sunflowery's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Nice Holiday Weekend We had a lovely Christmas weekend. Saturday afternoon was spent at Bob's aunt's house, visiting with his Dad's side of the family. Things were a little tense on the way there as we were given an incorrect address and got lost. We didn't have a dime between us and the 1 calling card I had was expired. But a kindly conveinence store clerk took Christmas pity on us and let us use his in-store phone to call for better directions. Once we got there, we were ushered into a HUGE family gathering. Bob's Dad has 5 sisters and of course, their oldest brother was the one who died on the 23rd. All but one of the sisters was there with their significant others, children and grandchildren. It was a fun, festive, silly group of people and we had a blast! We got there just as everyone was sitting down to eat. Unfortunately for Bob, this house was multi level with the kitchen on the main level, the living room on another level and the tables where everyone was eating on yet another level. The hostess of the even, Bob's aunt Kathy, wisely wanted to set Bob up on the kitchen level and then tell everyone he was here and let them come to him. But he was feeling a little fiesty and insisted on walking down to the eating level to greet his family. He went up and down stairs about 4 times that day and felt it heartily the next 2 days. He knows now that he probably shouldn't be doing that much more. Anyway, a couple of Bob's aunts haven't seen me since our wedding 3 years ago and came up to me to introduce themselves to me, thinking they didn't know me or hadn't met me. They were surprised to learn of my new, skinnier idenity and that was fun. This family was lots of fun, even in the midst of their grief over their departed brother. We sang carols and played the white elephant gift game, even playing musical hot potato with the white elephant gifts. There was alot of laughing and family teasing. There were hugs and tears and smiles and just lots of family time. Bob got to talk to his Dad, one on one for quite a long time and enjoyed that. We talked about Bob's uncle Chuck and how Chuck, once the somewhat "black sheep" of the family, had finally come into his own and had found religion and peace and had made amends with all his siblings and his children these past 2 years. So, when he died, all had been forgiven and no one felt any ill towards him. His family's love for him was evident as they all agreed to sing Oh Holy Night in his memory. Another interesting thing we found out about Uncle Chuck was that he was in the midst of being diagnosed for muscle degeneration. They hadn't fully diagnosed what was causing the atrophy, but it was suspected that Musclar Dystrophy was the cause. We always thought Bob's MD was a result of a gene mutation, but as it stands, it sounds as though it was a family thing. The funeral is tomorrow and I can't go, but Bob is hoping he feels well enough to attend. He is in a world of hurt today though and doesn't think he will go if he feels the same tomorrow. Can't say as I blame him. Sunday, we got up and drove to my Grandma's house to see her and my parents who had driven there the day before. We had a lovely visit and a yummy lunch of lasagna and corn and LEFSE! Which Grandma sent home with us. We have a HUGE packet of lefse in our freezer now and will horde it as though it were gold. It is so yummy. She also sent a lot of her lasagna home with us and I divided it into 4 separate containers for us to heat and eat through the week. Yum! We had a nice visit and ended up leaving when my parents left, around 3:30 or 4 I guess. We followed them for a few miles until our exit came up. It was sad to leave their company as I've been missing them a lot lately. This is weird...we somehow, or rather Bob somehow, got onto some mailing list where we are now receiving free samples of Similac, coupons for diapers, catalogs for Babys R Us, offers for 3, 6, 9 month sittings at a local photographer. Don't know what is up with that and Bob doesn't remember signing up for anything similar that would spark such mailings, but you never know. We are giving the Similac to our neighbors who had a baby in November and the diaper coupons are going to my co-worker who had a baby 2 weeks ago. The rest usually ends up in the trash for now. Work this week is going to be long. Since the phone team is short people due to the holidays and PTO, I am doing double duty on phones and data team stuff. Bah! But only 2 more weeks until our vacation! Yay! Can't wait...even if it is a little meager. It's still mostly free and it's still getting away and hopefully will be somewhat warm. Wheeeeee! What are you looking forward to in the new year? 1:01 p.m. - Monday, Dec. 27, 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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