Christmas Gathering #3

Christmas Day started with Christmas Breakfast at Mom and Dad’s with Eggs Benedict and ended with me in the middle of something Mom said to me. She in essence said to me to not worry about how my oldest brother was acting and that he’ll be on better behavior at my other brother and sister-in-law’s house later in the afternoon. I had no idea what she was referring to but my brother heard every word and asked me what he did that warranted her comment as if I complained to her. Well, rather than trying to cover anything, I asked her to come out of the kitchen and explain herself. I, in the meantime, decided to head back home to get some work done before heading to my brother and sister-in-law’s house in the afternoon.

Everything was well at Christmas Gathering #3, which included a lot of time with my nieces. Some of that time included playing Wii for the first time. Luckily, they had a tennis Wii game. Although I was not doing so hot in the beginning as I was using my left hand to play but the game had been set to a right-handed player. I was down to 0-40 (love 40) before things clicked. And I came back to win that game. But that was as much as I was going to play. I won’t tell you how I played in the Wii golf game, but let’s just say there’s an automatic forfeiture of the hole once you’ve gained so many strokes on one hole.

Dinner was delicious which included a pork roast, twice-baked potatoes, green bean casserole and salad. After dinner entertainment was provided by the nieces in a puppet show, accompanied with “flashing” house lighting to let us know that the show was about to start. Some of the characters included a Charlie Chapline ventriloquist doll, whose “acting” reminded me more of the movie from the early 80’s called “Magic” where the doll comes to life. What amazed me was the girls’ vocabulary at such young ages. It was quite impressive when big words were utilized in their acts which weren’t exactly written beforehand, but more ad-libbed.

Intermission included ice cream birthday cake. Yes, one of the nieces is a Christmas child. But not “the” Christmas child. I can tell you what Christmas Dinner was like that year when my oldest brother and I all of a sudden took over preparing Christmas Dinner at Mom and Dad’s when the others left for the hospital.

As the night progressed, it got too late for us to make it to Christmas Gathering #4. When we arrived at the house of Gathering #4, most of the lights were out in the house with the exception of the Christmas lights and 25-foot tall Santa in the front yard. So we progressed to go home where we (Dad) had a close encounter with a semi. Whoa! I never knew how big those semi wheels were until I awoke to Mom’s yell and I saw this huge wheel in my passenger window. The truck was about four feet into our lane. Glad I made a pit-stop before we left Gathering #3. I made it home safely while the others proceeded another two blocks to their house.

Now I just need a good night’s sleep and hope that all goes as planned with “Alex” tomorrow. I hope we’re able to make a great day of it starting with lunch, excursions, Christmas photos and see what progresses.

I am CROSSING ALL FINGERS and hoping to let out a loud, large exhale as I have been holding my breath since last Thursday.