Hello imaginary readers :) Its another frigid day here in michigan... -4 degrees as i drove to work after morning Mass. sigh. I am tired of cold feet (no i'm not nervous about anything, my feet are actually cold), although i can't complain too much other than that since i work indoors and haven't had to shovel absurd amounts of snow. It is good to see the sun shining through the window at least, although there is still quite a chill in the air here, despite my scented candle flickering away making it seem cozier than it really is. :)
I actually thought of something to post about... but now i can't remember. sigh. so you're in for some random ramblings instead.
Yes my friends, it is already February! Where does life go?? I'm looking forward to spring, which will hopefully come faster than i think. I miss being outside, the yard work, gardening, bbq, biking with the Magster, lots of ball with both BOC, and just being outside without freezing my tush off!!
My weekend was insane... one of those weekends that left me more tired than when it started... sigh... Friday night, started some laundry, went to see the Holiday at the dollar theatre with roommate and friends, entertaining, but i don't know if i can actually recommend it. Saturday: baked like a fiend... baking is good stress relief for me, and i prefer the act of baking over eating the actual baked goods! anyway, i knew we were having a girls night that evening and they'd need some breakfast options for Sunday, so I baked peach bread, banana bread, pizza dough and sweet bread dough (in Donals breadmaker). I also did random Saturday stuff like some cleaning, washing the dog blankets and rugs (I know i'm a fanatic), and even did some uncharacteristic lounging around for a bit (knowing the rest of the weekend would be anything but restful). Made homemade pizza for dinner and then began on the cornbread... you see, the Life Teen superbowl party was suppsed to be a chili cook off and no one else had volunteered to make cornbread... so i said i could do it (why do i sign up for stuff like that?) So I spent a couple hours making cornbread for 100+. In the midst of this, girls started arriving for girls night. It was a lot of girls who hadn't been to GN, and a few of the regulars... overall, it was insane and a lot of fun. Probably 16 girls for the evening and 11 spent the night, quite a houseful! I didn't sleep until after 2 am... ugh... then up for breakfast, seeing the 8.45 Mass carload off (with Kara), and trying to get everyone up and moving in time to get to the 11.15 Mass with another carload of them. Sometimes i feel to old for all of it, probably due to lack of sleep, but at the same time, I am incredibly grateful to the people in my life who have opened their homes and hearts to me through the years and am grateful that i have both a home and heart to share wiht my girls during this often tumultuous time in their lives.
After Mass, I got to go home for an hour, long enough to make yet another oven full of cornbread, and clean up some stuff... then loaded the car down to take to CTK for set up for the party, Mass, superbowl party, etc. Long long day at CTK. and a bit more exciting than planned when the church had frozen pipes in the fire suppression system and part of the ceiling filled with water, collapsed, flooded part of the church... yeah, exciting stuff. I'm just glad people were in the church when it happened so they could get the water cleaned up before it ruined pews and lots of other stuff if it hadnt been found until the next morning. I finally arrived home from all of it after 11 pm, fed the hungry BOC, called to make sure D was safe driving, so i talked to his GF for a bit, and then crashed. and thus ended the weekend, which i am still recovering from :D
In other news, puppy class was canceled Monday for inclement weather so Suz and i had the night off, which was beautiful, and gives us a chance to practice some more techniques before next week.
Last but not least, i was struck by the Gospel on Sunday Luke 5:1-11 http://www.usccb.org/nab/020407.shtml. Once again, St Peter is such a great example for me... he's exhausted from fishing all night, Jesus asks him to use the boat so he can preach to the crowds from it, and although i'm sure its the last thing Peter wanted to do, he does it because Jesus asks. and then, to top it off, after he's done speaking (which was probably fairly long) Jesus tells them to put their nets out for a catch. Peter responds that they'd been fishing all night and caught nothing (are you crazy?) but if you say so, we'll do it. He may not have expected much, but he was obedient... and sure enough, Jesus provides the miracle and fills the nets to breaking. Lord, give us the grace to be obedient, even when we are exhausted and don't understand. May our ears be attuned to the sound of your voice and may our eyes be opened to see your work among us.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Thursday, February 01, 2007
more boring
so, life certainly is an adventure, and some of my more amusing stories have been gleaned from our latest round of obedience class... and by obedience class and the use of the word "our" I mean Suzie's class... Lets see, a bit of history (altho no one will even read this). About 9 moonths ago, Zu (Suzie) and I did beginner obedience class at this place for 5 weeks. i had a blast and learned a lot, as did the muttface. The teacher said at the time Zu probably needed one more round of class1 before going on to class2. Well, life happened, summer happened, and all the sudden, 9 months later, i decide to take another round of classes.
To make this more entertaining, Nick & Jen enrolled their horny puggle Chance (who really loves Suzie) who also needed some obedience training. Anyway, so 2 weeks go we go to class, and work on the basics, most of which Suzie is very good at and was way ahead of the rest of the dogs in the class. Somewhere in the middle of class, the teacher (a very large, missing several teeth and wears stretch pants lady, who does know dog stuff certainly) trades dogs with Nick cuz Chance was misbehaving and she wanted to use him to illustrate a point. So they trade and the whole class watches as she demonstrates how to teach a stubborn dog to come. she does that several times, then looks up to explain something further to the class... as soon as she looked away, Chance starts smelling her shoe, lifts his leg, and ... yeah, right on her foot! I thought I was going to die i was laughing so hard!!! The whole class gave a nervous, amused laugh and then stopped... me, not so much. i couldn't stop. the rest of the class doesn't know Nick & I are friends cuz we avoid each other in class since Zu is usually too much of a distraction for his pooch. so the whole class must think i am a heartless mean person who will laugh when anyone's dog misbehaves, esp. since Zu is ahead of the rest of the class... oops. so that was last week.
At the end of last class, the teacher told me to bring Suzie for the second half of beginner class and the first half of the advanced class, sort of a promotion :) yay Suzie. So this past monday was our first go at advanced class. Since it was snowing, the other two dogs who are doing 1/2 of each class didn't come... so advanced class consisted of Holly, a 95 lb doberman who wears a coat and sweaters. Foofy dog (not sure of the name) whose head comes to my chest, but its really skinny and has foofy hair (some kind of fancy show dog, whose owner actually shows the dog), and another doberman around 100 lbs, but a bit younger than the other one. and last but not least, little 32 lb Suzie. It was very amusing to say the least. All 3 of the other dogs have been thru this class multiple times and the dogs are very well trained, its quite impressive. Zu and i tried to keep up, since we didn't even know all the commands being used. Zu behaved beautifully, even did a 7-minute down stay while i walked across the room. it was awesome. At one point the teacher tells the 4 of us to line the dogs up along one wall, down stay, and then walk across the room from them. We did it, and i look at the line up: huge doberman, tiny Suzie, huge doberman, and lanky foofy dog... quite a sight. A few minutes later we were praciticing the same exercise in different corners of the room, I had just told Suzie to Down, and turned to walk away to see the big doberman running toward us from his corner. At that moment, i realized later, my life probably should have flashed before my eyes, but i'd seen how well behaved he was so it didn't really scare me. Suzie on the other hand, strong protector that she is, quickly got up and hid behind me. yeah, somehow i think if i want protection, Suzie isn't gonna cut it. The owner quickly retrieved her huge doberman, saying he couldn't resist a little cutie like Suzie and we all moved on. So yeah, thats my story. Dog class continues to be both a learning experience and cheap entertainment :D
To make this more entertaining, Nick & Jen enrolled their horny puggle Chance (who really loves Suzie) who also needed some obedience training. Anyway, so 2 weeks go we go to class, and work on the basics, most of which Suzie is very good at and was way ahead of the rest of the dogs in the class. Somewhere in the middle of class, the teacher (a very large, missing several teeth and wears stretch pants lady, who does know dog stuff certainly) trades dogs with Nick cuz Chance was misbehaving and she wanted to use him to illustrate a point. So they trade and the whole class watches as she demonstrates how to teach a stubborn dog to come. she does that several times, then looks up to explain something further to the class... as soon as she looked away, Chance starts smelling her shoe, lifts his leg, and ... yeah, right on her foot! I thought I was going to die i was laughing so hard!!! The whole class gave a nervous, amused laugh and then stopped... me, not so much. i couldn't stop. the rest of the class doesn't know Nick & I are friends cuz we avoid each other in class since Zu is usually too much of a distraction for his pooch. so the whole class must think i am a heartless mean person who will laugh when anyone's dog misbehaves, esp. since Zu is ahead of the rest of the class... oops. so that was last week.
At the end of last class, the teacher told me to bring Suzie for the second half of beginner class and the first half of the advanced class, sort of a promotion :) yay Suzie. So this past monday was our first go at advanced class. Since it was snowing, the other two dogs who are doing 1/2 of each class didn't come... so advanced class consisted of Holly, a 95 lb doberman who wears a coat and sweaters. Foofy dog (not sure of the name) whose head comes to my chest, but its really skinny and has foofy hair (some kind of fancy show dog, whose owner actually shows the dog), and another doberman around 100 lbs, but a bit younger than the other one. and last but not least, little 32 lb Suzie. It was very amusing to say the least. All 3 of the other dogs have been thru this class multiple times and the dogs are very well trained, its quite impressive. Zu and i tried to keep up, since we didn't even know all the commands being used. Zu behaved beautifully, even did a 7-minute down stay while i walked across the room. it was awesome. At one point the teacher tells the 4 of us to line the dogs up along one wall, down stay, and then walk across the room from them. We did it, and i look at the line up: huge doberman, tiny Suzie, huge doberman, and lanky foofy dog... quite a sight. A few minutes later we were praciticing the same exercise in different corners of the room, I had just told Suzie to Down, and turned to walk away to see the big doberman running toward us from his corner. At that moment, i realized later, my life probably should have flashed before my eyes, but i'd seen how well behaved he was so it didn't really scare me. Suzie on the other hand, strong protector that she is, quickly got up and hid behind me. yeah, somehow i think if i want protection, Suzie isn't gonna cut it. The owner quickly retrieved her huge doberman, saying he couldn't resist a little cutie like Suzie and we all moved on. So yeah, thats my story. Dog class continues to be both a learning experience and cheap entertainment :D
Monday, January 29, 2007
Headlines
Refrigerator duck plays Lazarus again
Bird that lived 2 days in fridge after being shot flat-lines in surgery, revives
The Associated Press/ MSNBC.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16866547/?GT1=8921
Definitely worth the minute to read this headline story :) I don't even need to add my two cents...
Bird that lived 2 days in fridge after being shot flat-lines in surgery, revives
The Associated Press/ MSNBC.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16866547/?GT1=8921
Definitely worth the minute to read this headline story :) I don't even need to add my two cents...
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Boring
There are definitely times in my life i realize that i am a distinctly boring person with old lady tendencies creeping in. For instance, Saturdays are the hardest days for me to give up for meetings or whatever because then i don't get my house stuff done... and i can't handle a dirty house and no time to work on projects. sigh. this past weekend was like that, but this coming weekend, i plan to get up early (yes, on a saturday... so early really means 8 am and not my usual 5.30 am) so i can work on some house projects. what is that saying, a house is a man's castle? or something like that. yeah, my house is probably my favorite place to be and work on and keep up and everything. My house is my castle, a small, humble castle certainly, but a castle with endless ideas, dreams, hopes, and dog hair to clean up :) I know i'm totally rambling here, but last sat i scrubbed every inch of the upstairs bathroom, and every time i'm in there, it makes me happy to see the sparkling clean shower, know there isn't hair or qtips behind the toilet, and to step out of the tub onto a clean bathmat, yes... its a little like heaven :D and last night kara vacuumed the stairs, what a difference! and i put clean sheets on my bed, added a blanket, and oohlala life is good! I tend to get depressed in the winter (read up on Seasonal Affective Disorder sometime, its fascinating) probably because i prefer to be outside, see sunshine, have warm toes, etc. on top of that, its been amazingly apparent lately that i am in a totally different state of life than most of my friends... not a bad thing and i know its where God has me, but it certainly isnt easy at times. but somehow, one of the best remedies for a bout of depression is to do something for my house- fix that leaky faucet, clean the refrigerator, get a new bathroom rug, play ball with 2 crazed black mutts (who always remember that i exist and appreciate any time i can give them), yeah, life is good. (wow, that was a totally random post - its probably good no one reads this blog... the inner workings of maureen's brain at 8 am are hmmmm...)
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Ordinary Time
Happy ordinary time! I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone… seriously, life flies by sometimes. hmmmm...
Christmas Highlights:
Emmanuel – God with us. Wow. This hits me every year, amidst the crazy busy-ness of the season, God comes to be with us, to dwell among us, to die for us that we might live for Him. Wow. The Masses and prayers and readings of the Church so eloquently remind me just how personal it is. That the God of the universe loves me and came for me, to be with me, to offer His Body and Blood for me, daily, constantly. Wow. Wish I could be more eloquent, but wow!! I hope and pray this beautiful season gave you moments to pause and wonder in awe and the incredible Gift we have been given.
Family – that one word means and is and involves so much its hard to really describe what that means… and sometimes, after a busy season of family events, its nice to have a little break from all the events, but to know there is no break from family and that they are always there and always part of me and love me for who I am… it means lots of laughing, teasing, talking, chasing kiddos, drumming on a popcorn tin with the boys, kids on my lap down the slide, catching up with favorite uncles, aunts, cousins; games, my grandparents, and a thankfulness that they are still here to celebrate.
Oma Colette – my Oma (step grandma) died the week before Christmas. Her wake and funeral brought back so many memories of my grandma dying 6 years ago… seemed fresh all the sudden, a familiar grief, and yet different. In the midst of the sadness, I am overwhelmed by a profound gratefulness for this beautiful lady, Oma Colette, who was only in my life for about 4 years, but was such a beautiful person and loved so completely. She had her own family, 4 kids, one grandchild, and married my grandpa and got 6 kids (plus spouses), 31 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren. She immediately learned all of our names, our interests, and cared about each of us individually, never missed a birthday card, and really became part of our lives. She didn’t replace Grandma Ellen, who will always have a special place in my heart and my memory, but she stepped and became Oma and loved us and loved Gramps and took care of him and made him smile. The saddest part of all of this is watching my Gramps, a man I love dearly, lose another wife, another companion. And to know that he is alone again, a man that needs companionship to connect, since relationships and connections are a challenge for him… and yet, God knows and God loves him even more than I do and I need to trust that God will continue to work in Grandpa’s life and will comfort him and use his family to love him.
Hanging out with Geno & Lucy a couple days ago… Geno brought his alb so he could say Mass for me and Lu, did a great job, as always; gave Suzie her first communion (it was rice chex consecrated by a very reverent, but not ordained 3 year old, so I don’t think she (or I) and destined for hell over it…). At the end of Mass, Geno processes out and then comes back and talks to us for a few minutes, and then comments, “My have to go talk to the other people”… he goes over to the stairs, where, apparently, a crowd of imaginary adoring parishioners were waiting to greet him, he talks for a few minutes to the empty closet door, and then makes his way to talk to Suzie in her crate, then back to Lu and I. Love that kid! Both of them actually.
Joint Birthday Party – Yes, Owen turned 11 and Suzie turned 2 on Jan 5. Two of my favorite people… or favorite person and dog… yeah, anyway. So we went bowling with the fam, great times. I am awful (I bowl about once every 5 years and somehow my game doesn’t improve much with all that time) but I had a blast. When we first got to the bowling alley, Owen was holding Geno and said, “Its my birthday Geno” Geno responded, “Oh” and then watched the bowlers. Then I said, “Its Suzie’s birthday too!” He gets all excited, “We should sing Happy Birthday to her!!!” hhahahahaha, for some reason suzie having a birthday was more exciting than Owen this time, although Owen is one of Geno’s favorite people. After bowling, everyone came to my place for the birthday dinner. It’s a houseful but a lot of fun. Zuzu spent most of her party in her crate, but was fed a treat every few minutes by her adoring fans (Ben and Geno and Lu). Later in the evening I had her out (I held on to her so as to not overwhelm the munchkins) and Geno always pets her and talks to her and lets her lick his whole face (kinda like MaryBeth) and then laughs and goes back for more. All the sudden he realizes, “We need to sing happy birthday to her.” So Suzie got her own rousing rendition of happy birthday from the fam, all the while licking her buddy and wagging her tail nearly off with excitement.
New Years Eve – I hosted a new years eve and regift party with lots of my friends, great fun. After a hilarious round of re-gifts and games, I ended up with a candle making kit (that might actually get used), an ornament that I had attached to my regift that somehow jumped gifts and ended up on my tree (grrrr), and a random bag containing an electric carving knife, 4 blue plastic drink glasses (one of them has already been converted to a chalice for Geno’s Mass), and a star for a christmas tree… so random. In addition, a few people “forgot” to take their hard earned re-gifts home, so the next unsuspecting visitor got a great Christmas gift- ceramic duck planter, refried beans, beanie dog, and some other randomness I cant remember now. Other than the regifts, it was great to celebrate with friends and hang out with some of my favorite munchkins too.
Friends / Out of town friends- It was great getting to see and hang out with friends throughout the last few weeks. The Novecoskys and Archibalds from out of town. College peeps, in town friends, everyone! and lots of Christmas cards and pictures from friends all over, which are fun to read and see how much everyone’s kids have grown in the past year. I need to re-do the fridge now to incorporate all the new pix!
Christmas Eve Eve with Fiona – I love my little sis and it was great to just spend time together. Lots of laughing! We went shoe shopping - and found some very cute black shoes for Fi that i want to steal. Then we went to Mass, and Fiona came home with me (yay sister time)and we had dinner and baked... Donal was around and participating in the baking too, which is always fun. He made sour cream pear coffee cake (delicious), and we made fudge, and some other stuff i really can't remember right now... hmmmm... Christmas Eve, Fiona and I slept in and then joined the fam for brunch at my parents, where we at said delicious coffee cake, and we opened gifts with the siblings. Good times. And of course, I should also mention we stayed up late making soap bottle aprons for my sisters/ sisters in law… What fun!
Games - i gave the fam a new game "Munchkin" which is very complicated, but a blast once you figure it out. We worked thru the rules Christmas Eve and then played a full game on christmas day, i highly recommend it. Especially the hilarious cards and tools for beating the monsters, like "Pantyhose of Giant Strength" and the "Hammer of Kneecapping". We played a rousing game of Munchkin on Christmas day, and were beat by Anne B., in spite of my “pantyhose of giant strength” and my “really cool title” card. And then on Sat 12/30, a group of us played at my mom’s family party and I kicked butt.
Down time- It was great to have a new few days off work to clean the house, make chair covers for the dining room, sleep in, visit, coffee… Christmas morning with just me and the BOC, waking up nice and late, drinking coffee while they enjoyed their new gifts- new red collars, hooves to chew on, beef bones, yum. New years day, reflective silence and relaxation. Down time is so beautiful.
Gifts – most fun are well received gifts I gave- the girls got a kick out of the soap bottle aprons, Geno was thrilled with the 2-inch Winnie the Pooh I gave him and immediately stole Lucy's Piglet. Owen liked the plaid pants and rugby shirt and they fit him great. I got the Compendeum of the Catechism and some cute silver earrings from Hannah (who drew my name). My sis Kate also made me some fudge, Bessie gave me a gingerbread man (better than no man at all, but not quite what i prayed for) and Em gave me a beautiful framed picture (one of his own photos, very nice). My parents gave me a huge dictionary (I’ve always wanted one), a game, and a beautiful silver cross necklace. Mostly the greatest gifts are the intangible things, God becoming Man and giving us such amazing people to share our lives with.
Christmas Highlights:
Emmanuel – God with us. Wow. This hits me every year, amidst the crazy busy-ness of the season, God comes to be with us, to dwell among us, to die for us that we might live for Him. Wow. The Masses and prayers and readings of the Church so eloquently remind me just how personal it is. That the God of the universe loves me and came for me, to be with me, to offer His Body and Blood for me, daily, constantly. Wow. Wish I could be more eloquent, but wow!! I hope and pray this beautiful season gave you moments to pause and wonder in awe and the incredible Gift we have been given.
Family – that one word means and is and involves so much its hard to really describe what that means… and sometimes, after a busy season of family events, its nice to have a little break from all the events, but to know there is no break from family and that they are always there and always part of me and love me for who I am… it means lots of laughing, teasing, talking, chasing kiddos, drumming on a popcorn tin with the boys, kids on my lap down the slide, catching up with favorite uncles, aunts, cousins; games, my grandparents, and a thankfulness that they are still here to celebrate.
Oma Colette – my Oma (step grandma) died the week before Christmas. Her wake and funeral brought back so many memories of my grandma dying 6 years ago… seemed fresh all the sudden, a familiar grief, and yet different. In the midst of the sadness, I am overwhelmed by a profound gratefulness for this beautiful lady, Oma Colette, who was only in my life for about 4 years, but was such a beautiful person and loved so completely. She had her own family, 4 kids, one grandchild, and married my grandpa and got 6 kids (plus spouses), 31 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren. She immediately learned all of our names, our interests, and cared about each of us individually, never missed a birthday card, and really became part of our lives. She didn’t replace Grandma Ellen, who will always have a special place in my heart and my memory, but she stepped and became Oma and loved us and loved Gramps and took care of him and made him smile. The saddest part of all of this is watching my Gramps, a man I love dearly, lose another wife, another companion. And to know that he is alone again, a man that needs companionship to connect, since relationships and connections are a challenge for him… and yet, God knows and God loves him even more than I do and I need to trust that God will continue to work in Grandpa’s life and will comfort him and use his family to love him.
Hanging out with Geno & Lucy a couple days ago… Geno brought his alb so he could say Mass for me and Lu, did a great job, as always; gave Suzie her first communion (it was rice chex consecrated by a very reverent, but not ordained 3 year old, so I don’t think she (or I) and destined for hell over it…). At the end of Mass, Geno processes out and then comes back and talks to us for a few minutes, and then comments, “My have to go talk to the other people”… he goes over to the stairs, where, apparently, a crowd of imaginary adoring parishioners were waiting to greet him, he talks for a few minutes to the empty closet door, and then makes his way to talk to Suzie in her crate, then back to Lu and I. Love that kid! Both of them actually.
Joint Birthday Party – Yes, Owen turned 11 and Suzie turned 2 on Jan 5. Two of my favorite people… or favorite person and dog… yeah, anyway. So we went bowling with the fam, great times. I am awful (I bowl about once every 5 years and somehow my game doesn’t improve much with all that time) but I had a blast. When we first got to the bowling alley, Owen was holding Geno and said, “Its my birthday Geno” Geno responded, “Oh” and then watched the bowlers. Then I said, “Its Suzie’s birthday too!” He gets all excited, “We should sing Happy Birthday to her!!!” hhahahahaha, for some reason suzie having a birthday was more exciting than Owen this time, although Owen is one of Geno’s favorite people. After bowling, everyone came to my place for the birthday dinner. It’s a houseful but a lot of fun. Zuzu spent most of her party in her crate, but was fed a treat every few minutes by her adoring fans (Ben and Geno and Lu). Later in the evening I had her out (I held on to her so as to not overwhelm the munchkins) and Geno always pets her and talks to her and lets her lick his whole face (kinda like MaryBeth) and then laughs and goes back for more. All the sudden he realizes, “We need to sing happy birthday to her.” So Suzie got her own rousing rendition of happy birthday from the fam, all the while licking her buddy and wagging her tail nearly off with excitement.
New Years Eve – I hosted a new years eve and regift party with lots of my friends, great fun. After a hilarious round of re-gifts and games, I ended up with a candle making kit (that might actually get used), an ornament that I had attached to my regift that somehow jumped gifts and ended up on my tree (grrrr), and a random bag containing an electric carving knife, 4 blue plastic drink glasses (one of them has already been converted to a chalice for Geno’s Mass), and a star for a christmas tree… so random. In addition, a few people “forgot” to take their hard earned re-gifts home, so the next unsuspecting visitor got a great Christmas gift- ceramic duck planter, refried beans, beanie dog, and some other randomness I cant remember now. Other than the regifts, it was great to celebrate with friends and hang out with some of my favorite munchkins too.
Friends / Out of town friends- It was great getting to see and hang out with friends throughout the last few weeks. The Novecoskys and Archibalds from out of town. College peeps, in town friends, everyone! and lots of Christmas cards and pictures from friends all over, which are fun to read and see how much everyone’s kids have grown in the past year. I need to re-do the fridge now to incorporate all the new pix!
Christmas Eve Eve with Fiona – I love my little sis and it was great to just spend time together. Lots of laughing! We went shoe shopping - and found some very cute black shoes for Fi that i want to steal. Then we went to Mass, and Fiona came home with me (yay sister time)and we had dinner and baked... Donal was around and participating in the baking too, which is always fun. He made sour cream pear coffee cake (delicious), and we made fudge, and some other stuff i really can't remember right now... hmmmm... Christmas Eve, Fiona and I slept in and then joined the fam for brunch at my parents, where we at said delicious coffee cake, and we opened gifts with the siblings. Good times. And of course, I should also mention we stayed up late making soap bottle aprons for my sisters/ sisters in law… What fun!
Games - i gave the fam a new game "Munchkin" which is very complicated, but a blast once you figure it out. We worked thru the rules Christmas Eve and then played a full game on christmas day, i highly recommend it. Especially the hilarious cards and tools for beating the monsters, like "Pantyhose of Giant Strength" and the "Hammer of Kneecapping". We played a rousing game of Munchkin on Christmas day, and were beat by Anne B., in spite of my “pantyhose of giant strength” and my “really cool title” card. And then on Sat 12/30, a group of us played at my mom’s family party and I kicked butt.
Down time- It was great to have a new few days off work to clean the house, make chair covers for the dining room, sleep in, visit, coffee… Christmas morning with just me and the BOC, waking up nice and late, drinking coffee while they enjoyed their new gifts- new red collars, hooves to chew on, beef bones, yum. New years day, reflective silence and relaxation. Down time is so beautiful.
Gifts – most fun are well received gifts I gave- the girls got a kick out of the soap bottle aprons, Geno was thrilled with the 2-inch Winnie the Pooh I gave him and immediately stole Lucy's Piglet. Owen liked the plaid pants and rugby shirt and they fit him great. I got the Compendeum of the Catechism and some cute silver earrings from Hannah (who drew my name). My sis Kate also made me some fudge, Bessie gave me a gingerbread man (better than no man at all, but not quite what i prayed for) and Em gave me a beautiful framed picture (one of his own photos, very nice). My parents gave me a huge dictionary (I’ve always wanted one), a game, and a beautiful silver cross necklace. Mostly the greatest gifts are the intangible things, God becoming Man and giving us such amazing people to share our lives with.
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