We didn't have a Santa

...but we did have a little elf show up.

Yes, this past Saturday was my family holiday Christmas dinner get together. We have it at a restaurant. 26 adults and 10 children. 10 were unable to make it.

I nearly lost my voice trying to re-gain control of the crowd so that I could finish the games and hand out the remaining gifts. It was a lost effort. My voice just was not strong enough.

I did the usual games of pictures and they were to guess the song the picture depicted. Love that game. I had 4 versions.

For the little ones, there are questions such as "What color is the Grinch?"  "What is the name of one of the reindeer?"  What instrument does "The Little Drummer Boy" play?  "How old are you?"  LOL!

I'll leave you with one of my "search query" requests from the school search engine report:

"Good weapons to kill Santa with"  

Oh, dear.

Still thank ful

We did the family thing on Thursday. whew! All of my Mom's 8 children showed. We did not get any group pictures. Some said nobody was interested, I never heard anybody bring the subject up.

The grandchildren of my Mom came in shifts. Some came earlier, some later. Two are feuding and one was actually going out the back door while the other came in the front door. It all worked out.

Our family traditional games were played - Tripoly and LCR. This is the first year I did not play. I handed the nickels over to my daughter. I noticed the younger set are doing the games. We older set kept moving around talking.

A big group of us stayed over. Just because. Only one was drinking and she no longer drives, but I think we just wanted to extend the visiting. The next day I returned home, exhausted. I rarely sleep at other people's houses.

I think the above photo is the only decent one I got. I put my camera setting on the sports setting because the children kept moving. My flash does not work on that setting (I guess) and all my photos came out grainy, dark and just bleh.

The snow was a surprise. There did not seem to be much indication that we would get any accumulation but we did get some. Just enough to worry people driving back home. I asked my daughter to text me when they got home.

My elder sister's keurig got a work out. One niece went shopping after dinner. She goes every year. The rest of us are like "No, thanks!"

I returned home late Friday, so Saturday was my clean up day.

Today, I am fixing a bird with all the trimmings. While taking the dogs out this morning, my daughter informs me that her beau wants her to go have dinner with his grand pa and his new lady friend. When was this plan made?! I guess I was a big ambiguous about the day I would fix the turkey. I was tired and said I would fix it whatever day I felt like it. I am off work on Monday also - I need at least one day to recover.

And to clean that bird. UGH!

So, I'll fix the bird but what time is their dinner? Screw it. I'm going to fix it when I feel like it. When it is done, it is done. If they are not here, then that is a few less side dishes I have to make, such as noodles.

I watched "Noah". I was very disappointed in the movie. Not certain what I was expecting. I was never a fan of Crowe. I adore Connelly  since Labyrinth - one of my daughter's favorite movies as a child. I do recall saying I was never a fan of middle-earth-type movies. This reminded me of that setting.

Family pics

 

This little angel is the grand daughter of sister 1956.

 

This is my sister 1956 when she was 8 or so.

When I saw the above picture of her grand daughter posted on FB, I knew that face, that smile - so I looked until I found the same face I had looked at in the family album for years.

More on the way

This is how my niece decided to let the family know she was expecting again. The one pictured above is having his first birthday party on Sunday.

Okay, bring it. Who is next?  The family went through a baby phase the past two years. Will it start again? Please, not my daughter. Please, not my daughter. I can wait.

I finished reading "Snow White Must Die"  by Nele Neuhaus. The difficult part for me were (was?) the German names. I got lost going back and forth in the story as to who she was introducing or writing about. And there just seemed to be a lot of bad luck for the one main character. Spoiler alert: He gets out of prison for doing ten years for a crime he did not commit. The same time he gets out, somebody throws his mother off a bridge (she survives but is in a coma),  he gets beat up a few times  over the next couple of weeks, and his father dies a horrible death. He also finds out that almost the entire town knew he was innocent but let him take the fall.

Okay, on to the next book. I hope I get something a little bit lighter this time. I may never get my washing machine fixed. (I have to baby sit it during the rinse cycle and hold the tub back so it does not leak) - so I have my nook down in the laundry room and I read.

Oh, and for the times my nook is charging - I have an old (real hard cover) book with various stories in it. I am almost done with "Tortilla Flat" by John Steinbeck. My daughter is not familiar with Steinbeck. I think I will call her school this week to see what is the required reading there. No, not really. Steinbeck must be out of vogue.

Strange head gear

This one is the grand daughter of Sister 1956. Her photo, also. And, I am sure - her handy work on the strange head gear. Too cute, though.

This little one did not make it to the family picnic at the park. Darn it. I would love to have seen her on the merry go round with my other great niece who just adored the ride.

Maybe, soon.

Annual Labor Day picnic at the park

This little one loved playing in the ice water. That was even BEFORE he burned his hand. The grill you can see off to the top right of the photo. It is a stationery grill that the park provides. I almost stopped him. I saw him walking up to the back of it with his hand out-stretched and yelled "Too hot!' He looked at me and the hand made contact. I prayed the grill had cooled enough. It had not.

Tears ensued. Possibly one tiny little blister. There was an ice pack handy and he held onto it for the rest of his day. Well, later he rode the rides some more. It was quickly forgotten. I am going to ask his mommy about it today.

He is freaking adorable. But in a kind "I know I am cute so I can get away with it" mentality. He plays it to the hilt.

I had 28 people show. The youngest was a couple of months old, my oldest sister (1944) was the eldest there. One entire branch backed out - my sister claimed "depression" -  her son said she drank too much the night before. She said it was because she buried her "best friend" twenty years ago that day (her son's father) and I call baloney (a.k.a. bullshit) on that.

She then went on fb crying that nobody ever returns her calls, that she has nobody to talk to, blah, blah, blah. I ignore the drama, messaged back that we missed her and told her a bit about what her grand-daughter did that was adorable. I learned long ago not to take her bait.

I took her grand-daughter on her very first merry-go-round ride. The little girl wanted to ride that thing from then on. She became SO excited each time she saw it. It was so sweet. She is 14 months old.

I helped to raise my niece and nephew so I take advantage of any time I can spend with their children. She played shy with all of us at first, but by the end of the picnic that girl was all over everybody and all smiles. She was deliriously tired, for sure. You could see it in her glazed eyes.

Me. I too, was exhausted. I wanted a new pair of feet. Ibuprofin this morning, but not for a headache. My legs (calves mostly) ache, my back aches, my arms ache - and my feet are inconsolable. 

Legs hurt from walking, back hurts from loading and unloading, arms ache from  holding babies as I am not used to it and feet - well the feet. They take the brunt of it all, don't they?

Smiling baby

My niece put her youngest in this truck and he still smiles? Wow. He didn't get that from our side of the family. Most little ones I know would pucker up, feel that hard surface on the back of their neck and scream (in baby speak, of course) "Get me the hell outta here!"

By the way. The one pictured above is the youngest of the two I posted earlier in the week. (The girl holding the sleeping boy who missed her.) They are the older siblings of this little tyke.

He missed her

The older girl  in the photo (courtesy of my niece - her Mom) had a showing at the fair over the week-end. She was gone for about four full days.

Her little brother missed her.

Black icing

I am wondering if the parents were thinking that Minnie Mouse on the baby's cake may not have been such a great idea. Black icing! Photo courtesy of my nephew (her dad).

She cleaned up wonderfully, though. She was clean as a whistle when she returned to open her gifts.

I don't have much guys. I don't know what it is. I don't know if nothing is going on, if I am being lazy, or what?

I forgot my 10th year anniversary of this blog. June 21st or so. I am not stopping, now. I am in for another ten years.

Which brings me (again) to the mystery of writers who just stop and disappear in thin air. No remark of "I'm done, good-bye!"  Or, "I am taking a break. Maybe I'll start posting again."  I have two more that I went to where I was a regular reader, and 'poof' nothing from them in months.

Where do they go?

Cake

I think most people like cake. Some are either a cake person or an icing person. I am an icing person. I eat the icing and leave the cake.

I went to a party yesterday for a one year old. The parents did the traditional act where they give the little baby an entire little cake to devour or smash or throw or wear as they wish.

Then they clean her up and finish the party. Me? I'd save the cake smashing/wearing for last.

The icing was MUCH too sweet even for my taste. Whew!

I watched the movie "The Railway Man". It was hard to get into it at first. So boring. I am NOT a fan of Kidman or Firth. Both fine actors but YUCK! Something about them makes me cringe. Fortunately, a lot of the film was set "back in time" when Firth's character was young and a prisoner of war.

Based on a true story, the tale depicts how this man survived (barely) the torturous beatings and actions of the Japanese army only to meet his enemy forty-some years later. His life was full of misery as he re-lived his beatings almost daily and suffered severely what is now known as post traumatic stress syndrome. He discovered that the Japanese officer was giving tours at the place he was held captive - now a museum of sorts. He sets out to confront the man.

Nobody knows what they would do given the same circumstances. Do you torture them? Do you kill them? Do you forgive them?

More babies

8 boys, 3 girls. My Mom's great-grandchildren. Nobody is currently pregnant that we know of. Youngest born Saturday. 10 days early. Mother went in for an exam and the doctor said be at the hospital tomorrow morning,  we are inducing. Bam!

Family get togethers are getting interesting. I am trying to choose more kid friendly places that do not allow alcohol. But they bring it anyway. Sigh. Can't even go ONE day without imbibing? They would say they can but they WANT to drink when they get around family. To them it is a celebration. I guess, but they don't remember how stupid they get. Or how ignorant. With all the little ones around now, most of us want the adults to be sober.

Spring

I could not resist posting another one of this little grand-niece (or great-niece).

By the way - the furnace/Air Conditioner people have NEVER called me with a quote on a new system. It has been mostly cool here in this part of Ohio this May. We have been freezing in the house.

I talked to some folks at work who gave me some other places that they use. I guess it is time to call somebody else. I figure if the one I have been using for several years does not need my business... well then.

Fur baby

I am not exactly certain what my sister put on this little one's head.  I doubt that she kept it on for very long. I don't get to see the little ones very often. Understandably it is hard for them to travel.

This Sunday is a big family cook-out, though. I hope to be surrounded by the little tykes.

My house is freezing! Last week I came home from work on Monday and noticed that the house was 84º Fahrenheit. My air conditioner had stopped working. I called on Tuesday- another very hot day.

It is the controller board. Thursday the temps dipped drastically. The repairman wired the fan directly and it blows 24/7. I have wooden floors. I have shut every vent that I can and my floors are like ice. This year Ohio is experiencing a very cold/hot month. One extreme or the other.

So, either I spend over $400 for a new controller board or get a new unit. It is central air and the controller board controls the furnace, too. I guess they were put in, in 1995 or so. I suppose I should replace both of them together.


I just made my first payment on my $800 gas hot water heater. So, this is the year all the appliances fall apart. My dish washer leaks (sometimes). My washing machine leaks so that I have to babysit it and when the rinse cycle fills up I have to hold the basin back so the water does not splash behind it.

My garbage disposal has been out for a few months, now.

Ahhh. And life goes on. I hope my car is not listening.

Couch potatoes

We are minus 2 step great-grand children and one great grand baby girl, and there is one little boy still in the oven.  The rest of my family's baby boom are shown here on the couch.

Soon to be released out into the wild world, come what may. No, it won't be long at all until they are working, learning, driving, voting and running the world. God help us all.

Little Girls

My family's cup runneth over. We are in the midst of a baby boom. To me this is a good thing. I love babies and small children. I do very well with school-age children but to me - the pre-schoolers are the most fun.

The above wee one? Sometimes she lets me hold her and sometimes she won't let me within 3 feet of her before she begins to pucker up. She is probably afraid I will try to hold her. I back away quickly and give her the space she needs. I can't stand those adults who grab the baby anyway and act like it is the baby's fault they are crying.

"What's wrong with you?!" 

"Nothing is wrong with me lady, I just don't know you very well and you are kind of freaking me out!"

Oh, but when they smile. Sweet sunshine!

This and That

Saturday we had two birthday parties to attend. The above little girl turned one, is my sister 1956's only grandchild. My sister is staying with me, now.

The other birthday was for a four year old boy - sister 1944's second grandchild. She has three boy grandchildren. They dressed him as a minion from Despicable Me 2. I did not get a photo of him in full costume (goggles) and all. To get an idea you only need to search for the word "minion" in Google, and then click images. He was adorable. We watched the movie while waiting for another nephew from out of town to arrive with his family. They showed me all the little extra things that go on in the background that are just as funny as the movie. Things only somebody who has had to watch a show dozens of times would see.

Twisted my neck (slept wrong, I guess) on Saturday night and still feeling the after effects.

I hate changing time - my inside clock gets all messed up. Was up at 2:30 yesterday and 2:00 a.m. today. Starting to feel groggy. After two cups of coffee I will crash in my TV chair until the alarm rings (cell phone) and probably re-twist my neck.

Work is going to get crazy.

Been reading. Missing planes, shooting through bathroom doors, quakes in CA, quakes in OH, airplane hitting a skydiver, mamas driving into the ocean, and landmines. My head spins.

I have to sign off now because soon I won't be making any sense at all. Must sleep.

Just thinkin'

Just a pose of a little one. Yet another great niece.

Happy you know what

My grand/great nephew posing with a Mylar heart balloon.

I am still here. I am sharing my computer with my sister (1956) who is living with me at this time. You may see a lot of deleted comments on your posts. Well, that is me forgetting that my sister is logged into Google and it comments under her name. LOL!

Adjustment.  Heh.

Been super busy at work, too.

Been running almost every evening after work. Came down with a migraine last night. My body just quit. It said "Enough!"

I am going to try to sleep all day Sunday.

Have to work on Monday because so many schools are using this as a make-up day. I can work from  home, though.

Lots of happenings in family this month and next. SO many birthdays. So many dinners and cakes.

A big seven-oh for my oldest sister (1944) the other night. She held up well with the crazy get together of fifteen people.

Here she is with her husband and one of their three grandsons this past summer. He is the little tyke in the Mylar heart pictured above.

Little blockhead

It took me three tries, but I finally was able to get this picture to post.

My nephew tortures his little girl with pictures that will come back to haunt her in the future.

Barely here

I'm here. I'm just not posting, much. This little tyke above was surrounded by Christmas lights when his Mom snapped a photo. I added the dinosaur frame from picjoke.com - fun site.

I have a sister visiting and we are busy chatting, playing Words with Friends, watching movies and running around.

Stay warm out there.I may not post until February. I have a conference next week in Columbus (ugh). I hate staying away from home unless it is with my family.