We won the home opener, by the way.
My nephew Hootie was at the game. He sat a few rows in front of me but I didnt' see him till it was over. He's usually hard to miss; 6'3", blond blue eyes, perfect teeth...
I saw him and hollered, perfectly ready to remind him which of his 10,000 aunts I am but he remembered. He's charming that way.
I never expect people to remember me; it's easier that way.
Seriously, if you were one of 27 grand kids, would you pay any attention to the two dozen adults in the other room? I sure wouldn't have.
My sister Margy came to town last week; it was her birthday present. A few days with the folks on her own. She happened to arrive on our youngest sister's birthday so the party was quite fun. The last time all the sisters spent MJs birthday together, we were in Paris. Hard to believe that was two years ago. Even harder to believe that Mary Jeanne is 38.
Despite the snow and cold, on Tuesday afternoon, we met at MJs house for a walk down the parkway. We were all bundled up and down by the creek, its far less windy than walking around the lake would be. It was very nice and we only turned back when Punkin, who was bundled up and tucked under a blanket in her stroller, complained. Despite her blanket and everything, since she wasn't walking, she got cold. So it was back to MJs for cocoa.
On Wednesday, a crowd of us went to the Art Institute. We all love that place and go at least once or twice a year. This time we wanted to see the show "Italian Style", which featured the work of Italian fashion designers in the post WWII era. It was fabulous! In addition to Prada and Armani, there were wonderful outfits, shoes and accessories by terribly talented Italian designers I'd never heard of. We all loved it.
Except Dad, who only came along because he wanted to hang out with all his girls. You've never seen anyone so bored. At least once, I heard him say "Ohhh God."
The man's a trooper.
Later, we all went to Frankie's for dinner, where we were joined by the portion of the family who aren't self employed and couldn't just take the day off to go to the Art Institute. We LOVE Frankie's. We took up two large tables in the middle of the dining room. Wednesday is trivia night. Since half of us were there with school aged kids, we elected not to play. After the portion of the family still tied to school schedules left, the rest of us adjourned to a booth where we hashed out the problems of the world.
My sister in law Jen practically runs a large, national retail establishment. To get an idea of what her life is like at this time of the year, when Vi, who is hosting dinner today, left, Jen asked her what she could bring on Black Friday. I'm so glad I don't work in retail. I have minions for that.
After Margy went back home, I should have gotten to work and I did but Jay left town with the team so I was here all alone for four days.
I LOVE it when that happens.
I did get a ton of work done. I pretty much made up for all the time I spent goofing off with my sisters while Margy was in town. But most importantly, I got to do something I haven't done in years and is one of my most favorite things in the world to do.
I watched The Lord of the Rings from beginning to end. Extended versions, of course. I had planned to do it all in one day but circumstances dictated a slight change. So I made it a two night extravaganza and baked peanut butter kiss cookies to eat while I watched.
Best Weekend Ever.
Between halves of the movie, I went to some estate sales with my Mom. I found two tall book cases in a basement; perfect shape, nice finish and they are identical to the one I've had for thirty years which is up in my office. The pair of them were only $35.00. That's why we love estate sales! Mom and I would have bought them and found somewhere to put them but I called my daughter, Katie, who had told me she needed some shelving. I told her what we'd found and she said she wanted them.
So now they're in my garage waiting for Katie and Adam to pick them up. Yay!
Jay woke me up early this morning (okay, it was after 8, so not that early) banging pots and pans and getting our turkey in the oven.
Years ago, he always scheduled an away game the night before Thanksgiving. He'd get home after midnight, put our turkey in the oven and we'd wake in the morning to the smell of roast turkey.
Nothing better.
Now the house if full of the delightful aroma of cooking bird.
We never eat Thanksgiving dinner at home but that's no reason to miss out on leftovers.
Yesterday afternoon I baked a couple hundred devil cookies to bring along to the festivities. I have to make cranberry sauce, now.
Have a lovely Holiday!