Merry Christmas to everybody! One of the nicest things about Christmas is that it has become almost a universal holiday, independent of any religious connections, so that everybody can celebrate it as a time of sharing joy and friendship with one’s family and friends.

Not to mention all the feasting and gift-giving! :)

Last night was the annual family get-together, 21 people in all, 14 of whom had the same last name, lol. We had a two-course meal, but not the traditional Italian all-fish meal. When I was young my family followed that tradition, but as one-by-one my brothers and I all married non-Italian wives, the feast slowly became downsized. Last night’s menu was as follows:

I Primi (First Course): shrimp cocktail; chopped chicken livers; seafood casserole; spinach dip; antipasto

I Secondo (Main Course): homemade lasagna (with homemade noodles!), baked pork tenderloin; tossed salad; dinner rolles.

I Dolci (Dessert): cookies, cookies, cookies; zeppoles; Choc chip cookie dough dip.

Yes, we all ate waaaaay too much, but I’m sure we’ll be ready for another meal by mid-day today!

After the feasting, we sat around the Christmas tree and exchanged presents. To simplify things, we have used a grab-bag the past half-dozen years, so each person only gives one present. But after everybody left, my immediate family moved to the other Christmas tree where we exchanged our own presents.

So you’re wondering what I got for Christmas (or perhaps you’re not, lol). I plan to tell you anyway: Bruce Springsteen’s The Promise 6-disk set containing 3 cds of music and 3 cds of concerts; The John Cleese Collection, containing 3 hilarious videos; Rafael Sabatini’s classic historical novel Captain Blood; and The Vincent Price Collection of 7 classic movies. They don’t make horror movies like that anymore.