Christmas in the family of little women and a couple beleagured men shall be summarized as usual: it was wonderful, we survived, we are all very poor now. My Christmas project this year was to create (with the help of the girls) our very own Advent Calendar. I wanted a nativity scene calendar, though I had to add a few extra Christmas symbols (candy cane, Christmas tree, poinsettia plant, wreath, bells) in order to come up with a total of 24. But the main point of making our own Advent calendar was so that I could spend a little time each day talking with the girls about the Biblical meaning of Christmas.
A couple days after Christmas we loaded up the minivan till it was dragging its tailpipe and headed off on the 10 hour drive to Salina, Kansas to visit B's family, celebrate the New Year, and prepare for a wedding. Right now we are sharing a house with 15 people, 8 dogs, 3 cats, 2 parrots, and a squirrel. Okay, not so bad as it sounds; the dogs and cats are mostly outside and the squirrel lives in the garage (M.G. works at a vet clinic and often rescues animals). Another interesting aspect of our visit is that B and I are sleeping in T.G.'s hanging bed (all humans younger than 30 years have been relegated to air mattresses). I still have to hear the whole story about this bed, where the idea came from, but there is this huge wooden frame that a regular full size mattress (and box springs) are hanging from, by ropes. Kind of like a gigantic, stiff, well-padded hammock. B and I were a bit dubious sleeping on such a contraption - especially since we are quite heavier than its regular teenage occupant - but fortuntely the contraption did come with four legs that could be swiveled down to provide more stability.
B.'s niece is getting married in less than two days, so for the past few days I have been involved in the fascinating process of altering bridesmaid dresses, assembling corsages and bouquets, making endless bows, and watching a wedding cake being built. I am amazed at the amount of equipment, sugar, and time goes into making a wedding cake. Also, the amount of food that 15 people can go through in a single day.
I thought my days of playing drinking games had ended with college, but here I was 15 years later on New Year's Eve playing "Presidents and A___oles" with an assortment of ages from 70 down to 13 years. Now, don't be shocked, the underage participants were drinking Sprite, and most of the rest of us were refilling with soda, too. I am so happy and proud to announce that you can have an absolute BLAST without anyone getting drunk. My favorite part of the game was the little green man rule. When the president declares this rule, every time you take a drink, you have to first flick the imaginary little green man off the top of your drink, then take a swig, and then hurry up and recapture the little guy and place him back on top of your drink before you can proceed with the game. Another fun rule was having to say something like "yuumm, I like peanut butter cookies" every time you take a drink, or "excuse me, I farted," every time you put your drink down.
I have more to share later about interpreting dreams, what is underneath girls' pony tails, good books and movies, and of course the wedding itself, which is this Saturday.
A couple days after Christmas we loaded up the minivan till it was dragging its tailpipe and headed off on the 10 hour drive to Salina, Kansas to visit B's family, celebrate the New Year, and prepare for a wedding. Right now we are sharing a house with 15 people, 8 dogs, 3 cats, 2 parrots, and a squirrel. Okay, not so bad as it sounds; the dogs and cats are mostly outside and the squirrel lives in the garage (M.G. works at a vet clinic and often rescues animals). Another interesting aspect of our visit is that B and I are sleeping in T.G.'s hanging bed (all humans younger than 30 years have been relegated to air mattresses). I still have to hear the whole story about this bed, where the idea came from, but there is this huge wooden frame that a regular full size mattress (and box springs) are hanging from, by ropes. Kind of like a gigantic, stiff, well-padded hammock. B and I were a bit dubious sleeping on such a contraption - especially since we are quite heavier than its regular teenage occupant - but fortuntely the contraption did come with four legs that could be swiveled down to provide more stability.
B.'s niece is getting married in less than two days, so for the past few days I have been involved in the fascinating process of altering bridesmaid dresses, assembling corsages and bouquets, making endless bows, and watching a wedding cake being built. I am amazed at the amount of equipment, sugar, and time goes into making a wedding cake. Also, the amount of food that 15 people can go through in a single day.
I thought my days of playing drinking games had ended with college, but here I was 15 years later on New Year's Eve playing "Presidents and A___oles" with an assortment of ages from 70 down to 13 years. Now, don't be shocked, the underage participants were drinking Sprite, and most of the rest of us were refilling with soda, too. I am so happy and proud to announce that you can have an absolute BLAST without anyone getting drunk. My favorite part of the game was the little green man rule. When the president declares this rule, every time you take a drink, you have to first flick the imaginary little green man off the top of your drink, then take a swig, and then hurry up and recapture the little guy and place him back on top of your drink before you can proceed with the game. Another fun rule was having to say something like "yuumm, I like peanut butter cookies" every time you take a drink, or "excuse me, I farted," every time you put your drink down.
I have more to share later about interpreting dreams, what is underneath girls' pony tails, good books and movies, and of course the wedding itself, which is this Saturday.
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