December 23, 2009

Holiday time

The energy level in the household has been rising as out-of-town family and friends arrive. Quick took his last final exam and was in our living room 24 hours later, playing chess with With-a-Why. Sailor Boy, who took a week’s leave from the Coast Guard to be here for the holidays, spent last week training in Southern State That Cannot Handle Snow and had planned to fly here Friday. After 72 hours of traveling, or mostly sitting in airports sending pathetic text messages, he finally arrived here Monday afternoon. “I need a shower,” he said when he came through the door.

Blonde Niece arrived home in time to help me do some Christmas shopping. As long-time readers know, I’m terrified of the mall, but Blonde Niece is fearless. She efficiently steered me through the necessary stores, then we relaxed in the food court and talked about her first semester of college. (That evening, that same food court was the site of a holiday flashmob organized by a local college student. About 300 people, mostly college students, alerted by a notice on facebook, gathered in the mall. The loud speakers began playing Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is you” and on cue, hundreds of young people began dancing, much to the surprise of all the holiday shoppers who had just come to get something to eat. As much as I hate the mall, I would have loved to see that event.)

I declared a week-long ban on computer games. In return, With-a-Why was allowed to skip school to be home with his siblings. The rest of us have the week off, so we’ve mostly been hanging out by the fire and getting ready for Christmas. Red-haired Sister, Tie-dye Brother-in-law, and their two kids arrived yesterday. They brought a bag of presents for the little neighbor kids; my sister’s plan is to leave them on the doorstep in the middle of the night.

But the real Christmas miracle? I haven’t yet killed any of the cats.

15 comments:

rented life said...

I can tolerate the mall most days except holiday times. (Do not go out on Veterans days. It was scary.)But I would have gone out to see that mob though. how cool

Sarah Sometimes said...

Nice going, restraining yourself from felinicide. All sounds lovely.

L said...

Do let us know how the neighbor kids like the surprise gifts.

As for the cats... are they still peeing on stuff? :-(

Jennifer (ponderosa) said...

There was a flashmod in Bend right before the Christmas Parade. I saw it on YouTube, not in person, alas.

Congrats on making it sanely through the mall : )

BrightenedBoy said...

Is Southern State That Can't Handle Snow my state? Because that pseudonym would certainly be fitting given events here in recent days.

It sounds like you're having a very nice Christmas, and I'm so glad your family is helping to spread the cheer and happiness to the neighbor children.

jodi said...

Tomorrow it is supposed to be icy here in state that can't handle snowfall (ice, light dusting of snow, etc) then an inch of rain. At least the roads should be clear, even if we have to swim across them. I'm just hoping that we keep power.

The secondary roads were still bad yesterday. But almost all of the cars were out of the ditches.

The faces on those children when they find the bag will be priceless.

Merry Christmas!

Unknown said...

Our old lady cats have broken into the catnip...too funny.
Merry Christmas to all!

Liz Miller said...

Actually, we can handle snow....we just can't handle Snowstorm City amounts of snow. Because all we have are enough snowplows to deal with a "storm" that delivers 6 inches of snow over 12 - 24 hours.

And what we got was 25 inches of snow. Everybloodywhere.

Liz Miller said...

And may you all have the merriest of Christmases.

Kathy Rogers said...

Is cat killing a regular part of the holiday festivities?!

Have a happy!

kathy a. said...

merry christmas! sounds like all the elves have arrived, and there will be much joy.

nimiecat said...

Hmmm...was he stuck at Dulles or National? We haven't had that much snow since 1996. I remember everything was closed for at least a week back then. We really were only stuck for about three days this time. Though, the side roads are still awful! :) Happy holidays!

jo(e) said...

Sailor Boy was stuck in South Carolina, and then in North Carolina -- two states that apparently can't handle much snow.

KathyR: Cat killing isn't yet a tradition in the household, but if the cat pees on the Christmas village one more time, it may well be ....

Tie-Dye Brother-in-law said...

if the cat pees on the Christmas village one more time

Was that written before or after the latest pee attack?

jo(e) said...

Eh, I got my revenge by shoving a tape worm tablet down his throat. He hates that.