Joy To The World, The Lord Is Come!

First off...
Merry Christmas Everybody!

Yesterday we went off to donate blood at the new blood center. It's not nearly as spacious as the old center, but if you are donating for a surgery, they give you headphones and you own tv to watch while they draw your blood. I was not able to donate yesterday, my blood pressure was too low (84/52). I tried to tell them I have a naturally low bp, but since your blood pressure drops 10 points when they draw blood, it's a safety issue. So I was disappointed, and may try to go back at some point. Geoff had no problems and he got his toque.

We had some plumbing issues with our kitchen sink, so we had to go to Home Depot this morning for Geoff to get supplies to fix it. He's quite the Mr. Handyman. Now I guess I can't complain about him watching Ed The Plumber if he's putting to use what he learns.

Our plans for today? Flexible. Geoff is making the cinnamon buns we'll be eating tomorrow morning (an Armstrong tradition), we'll go to Christmas Eve service, and hopefully Geoff will play Christmas carols on his violin. Somewhere in there we may watch Christmas specials (The Toy That Saved Christmas, Merry Christmas Mr. Bean, anything that's on tv), and we'll put the gifts under the trees.

Tonight's dinner is ribs, and let me say Geoff makes the best (in my opinion). Tomorrow night we'll feast on ham. Both recipes courtesy of our favorite chef, Alton Brown. We don't starve at our house. We also have a bunch of Christmas cookies to eat, lemon crisps (excellent with tea), Rachelle's gingerbread cookies (very chewy), shortbreads (Geoff's favorite) and my Christmas cutouts (turned out pretty good. The orange zest really adds to the flavor).

We may try to call y'all tomorrow, but time will tell what the day will bring. We'll also be online (AIM), and trying to send pics as often as we can.

I'm going to close with the lyrics to a great Christmas song, Babe In The Straw.
Who is this Child asleep in a manger
The Heavens are bright and the stable so cold
And on this holy night have You come to redeem us
Little Child in the straw
Who is this Babe, the Prince of the universe
The donkey is braying, the angels are singing
The prophets did say You would ocme to redeem the world
Little Babe in the straw
Merciful One, Lover of every soul
The Father's own Son, Emmanuel
Yes, we believe You are able to heal us
Noel, Noel, Save us all
And if we lose sight of Your sweet face
At the birth of grace, at the birth of grace
Light of truth, shine like Bethlehem's star
And lead us to where You are, Show us who You are
Save us tonight, Little Babe in the straw