Secular Christmas Reflections

I am making my yearly Christmas cookies. Most of them Greek. And it donned on my why these two different Greek cookie recipes call for "two jiggers of brandy"... you will need the brandy bottle handy for when you are completely frustrated with the in depth process you must go through to make these cookes:) Even the Artoklassia (five loaves of sweet bread as an offering to the Church) calls for ouzo to be sprayed on the top of the bread (another tedious recipe to follow). Yep, the Greeks know what they are doing:)

Yesterday I finished our Christmas shopping. Normally I'm the kind of person who is done by December 1. But this year, something special was released on DVD on December 21 and I wanted to get that something special for my brother. Can you guess what it is? Let me give you a few hints... idiots, sweet, liger?!?!? Got it now? It's Napolean Dynamite! I am going to add it to my favorite movies on my blogger profile. I saw it with my sister this summer in the theater. It is so hysterically funny... we were literally rolling in the aisles. My brother will love it! And, in case you missed the theatrical release, I hightly recommend at least renting it. It's about all the geeky people you knew in high school all rolled into one. And it's a high school movie that doesn't have swearing, drinking, drugs, or sex. Can you believe it? And it's still funny! Who would have thought.

Last night was Paul's work Christmas party (I should probably refer to it as a "Holiday" party because there was nothing "Christmassy" about this party). Not that I didn't have fun. We had a great time. He works for a fairly small company (there are only 20 employees here in Portland) so everyone knows each other. Very intimate. It was at Henry's Tavern in NW Portland. I guess that's a big hang out for the single, after work crowd. The cool thing is they have 100 different beers on tap. Talk about variety. We played pool, had an open tab (free drinks... although I can't drink because of my meds), and then had a delicious meal (food's not cheap... although we both had shrimp dishes). All paid for by the owner of the company who flew in just for the party. What a life. Some people got completely trashed and others didn't have a thing to drink. A good balance.

I don't know if I will have an opportunity to post anything until after the Nativity (which is, by the way, my name day, too) with family coming in from out of town tomorrow and all the services in the next few days. I wish you all a very blessed Nativity (I know it's early but Christ is Born! Glorify Him!).