Putting A Bow On It
31/12/17 08:23
Well, here we are. It’s the end of a pretty good year all in all. Nancy, Evan, and I are hunkered down in upstate New York at a Marriot Courtyard where later today we’ll visit with relatives to celebrate the last vestiges of the 2017 Christmas holiday. Before I get too far over my skis, I should add that Evan may or may not join us for the festivities later this evening. His inclination, more often than not these days, is not to participate but it is what it is. It’s a frosty minus 7 degrees outside and we’re in the midst of a deep freeze without any relief in sight. I left the heat on 58 degrees give or take back at home and that should be sufficient unless there is a problem with the heat. I received an e-mail this morning that my backup had completed successfully so it would seem that things are in order. We’ve never had frozen pipes and I don’t fancy having to deal with them so I’ll have keeping my fingers crossed.
I have to give a round of applause to Nancy this holiday season. With everything going on in her life she took the time to take care of her family during the holiday season with activities ranging from present wrapping to food preparation. She never complained, she never whined, she pushed ahead doing what she does best. Evan and I are not by and large ungrateful but I can tell you unequivocally that Nancy does not do what she does because she expects a pat on the back from us at any point along the way. I was the one whining when it came to preparing a Christmas day meal and I was not wanting to make something when I wasn’t sure that Evan would eat it once served. That, my friends, is a whole other story.
Not sure if Nancy had any assurances from Evan that he would eat the BBQ pork that she planned to make but she worked diligently to assemble the ingredients with a minimum of assistance from either Evan or me. I was sent to the store with a shopping list which included a 3 lb pork shoulder, rump, loin, or some variation thereof. Keep in mind that Nancy doesn’t eat meat and I don’t know a pork loin from a pork butt so it was a little like the blind leading the blind. It was not a traditional meal by any stretch of the imagination and it was not a meal that I would ever guess that Nancy might tackle. She made a colorful coleslaw which was meant to be served atop the BBQ and it was, in a word, delightful. You couldn’t eat the coleslaw without the BBQ because it was too spicy but served atop the BBQ it was quite good.
One or more casualties from a meal of this magnitude is the collection of pots, pans, spatulas, measuring cups, opened bottles and cans, and dishes that go unwashed in the process of making the meal. Given that this was a meal out of proportion to one she might tackle on any given day, the dishes, pots, and pans grew exponentially up and down and along the countertop until you couldn’t find a spot to spare. I’m not complaining, mind you, and I fully expected to clean up after all was said and done but it had to be a mess of epic proportion if I do say so myself. I’m a little worried that the only memory I might walk away with after the meal itself is that I spent such a long time cleaning up after the fact. There is something alluring to me about restoring order after the fact that has me looking for opportunities to do just that. Whether it be a messy kitchen or a dropped ceiling that has collapsed, I’m wanting to be there to make things right.
I have to say that I’m feeling very satisfied about this here journal this year. If I can stay in it, stay engaged, be there when there is something to say that needs to be said then I will have done my job. I think it is not necessarily about the number of words or the number of times I get to sit down to write something but rather that I be there when there is something to say and maybe even something that I might want to return to at some point in the future. It’s all of a personal nature and not for general consumption generally speaking but if there is an insight or revelation of sorts that is meaningful to friends and family then that’s fine. That is quite separate and apart from what drives me to do what I do here but that too is a story for another day.
One little breakthrough in the journal this year is that I realized that I can do this stuff any time and any place. I used to think that my window of opportunity was that sliver of time in the morning before Nancy and or Evan got out of bed. If I misused the time to do something else or frittered it away with other mindless activities then that was that. Then, when we were staying in the house in Hampton during the renovation I found myself writing at different times throughout the day and night. The words came just as easily and sometimes more easily surprisingly enough when I was writing in those so-called off hours. It certainly helped that I had a lot on my mind in those days so that too is something to think about going forward. Finally, it goes without saying that when I get on my soapbox about things that annoy me I’m likely to go on and on to the point of distraction. Yes, it helps to be annoyed. Go figure.
Dare I tell the world that this was the first Christmas where Evan purchased presents for Nancy and I? Nancy prompted me this Christmas to work with him to buy her something and that is usually what I do in the days and weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday. More often than not I am doing the buying and he is doing the presenting. One would think that when you are being lavished with gifts year after year that it might make some sense to return the favor. Maybe it is a generational thing. It never even seems to concern him one way or another or not outwardly anyway. Funny thing is that we are used to it and don’t take issue with it one way or another. This year he decided to buy us books and he purchased a cookbook for Nancy and Michael Savage’s latest book for me. Seems a little sexist as I sit here thinking about it but that is what he did so needless to say it was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and he wanted Nancy to make one or more of the cookie recipes out of the book over the holidays. Thanks, Santa!
I don’t know what’s going on with the restaurant in this hotel. We dropped into the dining area a little after 7 last night and found the options disturbingly sparse. I suppose some of the items on the menu were okay but you couldn’t find a garden salad or a cup of soup if your life depended on it. We were the only ones in the place which should tell you something. Nancy noticed the bartender walking away from the bar with a couple of what appeared to be coffee drinks with a generous serving of whipped cream bobbing up and down with every stride. I raced to the bar hoping to find out what the dickens they were serving by way of coffee drinks and I was disappointed to hear that it was a couple of hot chocolates. Nancy settled for a beet salad and I ordered steak tips and potatoes served with a kind of horseradish aioli. We texted Evan pictures of their menu but he decided against ordering anything. We couldn’t even get him to bite at the chicken wing special. Smart boy.
Did you have to bring all of those anise cookies, Nancy? I couldn’t stop eating the darn things last night before we went down to the restaurant. They were as pretty as they were tasty with a glazed sugar coating and sprinkles of all sizes and colors. Did I mention that while we were eating at the restaurant we noticed a pizza delivery man making multiple trips in and out of the hotel lobby? I suppose the locals knew better than to bother with the restaurant when the local pizzeria offered far better food at more reasonable prices. How the out-of-towner's knew that I don’t know. Needless to say, we didn’t get the memo. But the cookies were exquisite and they came in handy when you needed something to put in your stomach to keep the demons away. Besides, there is always a new year around the corner in which to avoid such things for the betterment of one’s health and well being.
This is probably a good a time as any to comment on Trump’s first year in office. I can’t possibly go into everything that we’ve seen and experienced in his first year in office but needless to say the resistance is alive and well in our great country today. Some would say that the members of the resistance have not quite gotten over Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump. It is probably more accurate to say that the presidency of Barack Obama gave the progressive wing of the Democratic Party more power than they deserved during Obama’s eight years in office and they abused that power to the detriment of not only the American people but to our great nation. Anyone who wasn’t listening to Barack Obama when he stated unequivocally that he was going to “transform our country” wasn’t paying attention. They are paying attention now. The great unwashed stood up and voted for Donald J Trump in record numbers in almost every county in America to take our country back.
The Main Street Media (MSM) fully expected Trump to lose and he bucked the odds and walked away the winner on a platform of stopping illegal immigration, destroying ISIS, building the Wall on our southern border and making Mexico pay for it, renegotiating bad trade deals, putting an end to the Climate Change nonsense, getting out of TPP, reforming our tax system, restoring America to it’s rightful place in the global order as a nation deserving of its sovereignty and, yes, locking her (Hillary Clinton) up. We are still working on the locking her up part but everything else seems to be in order and on track after Trump’s first year. It has been a roller coaster ride of epic proportions and the media continues to deride and offend as they continue to tear down his presidency at every turn. The media is, for the most part, a wing of the Democratic Party and any semblance of fair and balanced has gone out the window with Trump’s win. He derisively refers to the MSM as “Fake News” and they live up to that mantle each and every day. They did their level best to get Hillary Clinton elected and they now seem to be doubling down in advance of the midterm elections to do what they could not in the 2016 elections.
The Russia collusion story, which began in 2016 prior to Trump being elected, and continues today with the investigation and assignment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel, is now being revealed as a charade concocted by the very intelligence agencies that wanted Hillary Clinton to be our next president. How our intelligence agencies became corrupted and weaponized by the Obama administration is still an outstanding question but the republicans in congress are finding their footing and have come to realize that the democratic machine was doing its level best to deny a duly elected president of the opposition party the presidency. The fact that the democrats and their assigned stooges in the various intelligence agencies concocted a scheme to use a dossier to try and frame Donald Trump attacking the very legitimacy of his presidency is a crime never before experienced in the history of our country.
The so-called “deep state” has been hard at work criminalizing every thing Trump does but the end is hopefully in sight. With any luck, most will exposed and either fired or sent to jail when all is said and done. That would be a right and just end to this travesty we‘ve been experiencing for the last year and a half. As of Trump’s first year in office, it has been described by even the most ardent never Trumper’s as a terrific if not historic year in terms of what he has accomplished. In my opinion, this is what you get when you elect a business man to run our country. You get results. And when that businessman is one Donald J Trump, a fabulously successful builder who gave up everything to “Make our Country Great Again”, it should come as no surprise that he is doing precisely what he promised to do when he asked the American People to elect him as our next president.
It was good to see everyone again at Uncle Wally’s end-of-year celebration. It was a modest crowd compared to past years. It may have seemed that way if only because there were fewer children and the adults in attendance were older and more sedate. Moods ran from cheerful to subdued depending on your frame of reference but their house was welcoming and cheerful as it usually is when we visit during the holidays. There was plenty to eat and drink and everyone brought their favorite dishes as is the usual custom. Kathy brought her stuffed celery stalks; Denise brought a pan of her fabulous lasagna; Terry made a number of terrific main and side dishes that sat atop the island in their kitchen; and the anise cookies that Nancy made and the very same cookies that she hoped to bring to the party never made it out of our hotel room. Truth be told there simply weren’t enough cookies left after we ate them out of boredom or starvation (pick your poison) and that was that. Nancy and I debated bringing liquor to the celebration given the apparent proclivity of one or more members of the clan to drink to excess. My only frame of reference for such an allegation is the wedding we last attended where that was true and obviously so. I don’t think for a moment that people wouldn’t be prudent in such matters given the setting not to mention the fact that many would be leaving the party later that evening without the benefit of a designated driver. Nonetheless, better to be safe than sorry.
We decided long ago as a family that we would get together and celebrate the holiday but we would not be exchanging presents. Rather, we agreed that we would do a grab of sorts and that has been great fun over the years. The rules are adjusted from time to time to accommodate any weirdness or misunderstandings but at the end of the day it all works out. We still do the grab but the art of giving presents to all family members seems to have snuck back into the equation. We all agree it’s fine when and where children are involved but is it really necessary with the adults in attendance? I will admit that the bicycle coasters Lise gave us are pretty sweet but I really don’t want her spending money on us. She may feel obligated to do that but I wish she wouldn’t. The same is true for other sisters and brothers. We make an exception where Wally and Terri are involved since they effectively host the party and it is only appropriate that they receive a house warming gift of some kind. And it is true that brother Wally and I exchange little things for whatever reason.
I don’t know where the pink pig thing was this year but I didn’t miss it. I’m not even sure where that custom comes from but folks seemed to enjoy it in years past. That said, no one even made mention of it this year. The household was minus one cat and their dog, Prince, was more compliant and less uppity than past years possibly due to his recent health issues. Krissy brought her new boyfriend (Brando) for the first time and he was a decent sort of fella who had tales to tell about a recent accident involving black ice, generations of his family in law enforcement, his beloved but now totaled Dodge truck, and a nod to any and all guardian angels who saw fit to save him from what could have been a fateful night on a dark country road in the middle of a winter's night.
We marveled at stories Chrissy told about her enormous appetite going back to her days at Sienna and probably well before that and which more than likely continues even today. I wouldn’t have guessed that knowing what I know of Chrissy and her conspicuous absence of any issues related to weight. Kickboxing? Who knew? She laughed and giggled heartily when talking about buying a Home directly across the street from her twin sister. The one word that comes to mind when I think of Chrissy is “effervescent.” As for the arrangement in general, I think it works on a lot of different levels knowing what I know about Chrissy’s close relationship with her twin sister. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Chrissy gave Raylin a drone for Christmas. What does a 7th grade girl do with a drone? Raylin seemed delighted to receive it and she and Chrissy may have made an agreement beforehand where that is precisely what they planned to do. With a wink, a nod, and a quick embrace they both moved on to other gifts. When I think of drones I think of targeting jihadists and taking out targets in the sands of the deserts and mountains in remote places on the face of our planet like Afghanistan, Syria, etc.
We had lots of laughs about Kathy’s pending diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and while the comments exchanged are typically in jest I do think that Kathy has concerns about same given our family history. It’s good that we can laugh about it now since we won’t be laughing if and when that ever comes to be a reality. Speaking of Kathy, she brought me a cheese cake for the holidays and I had to tell her that despite her best intentions I was not wanting to eat cheesecake one way or another. It just isn’t my thing and while I don’t mind eating cheesecake, per se, it isn’t something that I have any real desire to do. It’s a bit too heavy for my tastes and I think I am not alone in that assessment at least as it concerns my immediate family. It was good to hear Carli’s plans for college and she seemed quite satisfied that she had made a good decision in that regard. Her mom tiptoed here and there around the decision-making process that led to the selection and entertained as moms are wanting to do from time to time viable alternatives in the event other options became available or necessary. Dad’s role in the decision making was less clear but mom had her opinions and I suspect they were dominant in the process. After all, moms typically know best and that should come as a surprise to no one.
Wally gave me a framed picture of a snapshot taken by a photographer he hired during the summer to work with him up at the lake. The picture is one and the same as the one I chose to post to my blog in 2016 so I thought that was interesting and said as much. The picture is delightful and I will have to find just the right spot for it once we’re home after the holidays. Chrissy’s twin, Katie, was not in attendance since she was away on a cruise. We missed her and said as much. We said the same about our missing brothers and about Jim in particular since we all came together on his birthday. Last but not least, it was good to get together with Nancy's family at RW's this Christmas over in Exeter. Mrs G was the perfect hostess and it was her wish that all of her children come visit the day after Christmas. Boyfriends, girlfriends, and casual accquaintances were optional.
The conversation was lively and it was good to see Nancy's brother and sister and their respective "spouses" again. We exchanged presents and pleasantries and talked about vacations taken, trips yet to be taken, and expectations for the new year. We laughed about animoji's sent and received, cringed at stories told about mice running rampant, lauded the efforts of one person in particular in building a ramp so Deb's dog, Ava, might have an easier time of getting in and out of the house, and at least in my case, found myself having to explain what I do all day to a group of folks some of whom whose predicament is not unlike my own. It was good to see Mrs G enjoying the company of her children and her children talking endlessly about their own lives which had to please her to no end. I thought she never looked better and attributed it to the moment in time where given her druthers there was no place else that she would rather have been then in that room on that day surrounded by her children. No one knows what the future holds so such opportunities should neither be overlooked or underestimated in terms of their value to both children and parent(s).
Nancy and I will brave the cold, which has been relentless this past week, and go into Portsmouth tonight for fireworks and a stroll around town. I'm not a drinker but if I had a flask I would be holding it close and sipping from it often tonight not only to ward off the cold but to gird myself against the reality that 2018 is just a day away. It's likely that we will not last until midnight to usher in the new year with our fellow revelers but we will have done our part by showing up. Showing up, after all, is half the battle.
I have to give a round of applause to Nancy this holiday season. With everything going on in her life she took the time to take care of her family during the holiday season with activities ranging from present wrapping to food preparation. She never complained, she never whined, she pushed ahead doing what she does best. Evan and I are not by and large ungrateful but I can tell you unequivocally that Nancy does not do what she does because she expects a pat on the back from us at any point along the way. I was the one whining when it came to preparing a Christmas day meal and I was not wanting to make something when I wasn’t sure that Evan would eat it once served. That, my friends, is a whole other story.
Not sure if Nancy had any assurances from Evan that he would eat the BBQ pork that she planned to make but she worked diligently to assemble the ingredients with a minimum of assistance from either Evan or me. I was sent to the store with a shopping list which included a 3 lb pork shoulder, rump, loin, or some variation thereof. Keep in mind that Nancy doesn’t eat meat and I don’t know a pork loin from a pork butt so it was a little like the blind leading the blind. It was not a traditional meal by any stretch of the imagination and it was not a meal that I would ever guess that Nancy might tackle. She made a colorful coleslaw which was meant to be served atop the BBQ and it was, in a word, delightful. You couldn’t eat the coleslaw without the BBQ because it was too spicy but served atop the BBQ it was quite good.
One or more casualties from a meal of this magnitude is the collection of pots, pans, spatulas, measuring cups, opened bottles and cans, and dishes that go unwashed in the process of making the meal. Given that this was a meal out of proportion to one she might tackle on any given day, the dishes, pots, and pans grew exponentially up and down and along the countertop until you couldn’t find a spot to spare. I’m not complaining, mind you, and I fully expected to clean up after all was said and done but it had to be a mess of epic proportion if I do say so myself. I’m a little worried that the only memory I might walk away with after the meal itself is that I spent such a long time cleaning up after the fact. There is something alluring to me about restoring order after the fact that has me looking for opportunities to do just that. Whether it be a messy kitchen or a dropped ceiling that has collapsed, I’m wanting to be there to make things right.
I have to say that I’m feeling very satisfied about this here journal this year. If I can stay in it, stay engaged, be there when there is something to say that needs to be said then I will have done my job. I think it is not necessarily about the number of words or the number of times I get to sit down to write something but rather that I be there when there is something to say and maybe even something that I might want to return to at some point in the future. It’s all of a personal nature and not for general consumption generally speaking but if there is an insight or revelation of sorts that is meaningful to friends and family then that’s fine. That is quite separate and apart from what drives me to do what I do here but that too is a story for another day.
One little breakthrough in the journal this year is that I realized that I can do this stuff any time and any place. I used to think that my window of opportunity was that sliver of time in the morning before Nancy and or Evan got out of bed. If I misused the time to do something else or frittered it away with other mindless activities then that was that. Then, when we were staying in the house in Hampton during the renovation I found myself writing at different times throughout the day and night. The words came just as easily and sometimes more easily surprisingly enough when I was writing in those so-called off hours. It certainly helped that I had a lot on my mind in those days so that too is something to think about going forward. Finally, it goes without saying that when I get on my soapbox about things that annoy me I’m likely to go on and on to the point of distraction. Yes, it helps to be annoyed. Go figure.
Dare I tell the world that this was the first Christmas where Evan purchased presents for Nancy and I? Nancy prompted me this Christmas to work with him to buy her something and that is usually what I do in the days and weeks leading up to the Christmas holiday. More often than not I am doing the buying and he is doing the presenting. One would think that when you are being lavished with gifts year after year that it might make some sense to return the favor. Maybe it is a generational thing. It never even seems to concern him one way or another or not outwardly anyway. Funny thing is that we are used to it and don’t take issue with it one way or another. This year he decided to buy us books and he purchased a cookbook for Nancy and Michael Savage’s latest book for me. Seems a little sexist as I sit here thinking about it but that is what he did so needless to say it was a pleasant surprise. Oh, and he wanted Nancy to make one or more of the cookie recipes out of the book over the holidays. Thanks, Santa!
I don’t know what’s going on with the restaurant in this hotel. We dropped into the dining area a little after 7 last night and found the options disturbingly sparse. I suppose some of the items on the menu were okay but you couldn’t find a garden salad or a cup of soup if your life depended on it. We were the only ones in the place which should tell you something. Nancy noticed the bartender walking away from the bar with a couple of what appeared to be coffee drinks with a generous serving of whipped cream bobbing up and down with every stride. I raced to the bar hoping to find out what the dickens they were serving by way of coffee drinks and I was disappointed to hear that it was a couple of hot chocolates. Nancy settled for a beet salad and I ordered steak tips and potatoes served with a kind of horseradish aioli. We texted Evan pictures of their menu but he decided against ordering anything. We couldn’t even get him to bite at the chicken wing special. Smart boy.
Did you have to bring all of those anise cookies, Nancy? I couldn’t stop eating the darn things last night before we went down to the restaurant. They were as pretty as they were tasty with a glazed sugar coating and sprinkles of all sizes and colors. Did I mention that while we were eating at the restaurant we noticed a pizza delivery man making multiple trips in and out of the hotel lobby? I suppose the locals knew better than to bother with the restaurant when the local pizzeria offered far better food at more reasonable prices. How the out-of-towner's knew that I don’t know. Needless to say, we didn’t get the memo. But the cookies were exquisite and they came in handy when you needed something to put in your stomach to keep the demons away. Besides, there is always a new year around the corner in which to avoid such things for the betterment of one’s health and well being.
This is probably a good a time as any to comment on Trump’s first year in office. I can’t possibly go into everything that we’ve seen and experienced in his first year in office but needless to say the resistance is alive and well in our great country today. Some would say that the members of the resistance have not quite gotten over Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump. It is probably more accurate to say that the presidency of Barack Obama gave the progressive wing of the Democratic Party more power than they deserved during Obama’s eight years in office and they abused that power to the detriment of not only the American people but to our great nation. Anyone who wasn’t listening to Barack Obama when he stated unequivocally that he was going to “transform our country” wasn’t paying attention. They are paying attention now. The great unwashed stood up and voted for Donald J Trump in record numbers in almost every county in America to take our country back.
The Main Street Media (MSM) fully expected Trump to lose and he bucked the odds and walked away the winner on a platform of stopping illegal immigration, destroying ISIS, building the Wall on our southern border and making Mexico pay for it, renegotiating bad trade deals, putting an end to the Climate Change nonsense, getting out of TPP, reforming our tax system, restoring America to it’s rightful place in the global order as a nation deserving of its sovereignty and, yes, locking her (Hillary Clinton) up. We are still working on the locking her up part but everything else seems to be in order and on track after Trump’s first year. It has been a roller coaster ride of epic proportions and the media continues to deride and offend as they continue to tear down his presidency at every turn. The media is, for the most part, a wing of the Democratic Party and any semblance of fair and balanced has gone out the window with Trump’s win. He derisively refers to the MSM as “Fake News” and they live up to that mantle each and every day. They did their level best to get Hillary Clinton elected and they now seem to be doubling down in advance of the midterm elections to do what they could not in the 2016 elections.
The Russia collusion story, which began in 2016 prior to Trump being elected, and continues today with the investigation and assignment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel, is now being revealed as a charade concocted by the very intelligence agencies that wanted Hillary Clinton to be our next president. How our intelligence agencies became corrupted and weaponized by the Obama administration is still an outstanding question but the republicans in congress are finding their footing and have come to realize that the democratic machine was doing its level best to deny a duly elected president of the opposition party the presidency. The fact that the democrats and their assigned stooges in the various intelligence agencies concocted a scheme to use a dossier to try and frame Donald Trump attacking the very legitimacy of his presidency is a crime never before experienced in the history of our country.
The so-called “deep state” has been hard at work criminalizing every thing Trump does but the end is hopefully in sight. With any luck, most will exposed and either fired or sent to jail when all is said and done. That would be a right and just end to this travesty we‘ve been experiencing for the last year and a half. As of Trump’s first year in office, it has been described by even the most ardent never Trumper’s as a terrific if not historic year in terms of what he has accomplished. In my opinion, this is what you get when you elect a business man to run our country. You get results. And when that businessman is one Donald J Trump, a fabulously successful builder who gave up everything to “Make our Country Great Again”, it should come as no surprise that he is doing precisely what he promised to do when he asked the American People to elect him as our next president.
It was good to see everyone again at Uncle Wally’s end-of-year celebration. It was a modest crowd compared to past years. It may have seemed that way if only because there were fewer children and the adults in attendance were older and more sedate. Moods ran from cheerful to subdued depending on your frame of reference but their house was welcoming and cheerful as it usually is when we visit during the holidays. There was plenty to eat and drink and everyone brought their favorite dishes as is the usual custom. Kathy brought her stuffed celery stalks; Denise brought a pan of her fabulous lasagna; Terry made a number of terrific main and side dishes that sat atop the island in their kitchen; and the anise cookies that Nancy made and the very same cookies that she hoped to bring to the party never made it out of our hotel room. Truth be told there simply weren’t enough cookies left after we ate them out of boredom or starvation (pick your poison) and that was that. Nancy and I debated bringing liquor to the celebration given the apparent proclivity of one or more members of the clan to drink to excess. My only frame of reference for such an allegation is the wedding we last attended where that was true and obviously so. I don’t think for a moment that people wouldn’t be prudent in such matters given the setting not to mention the fact that many would be leaving the party later that evening without the benefit of a designated driver. Nonetheless, better to be safe than sorry.
We decided long ago as a family that we would get together and celebrate the holiday but we would not be exchanging presents. Rather, we agreed that we would do a grab of sorts and that has been great fun over the years. The rules are adjusted from time to time to accommodate any weirdness or misunderstandings but at the end of the day it all works out. We still do the grab but the art of giving presents to all family members seems to have snuck back into the equation. We all agree it’s fine when and where children are involved but is it really necessary with the adults in attendance? I will admit that the bicycle coasters Lise gave us are pretty sweet but I really don’t want her spending money on us. She may feel obligated to do that but I wish she wouldn’t. The same is true for other sisters and brothers. We make an exception where Wally and Terri are involved since they effectively host the party and it is only appropriate that they receive a house warming gift of some kind. And it is true that brother Wally and I exchange little things for whatever reason.
I don’t know where the pink pig thing was this year but I didn’t miss it. I’m not even sure where that custom comes from but folks seemed to enjoy it in years past. That said, no one even made mention of it this year. The household was minus one cat and their dog, Prince, was more compliant and less uppity than past years possibly due to his recent health issues. Krissy brought her new boyfriend (Brando) for the first time and he was a decent sort of fella who had tales to tell about a recent accident involving black ice, generations of his family in law enforcement, his beloved but now totaled Dodge truck, and a nod to any and all guardian angels who saw fit to save him from what could have been a fateful night on a dark country road in the middle of a winter's night.
We marveled at stories Chrissy told about her enormous appetite going back to her days at Sienna and probably well before that and which more than likely continues even today. I wouldn’t have guessed that knowing what I know of Chrissy and her conspicuous absence of any issues related to weight. Kickboxing? Who knew? She laughed and giggled heartily when talking about buying a Home directly across the street from her twin sister. The one word that comes to mind when I think of Chrissy is “effervescent.” As for the arrangement in general, I think it works on a lot of different levels knowing what I know about Chrissy’s close relationship with her twin sister. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Chrissy gave Raylin a drone for Christmas. What does a 7th grade girl do with a drone? Raylin seemed delighted to receive it and she and Chrissy may have made an agreement beforehand where that is precisely what they planned to do. With a wink, a nod, and a quick embrace they both moved on to other gifts. When I think of drones I think of targeting jihadists and taking out targets in the sands of the deserts and mountains in remote places on the face of our planet like Afghanistan, Syria, etc.
We had lots of laughs about Kathy’s pending diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and while the comments exchanged are typically in jest I do think that Kathy has concerns about same given our family history. It’s good that we can laugh about it now since we won’t be laughing if and when that ever comes to be a reality. Speaking of Kathy, she brought me a cheese cake for the holidays and I had to tell her that despite her best intentions I was not wanting to eat cheesecake one way or another. It just isn’t my thing and while I don’t mind eating cheesecake, per se, it isn’t something that I have any real desire to do. It’s a bit too heavy for my tastes and I think I am not alone in that assessment at least as it concerns my immediate family. It was good to hear Carli’s plans for college and she seemed quite satisfied that she had made a good decision in that regard. Her mom tiptoed here and there around the decision-making process that led to the selection and entertained as moms are wanting to do from time to time viable alternatives in the event other options became available or necessary. Dad’s role in the decision making was less clear but mom had her opinions and I suspect they were dominant in the process. After all, moms typically know best and that should come as a surprise to no one.
Wally gave me a framed picture of a snapshot taken by a photographer he hired during the summer to work with him up at the lake. The picture is one and the same as the one I chose to post to my blog in 2016 so I thought that was interesting and said as much. The picture is delightful and I will have to find just the right spot for it once we’re home after the holidays. Chrissy’s twin, Katie, was not in attendance since she was away on a cruise. We missed her and said as much. We said the same about our missing brothers and about Jim in particular since we all came together on his birthday. Last but not least, it was good to get together with Nancy's family at RW's this Christmas over in Exeter. Mrs G was the perfect hostess and it was her wish that all of her children come visit the day after Christmas. Boyfriends, girlfriends, and casual accquaintances were optional.
The conversation was lively and it was good to see Nancy's brother and sister and their respective "spouses" again. We exchanged presents and pleasantries and talked about vacations taken, trips yet to be taken, and expectations for the new year. We laughed about animoji's sent and received, cringed at stories told about mice running rampant, lauded the efforts of one person in particular in building a ramp so Deb's dog, Ava, might have an easier time of getting in and out of the house, and at least in my case, found myself having to explain what I do all day to a group of folks some of whom whose predicament is not unlike my own. It was good to see Mrs G enjoying the company of her children and her children talking endlessly about their own lives which had to please her to no end. I thought she never looked better and attributed it to the moment in time where given her druthers there was no place else that she would rather have been then in that room on that day surrounded by her children. No one knows what the future holds so such opportunities should neither be overlooked or underestimated in terms of their value to both children and parent(s).
Nancy and I will brave the cold, which has been relentless this past week, and go into Portsmouth tonight for fireworks and a stroll around town. I'm not a drinker but if I had a flask I would be holding it close and sipping from it often tonight not only to ward off the cold but to gird myself against the reality that 2018 is just a day away. It's likely that we will not last until midnight to usher in the new year with our fellow revelers but we will have done our part by showing up. Showing up, after all, is half the battle.