Bye Bye 2022!

Our New Year's Eve was mild and low-key - just how I like it.  

Earlier in the day we went to the movies.  Michael saw Avatar and Kitty and I opted for Puss in Boots in 3D.  I bought popcorn because that is what Michael has trained me to do.  Kitty and I barely ate it.  I'm realizing now that Michael is the one who eats the popcorn at the movies. I guzzle the soda.  This is why we work together.  Going to separate movies threw off our balance.  But Kitty and I enjoyed ourselves and then killed time at the unique candy store in the mall while we waited for Michael's 17 hour movie to finish.  She was especially intrigued by the crickets.  I shiver at the idea.

Then the evening found us noshing on homemade tortillas and sweet pork tacos.  We watched the festivities in Times Square and agreed we wouldn't want to be there. On the couch in our basement was the perfect place to celebrate.

When midnight arrived, Kitty did her special dance where she imitates her dad, and we all squawked our squawkers.

And then we went to bed.

Oh, 2022, you've been an exciting year for our family.  We moved across the country, Kitty started at a different school and triumphed over the difficulties of being the new kid, I'm pregnant with a miracle, and we've met wonderful people and began a relationship with my cousin.

It's been fulfilling and I look forward to our next adventures.

Happy New Year!

The Day After Christmas

Kitty's Christmas money from my parents was burning through her little hands and she wanted to spend the dough immediately.  So on the day after Christmas, we ventured to Asheville to loot the Lego store.

But first I made Michael a Waffle House breakfast complete with a Mandalorian waffle.  He was happy.

And then we went to spend Kitty's money.  The drive to Asheville was nice.  We had a delicious sandwich for lunch.  We walked around downtown in the freezing cold to get ice cream.  I chose eggnog and Aztec chocolate.  It was divine.  Michael chose bear tracks and was disappointed.  Rookie.  

We made it to the Lego store where Kitty carefully selected what she should spend her money on.  It was a difficult decision and we made multiple laps around the store while she contemplated her options.  I was appalled at some of the prices.  Nerds are frivolous with their money.  

And then she found it: Fantastic Beasts.  It was perfect.

I have a feeling Kitty's money will never earn interest.

Yup.  Nerds are frivolous.

Christmas!

Kitty asked me what time she could wake us up on Christmas morning to open presents.  Since I'm naturally lazy, I told her 7 am.  And not one minute before!  She declared that she would be waiting outside our bedroom door at 6:59 and would burst in at EXACTLY 7:00.

I awoke at 7:30 on Christmas morning and Kitty was nowhere to be found.  I was surprised that there had been no bursting through my bedroom door.  I got up to find that Kitty was snoozing away in her bed as if it was just another day.

I had to wake her up.  On Christmas morning!     

Once Kitty realized the time, she was eager to begin tearing into her presents.  And rightly so...she had a haul waiting for her.

We all enjoyed a myriad of presents.  Michael and I typically do not buy presents for each other.  We usually donate the money we would have spent to charity.  However, given that this was our first Christmas in TN, we wanted to make it feel special. So we exchanged gifts.  But don't worry, we still donated to charity also.  I'm not THAT insensitive.  It was a nice change to have presents to open and our Christmas morning was a success.  

Kitty received all sorts of treasures: books, games, art supplies, a new 3D pen, a Keeper of the Lost Cities shirt, and the gift her heart desired most of all, a hoverboard!  It took her a bit to get her balance right, and we ended up having to return the hoverboard for a different one since it would randomly buck her off, but now she's a hoverboard pro.

Mykey scored a neck massager, a Mandalorian waffle maker from Kitty, and a new wedding band because...well...his doesn't fit his finger anymore.  

I was lucky enough to receive a new hairbrush - I've been wanting a nice one - bath scrub, and a box of Tony Chocolonely candy bars.  Just what my burgeoning backside needs.  My favorite gift came from Kitty.  She put together a picture board with photos of us on it.  I hung the treasure up in my bedroom and I adore it.

After presents we dug in to the baked caramel French toast casserole that I've been making on Christmas morning for the past few years.  Michael ate his portion and then admitted that he doesn't really like it.  Kitty seconded his declaration.  Well, there goes that tradition.  Now I'm on the hunt for a new Christmas morning breakfast that my family will enjoy.  I'm thinking Cheerios.

We spent the day playing our new games and relaxing in the bliss of Christmas.  Kitty sat by the fire to enjoy the FoxTrot and Pearls before Swine comic books that Uncle Joe gave her.  What a wonderful day.

Merry Christmas!          

The Night Before Christmas

I had such a marvelous time at my cousin's house for Thanksgiving that I weaseled myself back for Christmas Eve.  Good thing I did.  They really know how to party: delicious food, pleasant company, and a piñata! I ain't never seen anyone whack a piñata on Christmas Eve before. 

Before our big evening of excitement with cousins, we had a leisurely day reading in front of the fire, making gingerbread houses, and playing games.  I toiled over baking and assembling the houses from scratch.  Yeah, that won't be happening again.  It was impossible to get the pieces to fit together nicely!  Booney was annoyed with that project.  But, they turned out cute in the end.  

My house is on the left, Kitty is in the middle, and Michael's on the right.  We're a pretty classy bunch. 

After a delightful day, it was time to head to cousin's house.  We enjoyed a delectable meal of soup and homemade bread, a cheese ball I shamelessly devoured, cookies, and Chex Mix I couldn't stop plunking my paws in to.  Once our bellies were good and full, it was time for the main event.  This wasn't just some willy-nilly piñata thumping.  Oh, no...it was a serious event with serious rules. The older kids had to be on their knees and use their non-dominant hand, and the order cascaded from youngest to oldest.  Thanks to my cousin reinforcing the piñata with layers of duct tape, it took the kids a fair amount of time to destroy the monster truck.  I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle.  There was chaos when the candy and prizes showered to the floor, and Kitty scored a pile of loot equivalent to Halloween.

Once the mob quieted down, we gathered for a reading of Luke 2 and then sat around visiting and enjoying the evening.  It was the best way to spend our first Christmas Eve in Tennessee.    

And as an added bonus, there was a Stormtrooper in the nativity.  My dad augments his nativity with a daily addition of obscure animals.  Seeing that soldier cuddling a little lamb made me smile and think of my papa.  

It was perfect.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Not to 50!

Did you know that some people stay married for half a century?  It's true.  Just ask my mom and dad.

It seems that such an accomplishment deserves a party.  So...to celebrate the upcoming 50th! wedding anniversary of my parents, my siblings and I journeyed to a winter wonderland called Bear Lake.  This was months in the making, months of group texts and indecisiveness, months of wafffling between should-I-stay-or-should-I-go, and months of anticipation and excitement at the idea of being under one roof again. 

It was epic.  Epic in a way that only a house full of irreverent loud-mouths can achieve. 

We had a few devastating moments - my sissy's plane was diverted due to weather and she had to stay home.  That was incredibly disappointing.  And my other sissy and brother had illness raging through their families and had to arrive a few days late.  And my other brother got a pair of boots stuck on his fat feet.  

But overall, what an amazingly monumental celebration.  It was lovely to be together as a family; we spent hours laughing, eating, playing games, and relishing the company.  It was loud, chaotic, and completely perfect. 

Kitty loved all of the cousin time and the fact that we were sharing a top bunk.  For some reason, she found it hilarious to watch me hobble up and down the ladder, my life hanging in the balance with each rung.  The ladder wasn't attached to the bed and I nearly ate it on one descent to the toilet in the middle of the night.  Can't we all just admit that I'm too old for the top bunk?

We had our gingerbread house competition (Kitty designed ours), the kids went sledding in the deep snow, we made Christmas crackers full of candy, and hours were spent in the game room playing pool, air hockey, ping pong, swimming around in the foam pit, and other inventive shenanigans.

And then, out of nowhere, we all had to go home.  I was sad it was over but grateful we had the days together.  Mother nature was sad we were leaving too.  She iced up the driveway real nice so no one could drive up it - well, no one without 4-wheel drive.  (Which happened to be almost everyone.)  After a panicked hour in the whipping wind and snow, my sister mused aloud, "If only we had some sand!"  This caused my dear mother to say, "Oh!  I have about six tons of sand bags in the bed of my truck!"  What a bunch of ninnies that we didn't think of it sooner.

I am grateful for a family full of friends.  I am grateful for parents who have weathered the storms of life together for 50 years, and have provided an example of devoted love.  And I am especially grateful that I don't live where it snows.

Happy Anniversary!      

2 Peas

Like father, like daughter.

Doing nerd projects:

Fawning over Jeffery and photographing her every move:

And ditching their socks to go barefoot whenever possible.  AND leaving them lying around the house for Booney to pick up.  

Those two are lucky I love them so much. Lucky, I tell ya!

(But I really don't understand the disdain for socks.  My nekid feet get cold.  Cold, I tell ya!)

Jewelified

Kitty had her ears pierced many years ago.  It was this particular event that revealed her allergy to all metals except gold and titanium, resulting in blood and pus and pain and all the things I dislike oozing from her new ear holes.   

Due to my ignorance about her allergy and my general laziness about keeping to a schedule as mundane as "earring cleaning," Kitty's piercings were trouble from the very beginning. With a capital T, that rhymes with P, and that stands for Booney-eventually-let-Kitty's-piercings-close.

Well...Kitty wanted earrings again.  Feeling confident in my lessons learned from our first attempt, I agreed.  

Kitty chose her GOLD studs.  She sat bravely in the chair.  She was shot in the ears and said it hurt more than she expected.  She received cinnamon-sugar pretzel bites as consolation.

Now, let's hope Shipoopi can keep this round alive.

We'll see...

Digestion Days

After such a marvelous Thanksgiving, we opted to keep the momentum going for the next few days.  We engaged in a variety of exciting activities.

Things like playing board games together, while Kitty and I tried desperately to beat Mykey at Bananagrams.  (We never did.) 

And going on a dinosaur adventure where we barely escaped with our organs intact. 

But the highlight of our digestion days came when we met up with cousins again for a grand escapade to a natural tunnel to ride a chairlift and marvel at Christmas lights.  Even though my cousin and I were slightly disappointed that we couldn't go spelunking inside the tunnel, it was a magnificent ambience and it was still fun to stare up at the impressive rock face.

We drank hot chocolate, the kids were able to roast marshmallows around the fire pit, and we enjoyed our festive night out.    

Ah, yes...it was a fantastic Thanksgiving break indeed.  Happy Digestion Days to us!