Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I thought I’d write a very quick post about our Christmas morning. It’s been kind of funny.
You see, I don’t like seeing the tree with few presents under it. I tend to buy a lot of gifts for Bill, although a lot of them are actually for both of us. He, on the other hand, doesn’t have the time to do a lot of shopping, and he hasn’t really got a clue what to get for me. I tend to buy myself whatever I want when I want it.
He did buy me a new guitar last week, which I love. And he says there are a couple of guitar accessories that are coming when they are no longer backordered. I got a brand new Apple Watch, too… the 9 series, which I understand Apple has just pulled over intellectual property issues. He also had Mary Basmajidian (aka Vartoush Tota) make me a Christmas greeting video. That was a hit. And he bought me a couple of pairs of nice alpaca socks.
He bought me women’s t-shirts with beer demands on them in German– you know, the kind that are really close fitting, with little cap sleeves? I don’t know if or when I’ll be wearing those. They don’t tend to look so good on short, squatty, busty women with massive beer guts. And he got me a v-logger camera stand, which could be useful. However, I already have one, and I haven’t used it yet. I might use it if and when I ever want to film myself singing and playing guitar at the same time.
Meanwhile, I got him a lot of books– three new cookbooks (two Persian cuisine and one that has ancient recipes) and three Jungian psychology books, including a small version of the Red Book. He already has the really big version, but that one is in storage.
I also bought him a book about H.R. Giger’s art, since I know he’s a fan. We visited Giger’s museum in Gruyeres a few years ago. I bought him a Moka Pot, espresso cups, cheese graters/zesters, coffee beans, an electric milk frother, a pastry scraper, new steak knives, six shirts, two pairs of socks, a small Le Creuset baking pan, bags for the sous vide, and a knife sharpener. A new belt is on the way, too. I think that was everything, anyway… I will probably buy him a new bookshelf for his psychology books.
We can use most of the stuff I got for Bill. I look forward to trying some coffee drinks. It’s probably time for us to do a purge, too… We have a set of nice steak knives we bought at Williams-Sonoma back in 2010 or so, but they’re kind of dull. The new ones are made by Wusthof.
Yep… our Christmases tend to be kind of lopsided. I sit there and watch Bill unwrap everything. But he more than makes up for it over the course of the year. I just like to shop, even if I don’t enjoy wrapping presents.
Today, he’s planning to cook a nice dinner. It’s kind of rainy and gross outside, so maybe we’ll have a fire. That’ll probably do it until next year. I also played some of my best Christmas music… I have a huge library of music, and quite a lot of Christmas music is included. But I don’t actually like listening to Christmas music for more than a few hours total every holiday season. Go figure.
I guess I’ll play my new guitar now. I think in spite of the tiny pile of gifts in the photo, Bill wins in the big spender category! I’m glad we got through our fifth Christmas morning in Wiesbaden!
I just counted the number of Christmases Bill and I have spent together in Germany. We’re now up to nine. That’s 2007, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and now, 2020. Bill spent a few more Bavarian Christmases here before we knew each other, when he was a lieutenant in the Army. Technically, we were in France last year for Christmas, but we still put up the tree at home and opened presents in Germany… so I count that as a German Christmas, too.
Yesterday’s Christmas was very nice. The best part of it was the lack of drama, which is a feature in almost all of the holidays I’ve spent with Bill. We really get along well, so being together on Christmas is a pleasure. There’s no fighting. Bill and I have both experienced enough holiday fights to last us the rest of our lives.
Anyway, our day went like this. Arran woke us up at 5:30am, as he always does, to go out for a pee and have his breakfast. Bill came back to bed and Arran snuggled into my arms. I slept until about 8:30am; these days, that is unheard of for either of us. We got up and had breakfast, then opened presents. I always get Bill more presents than he gets for me, so our gift exchange is always lopsided. This year, I decided to get him some really silly things. Here are a few photos.
I‘ve been wanting one of these snot nose egg separators for years, even though we rarely need to separate eggs.I enjoyed watching Bill’s reaction to the toilet office supply holder.Bill’s mom sent funny anti Trump books, as well a Far Side calendar.I bought Bill a bizarre Angela Merkel juice strainer… we own a juicing machine, but I couldn’t resist, since I already have a Margaret Thatcher nutcracker.This looked like a cool book…From the inside…I bought Bill a book on cocktails, too. It’s one of a few I’ve gotten him over the years.A last minute purchase because it looked like a fascinating book. Bill loves these kinds of gifts.Another practical gift. Close up of Mutti. This photo generated a lot of comments.And the other fun gifts.The Clay Pot book is out of print, but it got really good reviews. Since I bought Bill a clay pot this year, I thought it would come in handy.A few presents…
There were other gifts, of course. I got Bill new shirts, a singing bowl (got one for myself, too), an Anova vacuum sealer and bags for his sous vide (a gift from several years ago that he uses a lot), and a really cool puzzle from Thailand made of wooden shapes. Bill got me a guitar repair kit, a couple of music books, a couple of t-shirts from Prairie Artisan Ales (in Oklahoma), and a guitar amp, which he gave me earlier this month to use with my new guitar.
My mother-in-law sent me a digital picture frame for the computer and, for both of us, a very interesting looking cookbook by a TV chef from eastern North Carolina. I was not familiar with the chef, but the pictures in her book make me think we’ll have a lot of fun with her southern recipes. We got so many new books that I am going to have to buy a new bookshelf.
My favorite gift of all, though, was a video Bill had sent to me by Vartoush Tota– otherwise known as Mary Basmadjian. Mary Basmadjian is the “Funny Armenian Girl”, and her videos are all over Facebook. I happen to love her comedy because I lived in Armenia for two years in the 1990s, teaching English as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I haven’t been back there since 1997, but I’ve been wanting to go. So Bill requested a video shout out from her, including a script that he wrote. It was a total surprise and I loved it! I didn’t think I would get such a kick out of a “shout out” video, but I totally did!
This was my FAVORITE gift!
After we opened gifts, Bill went to one of our favorite local restaurants, Villa Im Tal, and picked up our Christmas dinner. We usually like to cook for holidays, but since COVID-19 has impacted restaurants so much, we’ve ordered food for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I’m not sure what we’ll do for New Year’s, though. Maybe that holiday will be a bit low key.
Anyway, this was our fabulous meal… Bill broke out the china and fancy silverware for it, too.
Lovely table…Smoked quail breast with a Waldorf salad. The quail was so good, and I enjoyed the salad much more than I expected to.Ditto for the soup, which was roasted chestnut with Jerusalem artichokes and croutons. I didn’t expect to enjoy this nearly as much as I did. We enjoyed my favorite Armenian wine, which I ordered from here. They deliver in the EU.I had roasted duck, with potatoes au gratin, and ratatouille. Bill had prime rib with a potato knoedel and spiced red cabbage.For dessert, we both had Sachertorte with berries, mango, and whipped cream. Our landlord supplied the bubby– a Sekt made from Riesling here in Wiesbaden.
I’m not sure why Bill ordered duck for me. I think I would have loved the prime rib just as much. I did taste it, and it was sinful! I liked the duck too, and we do have leftovers for today. The biggest surprise for me, though, was the soup. I didn’t find the color of it very appetizing. I have a weird thing against beige foods, I guess. But– after the first spoonful, I was eager to finish the rich, velvety soup. The croutons were surprising. Some of them managed to stay crunchy even though they were saturated. There was also salmon in the soup, which balanced the base. It was delicious. I’d love to have it when it’s not take out. I also liked the dessert very much– cubes of chocolate cake artfully arranged with fruits and cream. God, I miss dining out, but this was a nice compromise. I think Bill said it cost about $160.
Villa Im Tal is also offering a New Year’s Eve dinner, but the choices for that don’t look quite as appealing. They involve a lot of liver and caviar. If we did order one (and I guess they still have availability, since they included an ad for it in our order yesterday), we’d probably go for the middle choice.
We finished off the evening by watching a few Rankin & Bass children’s specials from our childhoods. These were classic Christmas shows that came on TV every year. They probably still do…
If you were an American kid in the 70s and 80s, you’ve probably seen this.
We watched three specials, but had to quit after the third… There’s only so much Rankin & Bass I can take in one sitting. I switched to reading more of John Bolton’s book, which I hope to have finished very soon. I’m ready to start a new book that has nothing to do with politics.
All in all, it was a great Christmas. Noyzi and Arran had fun, too. Especially at dinner time! Bonus– I also got some housework done, so I don’t have to do it today.
One last thing… I made a music video the other day. It’s a pretty Christmas song that Olivia Newton-John did for the collaboration effort, Liv On, with Beth Nielsen Chapman and Amy Sky. I thought it was a moving and unusual holiday choice, so I decided to cover it. I used photos and video from our 2016 Ireland trip… Wish I could be there now.
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