the storm predictions. This was going to be bad so at around 1am I sent Bill and email as I knew he would wake up at about 5am and probably check his phone. I said it was up to him but the predictions look bad and I really think we should try and get back to the city earlier than planned and we could even drop the car off at the hire place as they are opened from 10am to 1pm as trying to return it on Monday morning may be hard.
It was 6.30am when Bill was trying to wake me up – he thought my idea was the best one and that we should try and get on the road. We both skipped our showers, threw our clothes on and I packed all our things. We would drop in to drop presents off with his mum and dad (as they missed Christmas) and then hit the road. By 7am we were at their place, by 7.15am we were filling up the tank and by 7.20am we were on the road with Dunkin’ Donuts for breakfast. I was worried that everyone else would have the same idea and we would end up with terrible traffic. I was wrong! By 10am we were back in Brooklyn. We took advantage of the fact we had a car so we went to the supermarket to stock up the pantry and it was while I was in there that the first snowflakes fell. Bill dropped me off with all the luggage and he returned the car and was back home by 11.30. We were all unpacked and in our jammies at 12 and having macaroni and cheese for lunch at 1! It was the best decision to come back early and the pressure was off. Of course, we missed the Christmas lunch (it ended up being pizza – grr!) but at least we got back safe. Seeing how brutal the storm was, we would not have got far at all if we left late.
So what happened to the pavlova? It was meant to be eaten Christmas Eve.. that didn’t happen. I took it to Pauline’s for Christmas Day and by that time it was all smashed up and yuk. So I threw it out. The trifle was left up there… I doubt that got eaten either. The cookies? Well we ate them before we even left for Albany!
This was somewhat the most non-traditional Christmas ever. But it all worked out well and we will all be laughing about it this time next year, I am sure! Mother nature, illness and crazy circumstances couldn’t get in our way from making it great. Hooray!