Ho Ho Ho

Friday was the Holiday assembly at school and the kids and staff were both ready for vacation. I got some capachinno truffles from my friend Rob and the staff gave me three 5 dollar passes to the movies (always appreciated) Library boss Kevin gave me a beautiful Cambridge stoneware mug (they are a hoity toity pottery over in the town where he lives and quite coveted)… I participated in the candy cane toss at the assembly and the staff lost to the students. That was pretty fun and then the day was over… I had sent Puck an e-mailed to-do list since he wasn’t subbing and danged if he didn’t go on beyond the call of duty and get everything done and then some. We managed to get on the road by 4:00 … I took the first leg and petered out fairly quickly… We had to pull over at Tomah… Puck drove the rest of the way and we got to my sister's around 9:00.

We tried to listen to a book on tape, but the tape player did not work too well. Visited with Sarah and Dave and the kids for a little while and then crashed. Left there and went to Target to buy Maddie a pair of black pants(she had forgotten to pack pants to go with her Christmas outfit and the jeans were just not cutting it), and a new tape player. Got those plus a Jefferson Airplane t-shirt and a lint roller to brush the fuzz off Puck and Maddie's black clothing. We then went to visit with Michael(Maddie's godfather) and his sister. Exchanged presents. Gave him a couple Maddie Pictures and an PG Woodhouse book of short stories which he seemed to like. He gave Maddie a 5 foot standing mirror which she loved. We had a great visit and then it was off to brother Pat.

We were the first ones there and hauled our stuff in. We were staying the night. People started arriving quickly and again we had good visits…. Patrick has done a great job of connecting with one of Dad's brothers and their kids. That part of the family was rather estranged from us for many years and it is good to see them again. Many were very quick since so many people had other places to go. Jan couldn’t make it and we missed her. The kids were anxious to exchange gifts. Maddie got a very nice sketch pad and set to drawing right away. I got a lovely blingy pair of rhinestone earrings from god daughter Katie, who along with sister Becca was not able to be with us. We missed them.

Ellyn and Pat and family had a second party to go to and are still recovering from the loss of Pat’s garage full of cars and tools. His burns are healed up amazingly well. nephew Jake graduated from the U of M in bio-engineering just a few days ago and is looking for work. He sort of freaked out after too many people asking him what he was going to do with his life, but they were leaving anyhow.

We all went out caroling, some of us grudgingly (myself included... I would just as soon visit) but after we got out it was fine. They live in a lovely neighborhood and most people were home and came to the door. One even had a plate of cookies for us :)

There was an unfortunate dispute during a scrabble game which frustrated my brother in law and he and Sarah left a little abruptly. That put a little bit of an edge on the rest of us, but we pressed on and enjoyed a game of cards with the kids. Slept well and got a nice visit in with Pat and Angela. Left there about 10:00 and drove to Stillwater to see John and Linnea… John was at work, but Linnea was home and we talked for a little while. From there we drove to New Richmond to see Vicki and Bill. Sadie and Claire were home We talked with Sadie about her small attempt to move to New York and do art and her subsequent return to Chicago where she is much happier. Claire is a violinist and is studying performance at the University of Minnesota. They are both vegans and Vicki screwed up the bread and automatically added milk... At the time Sadie had a mouthful of bread and couldn't decide whether to swallow or spit. I wish we could have stayed longer but Vicki’s mother and Bill’s family showed up for dinner and We left for home…(we were invited to stay, but wanted to drive in the daylight) again I took the first shift and petered out at Black River Falls, stopped at McDonalds to pee and grab a little supper. We were lucky we got there when we did because they closed 5 minutes after we got our food and had to unlock the door to let us out.

We opened presents from each other. Maddie made a haul and got tools and a tool box plus a portable electric drill. Next morning I got up first then Maddie and with a struggle, Puck. Maddie got lots of stuff for college including a massive sewing kit which I had a blast putting together (portable iron, buttons, thread, snaps, glue gun, duct tape etc). We had some cookies and later a nice ham dinner. Puck had to bartend at 6:00 and then we dyed Maddie’s hair. It is good to be home.