This year was my first Christmas as Mrs. Adolfo Chavez, III. It was a beautiful Christmas. Our tree was beautiful, still alive and smelling so good! We decorated it with our collection of tree decorations that I am going to add to this year. It's best to buy Christmas ornaments after Christmas. I know that we will get really good deals considering how sad the state of the economy is right now. I gave my husband 256MB-RAM this year. I put it in his stocking. He was so surprised! I also gave him two more presentation folders for his photographs. I really want him to fill up those books with his photos.

Last night we had dinner with the Jaspers'. Don and Joy were wonderful!! I was so nervous, he is after all my boss. But after seeing Don's smile and hearing Joy's laugh, I wasn't scared anymore. Although I kept forgetting everything I was talking about while I was talking. Maybe I was still scared, but I had fun talking with his sons and daughter. Blaire was shy and pretty and sweet. Adam is a lot like his Dad, very sociable and proper, intelligent and sincere. Josh reminded me of Maru's husband, a little. Their house was beautifully decorated. I can't wait to have my own little house. I wonder how I will decorate it. There were lots of birds and flowers. It was colorful and had a feeling of being lived in. It could have easily been an imposing house being situated in such a gallant neighborhood. The sweeping gestures of it's staircase and the well divided rooms fell short of being grandiose. Instead, there stood the honest simplicity of the decor and the heartfelt enthusiasm for creating a home.

The evening started out with wine and cheese in the living room, with the brand new carpet that the Jaspers' bought for Christmas. It truly is a wonderful work of art. Don had taken a long lunch one day and decided to give me a lesson in buying oriental rugs. He showed me what to look for, not only in a rug, but in a salesperson. Of course, one goes by one's own impression, but there are tell-tale signs as well. As for the rugs, how to gauge the amount of silk used, how to see the silk in a rug, how to view the backing of the rug as well as the intricate patterns, etc.. So this was a wonderful opportunity to see the newest addition to the Jaspers' collection of art. And what a collection, I kept eyeing the walls looking for a space to hang the photo I wanted to give them. No luck. I am sure, though, if they like it, they will find a place for it themselves.

We moved into the dining room for the first part of the meal. I liked the dinnerware. It was not too frilly and not to linear. I good balance for two personalities. Don made the salad, ceasar, I know he knows I love ceasar. The main course was chicken, spinache pasta with a home made marinara sauce and steamed asparagus. Yumm. Killy and I brought dessert. A selection of various confections from the Kroger bakery. Very yummy. We chatted about this and that, I finally heard Killy's rendition of how we met. His story is not as romantic as my version. We laughed long and hard over our honeymoon adventure. Everyone lecture Killy about conventiently not bringing his book and camera. We giggled over the telling of our adventures in Rome with Killy's family. We talked about what Adam was studying, what Josh was doing, Adam's art...

We finished the evening in the living room again. An after dinner drink in hand and light chatter. The kids went away to rent a DVD. Don and Joy gave me a Christmas present. "OH! How did you know I collect these!!!" It was one of those beautiful crystal perfume bottles. Of course, it was also the first one in my collection. About four hours after our arrival, we made our good-byes. It was late and we had a half hour drive ahead of us. Don and Joy were wonderful and we exchanged hugs and farewells. It was a beautiful night.