Xmas and New Years in Italy

Hi Everyone,
Still in shock when I see 2009 written everywhere. Where does the time go?! Christmas away from family and friends was a first for me but the family welcomed me to partake in all their festivities. The girls woke up at 5:30AM to see if Santa had arrived but their parents told them to go back to bed. They only lasted until 7.30 and started opening presents. I joined a little later but it was fun seeing them so excited, everyone in their pajamas, and the Christmas tree all lit up and decorated. Afterwards we went to a short church service where the organist played us a couple christmas carols on the organ since we were the last ones to leave the church. Afterwards we all prepared for a lunch for 10 people with some traditional foods like tortellini in broth, tongue, and a version of italian mustard consisting of spicy/sweet candied fruit in sugary syrup...However, the look of the cow tongue disgusted me too much to try it...I bet Lindie would have been more daring :) Then that night I went to the social center and listened to jazz music as my friends played the board game Risk...definitely not a spectator game but very fun nonetheless.
Also I made Nanny's date cookies and a fudge recipe to make it feel more like Christmas. They turned out to be big hits with the italians!!! The girls and the mom were all sick but they still helped in the 'cookie factory' where we made and decorated a trillion sugar cookies. It might be awhile before the cooking bug comes back. Afterwards, the family and I headed to their country home 30 minutes away from Florence in a town called Bivigliano. It was very relaxing with nothing to do but write in my journal, play lots of games with the girls, and read. The 2nd day we were lucky enough to have a beautiful light snowfall. The girls and i attempted to make a snowman but we didn't have enough snow. We contemplated stealing from the neighbors but ruled that out too.
Then for New Years, we headed back to the country home with family friends of theirs who are farmers. They brought a ton of strong feet-smelling meats, cheese, and fresh milk. Then I headed back to Florence for a party planned by Lorenzo, my co-worker from Pistoia, at his cousin's apartment house. We had 5 or 6 countdowns so I hope that one of them was right :) All in all, it has been a very fun holiday season despite the fact that I miss being with you all. Sometimes you need to leave the routine to see what you really appreciate most about your own traditions...aka listening to nanny's old christmas classics, the smell of hard rock cookies, sledding down the big hill, and seeing all the little cousins run around overjoyed about the load of presents. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Years. That's about all for now. There is yet another holiday on tuesday called befanna but not much else happens for the holiday except no work. Love you and miss you as always.
xoxoxo, Julie