Christmas Eve
Breakfast was really good for a Continental breakfast. There was the regular stuff--muffins, cereal, instant oatmeal packets--but also a waffle iron and batter and a quiche! I took a slice of the quiche, which was yummy, and had some tea. There was a wide selection of teas, too. We stopped by a little before breakfast was ending, and the coffee pot was empty, I think, but I'm not a coffee drinker.
My husband and I took a stroll around the old downtown area of Bartlesville. There were nice green areas, some parts with empty buildings, but not bad as old downtowns go. They had livened the area up with painted buffaloes:
A patriotic one:
One in aviation gear representing the nearby Woolaroc estate:
And a "fabulous" buffalo:
with blue eyeshadow and yes, "disco balls" (click on any of the photos to enlarge)
(There are more buffalo around the city. These just happened to be in a little park we passed as we were walking around.)
About half the stores in the downtown were closed for Christmas eve. One of the shops that was open was Bambino's Downtown Bistro. Since it was a cold day, we stopped in for a couple of hot cappuccinos, and seeing that we were the only people in the shop, picked up some delicious looking squares of brownies and blondies, as we didn't want them to go to waste. I was really happy with the cappuccinos--these were more hot chocolatey, rather than coffee-like--perfect for someone like me who does not like coffee. And although I didn't get to the brownies/blondies until after we got home, they kept well, were appropriately moist, and not too sweet. If I were in the area again, I'd be happy to stop by the Bistro.
There was a quick stop by Johnstone Park where we had seen the Christmas light drive-thru the night before, to get a better view of a mock up of the first oil well built in Bartlesville (the town was an oil boom town, and still today, the Phillips (now Conoco-Phillips) Petroleum Company is the main employer):
Then, on the way out of town, we stopped at Keepsake Candles. They're a local candle maker, and their signature style is to make candles that look like they are in ceramic vases, when in reality, the "vase" is made of wax and is part of the candle. Samples of their work, here: http://www.keepsakecandles.com/classics_collection.aspx
We returned to Metro that evening, and went to Christmas Eve services. We went to the 10 o'clock service, arriving at the church at 9:30, since we were expecting a crowd. Turns out that it was the least well attended service time. We thought about moving from our seats since, until about 5 minutes before the start of services, there was no one else sitting in our section of the church!
Christmas Day
Christmas morning, my parents-in-law (we were celebrating at their house) went to church services, so my husband and I had a lazy morning. We then arrived at their house before they did. My father-in-law made a large breakfast (I had always used frozen hash browns; I had never thought to fry canned potatoes) and then my mother and I started on the prime rib and the rest of Christmas dinner.
Then there was opening of presents! I got many nice things, but two things of note were a wool hat from etsy, from my mom-in-law (warm hat, YAY!) and a sapphire and diamond "journey" pendant from my father-in-law. My MIL got a matching pendant, but in ruby and diamond, as well as ruby/diamond earrings.
The original chunk of rib was 16lbs. We halved it for Christmas dinner. The meat thermometer was showing it was ready a little before 5 o'clock. And right as we were getting ready to take it out of the oven, my cell phone rang. My parents were coming to town! Could we meet them in an hour at a local Chinese restaurant? I told them I would call them back.
Panic! After a little discussion with the in-laws and my husband, I called my parents back, told them I'd meet them in two hours at aforementioned Chinese restaurant. Dinner wasn't rushed, and we did meet my parents and my brother. They had dinner. My husband and I nibbled on some dishes. But it was all good. I enjoyed it, especially since I hadn't seen my brother in nearly 2 years. He had gone to China and gotten me a Doraemon plush, as well as a keychain from Harvard (where he's currently getting his MBA).
It turned out to be a good Christmas, after all.
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