Bubby was in a wedding the Saturday before Christmas. Here the exhausted little ringbearer and flower girl take a much-needed break soon after the ceremony was over and their work was done:

And now, the last of the ever-popular feature ...

Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

When the excitement of Christmas and New Year's is over, what is the next big day that you begin to anticipate and why?

My answer: It's not one specific day, but I look forward to spring break. Not because I have kids in school, but because Megan and Bubby (and maybe Preston this year) usually get to come visit for a few days during Megan's break from teaching.

This is the Christmas Eve Eve edition of Grilled Grandmas and I'm happy to feature Verna.

Verna's kids live overseas and across the country from her, proudly serving our country.

And they have her grandchildren with them.

Which means Verna gets to hug her grandbabies only about once a year!

Sheesh! I complain about seeing Bubby only every other month, so kudos to Verna for being such a strong -- and sweet -- grandma!

Check out Verna's grilling here.

And, as always, let me know of any grandmas you'd like to see grilled by sending me their first name and e-mail address.

On another note: Keep in mind that the deadline for the Friday Haiku Contest is tonight, due to Christmas being Friday. Be sure to enter your haiku here to be in the running for an offbeat prize from the antique stash. The winner will be announced tomorrow.

And ...

Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

If you could Christmas shop until you drop in any one store, which store would you choose?

I would choose Barnes & Noble or any other bookstore. Actually, if I could just shop on Amazon.com for all the books my heart desires -- without having to worry about the "until you drop" part since I'd be sitting down the whole time -- that would be even better! My one addiction in life is buying books -- for myself and others!

When Jim and I visited Bubby, Megan and Preston recently, I brought along an assortment of cookies from our annual Cookie Swap.

I don't think even Cookie Monster from Sesame Street gets as much enjoyment out of a few cookies as Bubby did from these.

More? More? Mmmm, mmmm, good!Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

Approximately how many dozens of cookies do you bake during a typical Christmas season? Would you like to guess at how many you eat during the season?

My answer: I usually make about 15 dozen -- of the same kind, for swapping at our annual cookie swap. This year, I've probably eaten ... AAACK! ... about two dozen total so far.

'Is that Santa I hear?'

Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

Approximately how many Christmas cards do you send out each year?

My answer: It's been about 50, maybe a few more, the past few years. But this year -- for the first time ever -- I'm not sending out any. I'm hand-delivering cards to those I see during the season, but I won't be mailing any. With all the craziness in my life right now (Jim still can't do anything, so I must do everything!), I've decided to cut out stressors where I can, and Christmas cards were one of those to get the ax.

Nina with her precious 6-month-old granddaughter, dressed to the nines in an outfit made just for her by Grandma.Next up for a grilling is Grandma Nina, the second grandma named Nina that I've met since blogging, and the second Grandma Nina to be featured here.

This week's Nina is the epitome of grandma ... except she's got to be THE most chic grandma I've ever met. She's also one of the most hip grandmas, as her grandkids call her and her husband by their first names -- a perfect solution to the "What should they call me?" question, of which I'm still grappling.

Get to know Nina by reading her grilling HERE.

And be sure to send me the names and e-mail address of any grandmas you think would be open to grilling, and I'll add them to the list.

Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

What particular holiday food do you enjoy the most?

My answer: The cake I make for Christmas morning breakfast. It's not so much the cake that I love -- although it's pretty darn good (layers of pound cake with berries and cream cheese filling) -- but the 25+-year tradition that goes along with it. We sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, something we started when the girls were itsy-bitsy and we wanted them to keep in mind the reason for the season. Even though we're all adults now, we still sing it every Christmas morning before digging into the cake.