My Christmas has varied quite a bit over the years -- it's probably relevant to point out at this juncture that I'm Jewish, and don't observe Christmas in the traditional sense -- but this weekend featured several things that have become traditional for me.

In trying to entice a few friends to join me to try out a newly reopened restaurant in town with an Italian theme, I found myself with a last-minute invitation to a Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner on Christmas Eve. (For those who don't know, that's a major Italian tradition involving lots of seafood and fish dishes.) It was hosted by people I know, but not well, so I declined. I probably shouldn't have. I suspect I missed an exceptional meal.

Did pretty well at the new restaurant, though, with one of the friends I'd reached out to. Alan can't eat seafood, and while I could have eaten it across the table from him safely, it felt more fun to get stuff we could try samples of, so there was no seafood involved. That's fine -- I'm not really Italian, and I wasn't really celebrating Christmas Eve! It's pretty expensive, but the dishes are big enough that I had plenty of leftovers to have dinner tonight.

On Christmas proper, Alan and I met at one of the local formica variety of Chinese restaurants, one we've visited on Christmas multiple times in the past, but which moved since we'd last been there. They used to be downtown and are now in the west end, much more geared toward delivery and take-out than to dine-in service, and it showed. They no longer have a wait staff, and seemed barely ready to handle walk-in customers at the counter. The food is still good.

Then to the movie theater! acappellasinger and I were joined by Jules and hojo1690 and Tim for a second (at least for Alan and me) viewing of "Rogue One." I caught a few things I'd missed on the first opening-night late-night viewing, which made me suspect I may have drifted off once or twice. I was even more impressed with the movie this time around.

As jccohen has pointed out, this fleshes out a story we already knew, but it doesn't really get us anywhere. There's no new story. He's not wrong, but I think we gain a lot from the journey, I really do. May write more about that later.

We also saw "Sing," which I would never have gotten around to seeing, at least not without borrowing someone's kids. It was cute! Very well done animated movie musical. I do enjoy some of the animated movies ("Shrek" and "Monsters Inc." are great examples) and this compares well in that realm. Good voice acting, good animation, and even a good story.

Then, an actual Christmas Dinner to end the day, at Leslie's house. She's a local chef who always puts together a delightful dinner, and I've been lucky enough to celebrate Christmas there a few times. Her dad was a relatively last-minute addition to the guest list, and I was happy to see him. Great family!

Boxing Day started with a PT appointment, then I had a latte on the way home and spent the rest of the day relaxing with the dogs! Perfect.