Little Jack Horner

Little Jack Horner sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie,
He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum
And said "What a good boy am I!"


Every year I think the same thing. I am going to have an amazing holiday production. I know inside of me there is a Martha Stewart wrapped up in beautiful HGTV wrapping tied with a fancy Rachel Ray bow. I rip out all these wonderful crafts I want to do... pretty much starting before Halloween... and every year the same thing happens. Life gets in the way.


Now that are going to be looking for a new house in the Spring, I really look forward to getting all of my crafting in gear. As weird as it may sound coming from me, I want to make the Halloween cupcakes, the Thanksgiving feast, and decorate some homemade Christmas wreaths.


In 1993, while at Boston College, I had two jobs. I saved up a few hundred bucks and went to the supermarket and bought the ingredients for Thanksgiving. Do you know, in my little kitchenette in my dorm I made a full Thanksgiving feast. I booked one of the conference rooms, bought decorative plates, napkins, and utensils. I thawed a HUGE turkey, basted, made a couple of pies (pumpkin and apple) from scratch, made candied yam, cranberries, made lots of rolls, baked a carrot cake, made tons of vegetables, etc... pretty much a huge Thanksgiving feast. Then I invited the whole AHANA (Black, Latino, Asian, and Caribbean) community. It was a blast and I REALLY enjoyed doing it.


This year I was homebound, so I had to do any holiday shopping online. It was tough. It's hard to get into the season when you're shopping within the confines of your bedroom. So I do believe that next year I will be overcompensating A LOT! LOL...


We did REALLY enjoy our holiday though. The Christmas season came and went this year and what a wonderful season it was! There were lots of changes and any excuse I can get to eat, catch up on sleep and hang out with the family... I'll take it!


Christmas Eve saw Olivia up pretty much all night as I nursed and tried to catch a half an hour here or there to rest in between feedings.


In spite of that, Christmas Eve was a lot of fun! Xavier was in awe of Santa's amazing magic... how does he do it??? And how did he know exactly what I wanted??? Those were his questions and it was great. He crept downstairs in the early morning of Granny and Grandpere's house and saw all of the gifts under the tree... it was truly magical to him. When he went to bed, there were no gifts under the tree... when he woke up, the tree was overflowing with gifts. Reggie always loves being around his parents, grandma, and sister. In addition... we got SUSHI and maki rolls! YUMMMMMMM...


We opened gifts at Granny and Grandpere's -- everyone was well rested, Xavier got to play with his toys as soon as he opened them, and Olivia enjoyed the festivities since her belly was full and she slept well. It was great!


Then it was off to the Emeghebo household and once the extended family showed up... it was a perfect holiday. Mom once again outdid herself and whipped up a five course meal in a few hours... the turkey was SUCCULENT!!! Not too many people can make a succulent turkey... my Mom does it and she has passed that gift on to me... thanks Mom! Her food is tasty... and it's PRETTY to look at too. She's got the knack.


Xavier opened his gifts and pretty much got everything he asked Santa for.


All in all,


2007 is ending with a healthy, happy, family-centered BANG!


We are truly looking forward to 2008.