xmas day

Since 2008, every Christmas I invite friends over to watch some movies.

Where my friend M and my two sisters can easily entertain a group of 20, I stress over a handful of friends coming over to eat junk food. I've never been at ease in a kitchen.

Alexander is not interested in "sitting around with old people" when I invite him to join us. 



So he leaves for a friend's house as soon as the first guest arrives.

While I supply candy, popcorn, chocolate-covered pretzels and water, my friends arrive with the good stuff.  And lots of it. A fruit bowl. Homemade chocolate chip cookies (I never even take mine out of the freezer). A fruit bowl. Biscotti. Prosciutto. Hummus. Soppressata. Olive bread. Baguettes. Various kinds of hard and soft cheeses. Homemade brownies. Seasoned breadsticks. Prosecco and wine.  

Before starting the first movie, I ask Stew, Shari's husband, to take a photo of the girls. It's too bad the flash isn't set to go off.

l to r: Jill, Shari, Carol, Robin and me

I start Molly's Game,  then take out my phone to google the instruction manual for my six-year-old phone.  About 20-minutes into my search, something goes wrong with the DVD: we can hear the movie; we just can't see it. The TV screen says something about a lost connection. Ugh. I have no idea what that means and no idea how to fix it. 

About 15 minutes of fiddling with the millions of cables and wires, the picture finally comes back on. The movie is long, and before it ends, Linda arrives to see the second movie, I, Tonya.

 I ask Stew to take another picture, this one including both Linda and use of the flash.



The last movie we watch is Call Me By Your Name. It builds slowly to a beautiful and heartbreaking end.

I love spending Christmas this way. With good friends, good food, and good movies. 

But two is enough. Movies that is, not friends. You can never have too many of those.