our Christmas was divine. the kids were as good as they knew how to be, and feeding times didn’t interrupt with adult feeding times, and it was funny, loving and family-ish. the people were accepting, welcoming, warm and it was so wonderful to have grandparents there, even if they weren’t my parents. made the circle of life very pleasant. people mixed well and could talk with everyone, you felt comfortable enough to say NO to their kids when need be, and not to feel insulted when they said the same to yours. proof of it’s excellence: i am only mentioning the amazing food now. seriously, the fellowship surpassed the amazing food. laughter. happiness.

we were home by 9pm and in bed by 9.30pm. debated trying to find name tags for some gifts that were wrapped in tissue paper (not taped, just wrapped) and decided to just be really rude and ask people if they sent them.

we also experienced a present conundrum other mums of multiples have warned us we will be having in the next few years. people who send the triplets one gift. or did they? we had two scenarios this year…

there were three kid presents from my mum. one definitely for sebastian. (adorable, excellent). hmm…three kids, two gifts. was this one of those situations where the triplets are meant to share? (which of course works for now, but won’t in one year when MINE sets in….) i decided to just be honest and test drive a conversation i am sure i will have to repeat in years to come…

hi mum, ha ha, yes i know we chatted earlier today…ha ha ha…you know, kids should be grateful they are getting any thing at all, and adults should be able to save money and send one gift for all three…what am i saying? getting at? well,um, mum, did you send a present for each of the triplets or would like them to share?

what do you mean of course i sent three gifts, for the triplets and one for sebastian too. of course we did. your father and i. we chose them carefully.are you saying you have lost one of the gifts, teresa?

only temporarily, mum. it could be under the tree, or olivia might have batted it…

there were two gifts without tags, but they were baby books. i don’t know if i should contact this person and apologise for losing a present. but i think i will check around first. but i didn’t on Christmas day…we came home and went to bed.

it was a good night of sleep, which i was happy with because i was up the next morning at 5am, making stuffing for our boxing day feast. i cut up leeks, green/spring onions, apple, and celery, sauteed them, and then added the bread and seasoning…

and then it was time to stuff it up the 24 pound turkey’s bum. but first, pulling out the neck and giblets, while miaowing olivia watched with great interest and whisker licking.

had to go through the back entrance to get the giblets. the turkey responded to the loss of the giblets by loudly sucking up air and expelling fluids. very eerie at 6am. olivia and i jumped a bit.

now to stuff. got about half of the stuffing in there. now, it was time to wake up magnificent charles so he could give it a cerclage. (one of the benefits of having triplets is now i know the official word for sewing up the turkey, even if it is the wrong end. he did a great job.

we seasoned the top of the bird, foiled and threw it in the oven. i had peeled and cut the 20 potatoes we would later make garlic mash with earlier in the week, so the only thing really left to do was make salad, pie crusts and a few other things. all seemed to be relatively calm and according to plan.

except of course, when the guests arrived, we grabbed our drinks and spent the appetizer portion of the meal in our room watching cnn. tsunami in phuket, sri lanka, etc. when people ask me why we have the television in our bedroom i explain that i don’t have friends over to watch television. well, yesterday about five of us sat on my bed with the cheese and crackers in front of us, watching the disaster unfold. getting frustrated with the same old video clips that weren’t telling us anything new.

magnificent and i have been to the maldives. magnificent and i have been to phuket, he many times, and also to phi phi as well. richard (of aloo gobi fame) was with us on our bed, he got back from phuket three days ago. and suddenly, his blackberry started getting messages from friends in sri lanka.

they couldn’t use the mobile, but they could sms. can you help us get out of here, they asked. we are in the mountains, we were staying on the beach but made it to the mountains. we don’t think we have suitcases anymore, but we have our passports and we want to come home. is the airport open?

it is, he texted back. how can we help??

poor richard didn’t get a chance to eat the great vegetarian lasagne he brought, he was making reservations for his friends. and it did work. their flight was to leave at 9pm, and they texted from the airport i think saying they were close to being on their way. knowing this brought the evening to a good close.

magnificent is at work today, putting together an action plan to help employees who are vacationing or visiting family in phuket, madras, sumatra or sri lanka. and we are here, waiting for more news. putting aside relief items to donate.

one of our diversionary games last night was trying to determine the worst song of the 1980’s. the nominees:

wild boys – duran duran

come on eileen – dexy’s midnight runners

the oo-oo song – pat benetar

your suggestions are welcome and will be debated seriously.

a great, busy, wonderful Christmas. and i am going to look for lost presents now. and be grateful that missing presents, not people, are the greatest of my concerns.