Stick A Fork In Me... I'm Done.. and I'm Lovin' It

I never thought I'd ever say this but I'm very happy being "Home Alone".... as I've previously said I love Christmas and I also like to live large, so leading up to the big day is a lot of work especially as your staff and family seem to get bigger and bigger… Couple this with Monday's storm and the pressure was on to get things done as "Santa" has a pretty big list and he also has a lot of dinner guests... so on Tuesday night I wrapped up my shopping and then met the Princess at the Seatreat for fish and chips before heading home to get working on the first of two Christmas dinners... so around 9:00 pm Tuesday night I started the stuffing for a 33 lb turkey and finally got it in the oven around 11:30 pm at 450 degrees for an hour and a half at which time I reduce the heat to 200 degrees and let it cook all night…. I got to bed around 2:00 pm and up Wednesday morning at 7:00 am to take the stuffing out as I then put the temperature back to 350 for an hour to insure the bird is fully cooked… I then headed to the office until noon where I had a bunch of staff things to do but it was back home to the house to get ready to receive 30 guests from my wife's side of the family…. I peeled 35 lbs of potatoes, 15 lbs carrots, 6 turnips and had them all cooking by 3:00 pm, I cut up the turkey, sliced up a large ham, made the gravy, reheated the dressing and dinner was served at 4:30 pm Christmas eve... the Princess had set the three tables in advance and she entertained the guests while I was doing the cooking... it must have been reasonably good as I noticed one person on their third plate before I got to finish one of my own... a couple of the ladies helped clean up as I got the deserts ready and amazingly we had a great time and everyone was gone by 8:00 pm… then we headed out around our neighbourhood to meet a few friends... we got home around 10:00 pm and I had to start all over again for my family who were coming Christmas day…. so out came the 25 lb bird and back to making the stuffing and another night up until 1:00 pm…. by the time I laid down in bed I thanked God that my boys were old enough that I didn't have to get the socks and presents out like other years... so I was up again Christmas day at 7:00 to finish off the bird and put the socks and presents out… I woke the rest of the family up to open the gifts... then I made a big breakfast for everyone before heading to the in-laws to open the family gifts... then it was back home to peel 20 lbs of "Yukon gold’s" from Donnie Allan, 8 lbs of carrots, 2 large turnips and all the other fixens before 19 members of my family arrived at 3:00 pm for their Christmas dinner... gee I almost forgot but between the two turkeys I had roasted a large prime rib as I was stupid enough to start this tradition about 10 years before for my family... things wound up around 10 pm Christmas night as we had to exchange all the family gifts and again we all had a wonderful time …. I finally got to bed around 10 pm but I was up and at it today with the big breakfast this morning, then trimmed the leftover turkey and beef as we do up the family "hot dinners" tonight... a little while ago a few visitors left, the Princess went to see someone at the hospital, and my two boys went out to visit friends and I'm "Home Alone" ….and I'm Lovin' it... and I really can't wait until next year..