First, I'm pleased to report that Stephanie and I had a VERY Merry Christmas. Even though we missed out on the white Christmas we would have had back in the U.S.
The week at work was a bit hectic, between the usual madness and trying to write a cable about the Ambassador's trip to Khujand, but blessedly short. Thanks to President Obama, we only had a half day on Christmas Eve and got to start the long weekend early.
On arriving home, I thought that the house across the street was on fire, but I think they were only re-tarring over an open flame... *smart*.
With that distraction taken care of, I was free to turn my attention to Christmas time.
Christmas Eve was the culmination of all our baking for the month and Stephanie had been working overtime to put the finishing touches on the feast: quiche, hummus, tapenade, spinach dip, chicken satay, meatballs, and chips with french onion dip (my secret recipe), along with sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, chocolate crackle cookies, rum balls, gum drops, sugar spiced peanuts, M&Ms, and chocolate chip cookies were all spread around the gingerbread house. Coupled with a big pot of mulled cider, it was quite a festive display.
We had about a dozen of our close friends over and spent the evening talking, eating, and generally making merry. It was a great time and a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas.
On Christmas Day itself, we had a great time opening presents, skyping with family, and having dinner with friends. We both agreed this is one of the best Christmases we've had (out of 3 so far!).
Unfortunately, the day after Christmas I came down with a cold. It wasn't my first choice for how to spend the weekend, but it gave me a good excuse to stay in bed and watch some of our new movies, play some new games on the Wii, and pig out on leftovers.
Today I was feeling better so we met up with some friends at Victory Park to play with their dogs. We hadn't been to Victory Park before even though it's not very far from us. It's a big memorial commemorating the USSR victory in WWII. It's situated high on a hill and has great views of the city and surrounding mountains. I'll have to go back with the camera on a clear day.
Alas, now our long weekend is coming to a close, but at least we have another one coming up for New Year's.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.