Christmas Season 2023/2024 - 5th Day of Christmas Part 3: Noel's Annual Chrissy the Christmas Mouse Party

Friday, December 29, 2023

The Fifth Day of Christmas 

Noel had her annual Christmas gathering last night. Dale and I along with Caroline and Stephen were in attendance. 

Noel's cat Ella has been under the weather lately. Noel was quite worried as Ella is 17 years old. It turns out she had a kidney stone and she's doing much better now.

It was good to see everyone and the food was great (Noel has Kowalski's cater it).

     

I think it meant a lot to Noel that we were all there. 

Christmastide 2021/2022 - 2nd Day of Christmas: Noel's Annual Holiday Fete

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Usually Noel and I do a Day-After-Christmas-Holiday-Shopping-Spree. However this year the store we really want to hit isn't opening up for their sale until this coming Tuesday so we've decided to postpone until then. Noel and I did get together though for her 23rd Annual Holiday Fete along with Dale and Caroline and Steven. 

As usual a good time was had by all. Noel got lemon chicken from Kowalski's and made a delicious salad herself to go along with it. Caroline brought dessert. Dale and I brought some wine and the Christmas crackers which contained some charms, bad jokes, and paper crowns. 

We all played a game Caroline brought called Ransom Notes. It was quite fun. One player would read a direction task card and then everyone would write their answer using magnetic words. For example, my response to the above direction is as follows:

We sang along to the Chrissy song.

And enjoyed one another's company. 

Although Noel didn't host in December of 2020 due to there not being a vaccine for covid yet Dale and I did a Christmas in August party in 2020 for the same crew. 

Noel brought a tree with lights...

...and Caroline brought her awesome berry cobbler. 

This little summer gathering in August of 2020 still allows us to say we've done this every year since it began. 

For the August 2020 gathering I didn't have a ghost story picked out so I googled 'short ghost stories' on my phone. Shown above are a couple of the better ones I shared. 

I didn't have any ghost stories to share at the December 2021 gathering but did have some ghost jokes. For example: Why are ghosts such terrible liars? Because you can see right through them.

The Fourth Day of Christmas - Noel's 21st Annual Holiday Fete

Saturday, December 28, 2019

According to Noel this is the 21st time we've done this so tonight we started our third decade. After we all arrived, Noel started with a toast to her deceased parents. Her relationship with a couple of her living relatives is fraught so she mentioned how much she appreciates those in her chosen family. 

Her tree, as always, looked great.

And also, as always, ... 

...her place was decorated to the hilt. She credited her mother with her love of decorating including decking the halls at Christmastime. 

The conversation was lively.

And it was good to catch up with everyone, especially Caroline and Stephen who we don't see as often. 

Dinner was provide by Mrs. Kowalski and consisted of chicken dummies, fruit, cole slaw, and for dessert, chocolate covered strawberries. 

Caroline brought an awesome apple/blackberry crumble. After we finished that we played a card game Noel picked up called Unstable Unicorns. Sick but fun.

I got a mini deck of cards in my Christmas cracker. I decided to give it to Little Bear when I got home. 

Christmas Season 2017/2018 - Noel's Annual Holiday Fete

Saturday, December 30, 2017

The tradition continues. We figured that we've been doing this get together since 1998. 

Rosie likes to model but cannot sit still long enough to look at the camera.

Noel had to hold her so I could get this shot. 

Ella Bella is becoming more and more outgoing. She let me snap this lovely photo of her.

Noel's tree looked awesome. The teal lights are especially stunning. 

The conversation was lively as always. 

The menu included chicken wings and dummies   meatballs, cheese and crackers, fruit, and salad.

For dessert there were chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered cherries, and  chocolate torte (with no need of reform as it was perfect). 

Joe read and enchanted everyone with a ghost story titled Christmas in the Blue Chamber by Jerome K. Jerome.

And we all know Stephen is a tree hugger.  Chrissy the Christmas mouse made a brief appearance. She seemed a little miffed most likely due to her being more and more excluded from the event in recent years.

Christmas Season 2015/2016 - Noel's Annual Holiday Fete Part 1

Saturday, January 2, 2016

The tradition continues. Noel had Kowalski's provide the food which included bruschetta with cream cheese and relish. Also, there were BBQ meatballs and chicken drummies. Noel's cat Ginger was quite socially outgoing. I did a Chrissy the Christmas Mouse dance that I saw a kid named Troy do on YouTube. Of course, there was a deep and heavy discussion of American life and politics in the early 21st century. No ghost stories though. Maybe next year...

Christmas Season 2014/2015 - Noel's Annual Holiday Fete

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Yes, Stephen, Caroline, Dale, and I gathered at Noel's place for her annual Christmas fete. We figured out that we've been doing this for about 15 years now. You could say that's a pretty stable holiday tradition! Noel had Kowalski's provide the food which included beef and chicken skewers, salad, and sweets. It was all, as usual, quite delicious. Noel's apartments looked beautifully festive. Like last year, ghost storied were told. Stephen had one about a man in Iowa who saw an alien as a child and tried to find him into adulthood. 

Christmas Season 2013/2014 - Noel's Annual Holiday Fete

The whole crew was present for Noel's Annual Holiday Fete: Caroline, Stephen, Noel, Dale and I. Noel served chicken and beef skewers along with a nice salad. Caroline and Stephen brought a nice fruit salad and Dale and I brought a lovely chocolate cake made by Mrs. Kowalski. Noel also had her famous pecan crisps (which most other people in the world call Russian tea cakes). Noel's cat Ginger attacked the tree at one point although she was well behaved otherwise. Her other cat Rosie kept a low profile. I only saw her once. Noel and I each told a creepy enough ghost story but Stephen told a super creepy one about a ghost trying to get into a house he was in back in the 1980s. It all reminded me of the line from the song It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year that goes "There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago."

Christmas Season 2012 - Noel's Annual Holiday Fete

On December 29, Dale and I attended my friend Noel's annual holiday soiree.  For dessert we brought a pumpkin roulade which I mistakenly referred to as a Buche de Noel.  I included her response with the above photo.  Caroline and Stephen were there and her cat Ginger also made an appearance.