Thanksgiving and Christmas in one week
Well, I've been doing a little better since Mac died. I still think about him every night and cry when I'm in bed. I also find myself doing certain things when he was alive: for instance, he used to like to sit under my chair or behind it while I was on the computer, but he was so quiet that I always had to check under my chair before I scooted it back. The other day I caught myself doing that. It also feels weird whenever I open the fridge and there's no cat there begging for food! I set up my (little) Christmas tree and remembered how Mac loved to sit under it or bat at the low ornaments. Awwww.
My parents are going to New Zealand for a bike tour in the middle of December and will be gone for two weeks, therefore missing Christmas, so we celebrated both that and Thanksgiving this last week. My Aunt Jane and cousin Lendie joined us for Thanksgiving and my brother came with his dog, Maggie, his girlfriend, Kelly, and she brought her dog, Stanley. Mom and I went to PetSmart to buy food and toys for Maggie and Stanley. Seeing a cat that looked like Mac on a poster and seeing people with their dogs just overwhelmed me and I began to cry. Luckily my mom and I were the only ones in that aisle, so it wasn't too embarrasing!
Let me tell you something about Stanley: he is one naughty dog! He is a three year old brown and white spaniel mix. Of course, he was in a new place, so that could've been (some) of the cause of his naughtiness. While my mom and aunt were cooking Thanksgiving dinner, the table was set and there was a stick of butter on the edge. Lendie came in the room to set something on the table just as Stanley stood on his legs and ate the whole stick of butter...yuck! He also seemed to like me a lot as he kept humping me! Bad dog! He also didn't like puppies: whenever we went to the dog park, he'd bark at all of them, even a nine-month old St. Bernard, who was HUGE.
Thanksgiving was the usual as usual: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean cassorole, cranberries, rudabga, sweet potatoes, lefse, pickles, green olives, black olives, wine, sparkling grape cider, and water. Oh, and pumpkin and pecan pie.
Jane and Lendie left later that evening and Mom, Dad, Bill, Kelly, and I played Scattergories. We realized we've been playing it wrong all these years: apparently you're supposed to do the same catogory three times with three different letters. Bill won the game.
On Friday we celebrated Christmas about a month early. We even had our tradition Christmas Eve meal of fondue. It's really good, but really scary with all that bubbling, popping hot oil!
I put on a variety of Christmas music and we opened presents in the living room. I gave Mom a four cup coffee maker (but only makes two cups for her!), Dad a Joe Cocker CD with his greatest hits, Bill the Batman Begins DVD and Kelly the new Carrie Underwood CD.
And I got:
-a portable iPod player from Bill
-Spiced Apple Cider Philosphy body gel/shampoo/bubble bath from Kelly
-Tweed coat, black tank top, black jeans, and necklace from White House, Black Market
-Waffle maker with waffle mix and real maple syrup. (I made some and they were really good!)
-9 glass bowls. (The smallest was ridiculously small, like you could only fit one eggwhite in it).
-Snowman light night. (My old one's battery wore out and I was telling it to Mom, and she thought this would be the perfect present for me since she's had it forever, but didn't know who to give it too).
-Mandy Moore CD Wild Hope
-Black earrings to go with the outfit I got
-Three rubber spatulas
-Dish towels with French phrases on them
-Calendar with camoflouged animals
-Pearing knife
However, the best gift of the evening went to my parents and it was from Bill and Kelly: they gave them the second edition of the Scene It? game. It is so much fun! I've played it before. If you know your movies, it's really fun (and easy!) It comes with a DVD and shows clips of movies and gives you a question, of you have to fill in a blank or finish the quote or guess the movie poster or actor/actress. There are also trivia cards. Bill, Kelly, and I played it after we finished opening presents and Mom and Dad went to bed. Bill and I had a little tiff when, during an all play, we were supposed to guess the movie by the stills given. Well, we both got it on the first one, but I was a little faster saying "Dodgeball," then Bill, being the smart ass he is, says, "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story." Now, true, that is it's full title, but c'mon! Did people buy a ticket for "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story?" Do they ask the people at Blockbuster if they have "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" available? No! Now, I would understand if it was Harry Potter or Star Wars and there was more than one movie. In the end, Kelly decided I should get the point since Bill was being a jerk, haha.
There was one funny moment where I was reading a trivia card to Bill and he had to figure out the word that completed the blanks: "The Big ______" "______ Rider." He said "pale," and I told him it was "easy," then he says "Pale!" in an esasperated tone. Haha, he thought I meant easy as in he should get it. Then I told him that was the answer. I totally rocked at the movie posters and trivia questions. (For a while, I couldn't think of the names Hustle and Flow and Children of a Lesser God, but I got them!) There was also one round where they put clues about an actor/actress/character you're supposed to guess and they get easier as they go on. The first clue read, "I was born and raised in Texas" and I shouted out, "Renee Zellweger!" because she was the first one came to mind and it turned out I was right, haha! The winning question was to fill in the blanks: there was a still from Brokeback Mountain with the quote "I wish I knew __ ___ ____ ___." Well, duh. I shouted out, "how to quit you!" and won the game. Then we played again the next morning with Mom and Dad and I won two games and Bill won one. After Bill and Kelly and the dogs left, I played with Mom and Dad and they were one team and I still managed to beat me. It's a really fun game, but it's kind of annoying when the repeat question you've already had.
My parents are going to New Zealand for a bike tour in the middle of December and will be gone for two weeks, therefore missing Christmas, so we celebrated both that and Thanksgiving this last week. My Aunt Jane and cousin Lendie joined us for Thanksgiving and my brother came with his dog, Maggie, his girlfriend, Kelly, and she brought her dog, Stanley. Mom and I went to PetSmart to buy food and toys for Maggie and Stanley. Seeing a cat that looked like Mac on a poster and seeing people with their dogs just overwhelmed me and I began to cry. Luckily my mom and I were the only ones in that aisle, so it wasn't too embarrasing!
Let me tell you something about Stanley: he is one naughty dog! He is a three year old brown and white spaniel mix. Of course, he was in a new place, so that could've been (some) of the cause of his naughtiness. While my mom and aunt were cooking Thanksgiving dinner, the table was set and there was a stick of butter on the edge. Lendie came in the room to set something on the table just as Stanley stood on his legs and ate the whole stick of butter...yuck! He also seemed to like me a lot as he kept humping me! Bad dog! He also didn't like puppies: whenever we went to the dog park, he'd bark at all of them, even a nine-month old St. Bernard, who was HUGE.
Thanksgiving was the usual as usual: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean cassorole, cranberries, rudabga, sweet potatoes, lefse, pickles, green olives, black olives, wine, sparkling grape cider, and water. Oh, and pumpkin and pecan pie.
Jane and Lendie left later that evening and Mom, Dad, Bill, Kelly, and I played Scattergories. We realized we've been playing it wrong all these years: apparently you're supposed to do the same catogory three times with three different letters. Bill won the game.
On Friday we celebrated Christmas about a month early. We even had our tradition Christmas Eve meal of fondue. It's really good, but really scary with all that bubbling, popping hot oil!
I put on a variety of Christmas music and we opened presents in the living room. I gave Mom a four cup coffee maker (but only makes two cups for her!), Dad a Joe Cocker CD with his greatest hits, Bill the Batman Begins DVD and Kelly the new Carrie Underwood CD.
And I got:
-a portable iPod player from Bill
-Spiced Apple Cider Philosphy body gel/shampoo/bubble bath from Kelly
-Tweed coat, black tank top, black jeans, and necklace from White House, Black Market
-Waffle maker with waffle mix and real maple syrup. (I made some and they were really good!)
-9 glass bowls. (The smallest was ridiculously small, like you could only fit one eggwhite in it).
-Snowman light night. (My old one's battery wore out and I was telling it to Mom, and she thought this would be the perfect present for me since she's had it forever, but didn't know who to give it too).
-Mandy Moore CD Wild Hope
-Black earrings to go with the outfit I got
-Three rubber spatulas
-Dish towels with French phrases on them
-Calendar with camoflouged animals
-Pearing knife
However, the best gift of the evening went to my parents and it was from Bill and Kelly: they gave them the second edition of the Scene It? game. It is so much fun! I've played it before. If you know your movies, it's really fun (and easy!) It comes with a DVD and shows clips of movies and gives you a question, of you have to fill in a blank or finish the quote or guess the movie poster or actor/actress. There are also trivia cards. Bill, Kelly, and I played it after we finished opening presents and Mom and Dad went to bed. Bill and I had a little tiff when, during an all play, we were supposed to guess the movie by the stills given. Well, we both got it on the first one, but I was a little faster saying "Dodgeball," then Bill, being the smart ass he is, says, "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story." Now, true, that is it's full title, but c'mon! Did people buy a ticket for "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story?" Do they ask the people at Blockbuster if they have "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" available? No! Now, I would understand if it was Harry Potter or Star Wars and there was more than one movie. In the end, Kelly decided I should get the point since Bill was being a jerk, haha.
There was one funny moment where I was reading a trivia card to Bill and he had to figure out the word that completed the blanks: "The Big ______" "______ Rider." He said "pale," and I told him it was "easy," then he says "Pale!" in an esasperated tone. Haha, he thought I meant easy as in he should get it. Then I told him that was the answer. I totally rocked at the movie posters and trivia questions. (For a while, I couldn't think of the names Hustle and Flow and Children of a Lesser God, but I got them!) There was also one round where they put clues about an actor/actress/character you're supposed to guess and they get easier as they go on. The first clue read, "I was born and raised in Texas" and I shouted out, "Renee Zellweger!" because she was the first one came to mind and it turned out I was right, haha! The winning question was to fill in the blanks: there was a still from Brokeback Mountain with the quote "I wish I knew __ ___ ____ ___." Well, duh. I shouted out, "how to quit you!" and won the game. Then we played again the next morning with Mom and Dad and I won two games and Bill won one. After Bill and Kelly and the dogs left, I played with Mom and Dad and they were one team and I still managed to beat me. It's a really fun game, but it's kind of annoying when the repeat question you've already had.