Early Holiday Weekend
I went up to Iowa with my parents this weekend to have a family Christmas with my mom's side of the family at my Aunt Mary's house. This was the first Christmas without my Grandma, so that was a little sad, but we still had a good time, nonetheless. All in all there were twenty people there, so we had a good turnout even if two of my cousins couldn't make it.
On the drive over, Dad asked me if I had read anything good lately and I said, "Not really." (I only read five books this year...I really slacked). I told him I had tried to get into the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" books, but gave up after reading half of the second book because I could just not get into it. I had a hard enough time finishing the first book! He asked me if I had read 50 Shades of Grey and I was like, "Uh, no." He told me he had read it because Mom had bought it. (I can't believe my mom bought that book...in a public place! Dear God, I would be way too embarrassed to look at it at the bookstore!) The only reason Mom bought and read it was because all her other friends had read it :::rolls eyes::: (Huh, I wonder why she just didn't borrow the book from one of her friends? I didn't think to ask her that at the time). Well, maybe I'll read it and I can report on how God-awful it is. I asked my parents if they knew what it was about before they read it and they did (God, I think that makes it even worse!) and I said to them, "You do know it was a Twilight fan fiction before it became a published book, right?" No, of course they did not. Mom wanted to know what fan fiction was so I had to explain it to her.
After everyone arrived, we ate pork tenderloins with potatoes and green bean casserole and about a million cookies were lying around, not to mention Anjali made gaucanole dip and there was a veggie and dip plate. We were very well fed! We gathered in the living room to open presents. Most of them were for the youngsters: Owen, 6 and Evan, 3, who belong to my cousin Jay and his wife Rebecca. Jay was one of my cousins who wasn't able to make it. Leah, nine months, who belongs to my cousin David and his wife Anjali, and of course, little Gracie, almost four months who belongs to my brother. Owen was handing out the gifts with the help of his Grandpa, my Uncle Verlyn. I had given all the girls around my age a bottle of shower gel from the Bath and Body Works: Pink Sugarplums for Kelly, Winter Candy Apple for Pauline, Frosted Snowberry for Rebecca, Vanilla Bean Noel for Anjali, and Twisted Peppermint for Lendie (my other cousin who wasn't able to make it). All the cousins were given a Christmas tree ornament which Grandma always gave us every year. I wasn't sure if she had bought them before she died or if Aunt Sue had kept the tradition going. I got an angel from Germany. Bill and Kelly got a cute one with two penguins with a baby penguin that said, "Baby Makes 3".
Gracie and Leah got matching outfits from Aunt Mary (Leah's grandmother): a white shirt with a snowman face and black polka dot pants. Kelly and Anjali dressed them up and lay them on the floor together and about five people had their cameras out taking photos. It was the cutest and funniest thing ever. I haven't seen any photos of them up on Facebook and I'm dying to see!
Leah seemed to like my nail polish because she would put her tiny itty bitty finger over one of my nails and stroke it. She was so cute because she would stick out her little tongue and make the funniest faces. I held Gracie when she came in and she immediately starts crying! I seem to have a magic touch with babies and making them cry! Whenever I hold a baby, they always cry....I've only held like two babies in my life, but I'm two for two! She made a grab for my necklace as soon as she was in my arms.
I don't mean to sound conceited, but I think I was the best dressed there. Of course, I was a little overdressed while everyone else was wearing casual outfits or nice sweaters. I wore a shortsleeved turtleneck from White House, Black Market with color blocks of white, black, and red and a hint of glimmer (it looks a lot better than how I'm describing it!), a gray wool mini skirt from the Gap, gray wool tights with black polka dots, red tartan Mary Janes, a snow flake necklace, small green holly earrings, a silver skinny headband over my straightened hair, and I had done my nails in a glittery red color called "Don't Toy With Me."
All the little kids seemed memorized by at least something I was wearing/donning.Leah seemed to like my nail polish because she would put her tiny itty bitty finger over one of my nails and stroke it. She was so cute because she would stick out her little tongue and make the funniest faces. I held Gracie when she came in and she immediately starts crying! I seem to have a magic touch with babies and making them cry! Whenever I hold a baby, they always cry....I've only held like two babies in my life, but I'm two for two! She made a grab for my necklace as soon as she was in my arms. Owen patted me on the leg once...I think he liked the polka dots on my tights!
There weren't as many animals as people or kids, but I saw quite a few this weekend. Roxie, David and Anjali's Rottweilier was in the basement. They let her out to take a walk and she lunged out when they opened the gate to let her out. She's a big dog! Mom, Sue, Jane, and I went to Jane's house in Clear Lake to see her kitchen which she was working on. Her dog, Lacey, and cat, Newman, were waiting for us. As soon as I petted Newman, Lacey came over because she wanted attention too. We were all sitting around the table and Newman jumped up, demanding attention. He liked to play with the tree skirt around the Christmas tree and he would take it about two feet away and be completely covered by it. It was so cute! And at Sue's house, where my parents and I spent the night, there was their outdoor/indoor cat, Patches. She mostly stays indoors at night and during cold days. She has her own little room in the basement with a litter box, food and water bowls, and a little cushion to sleep. I brought her up in the morning. She is a tiny cat, but has a loud purr! Her name is Patches because she's a gray cat and looks like she has patches on her body. Terry let her out in the morning and when my parents and I left about ten minutes later, she was at the door, ready to come in! It was a cold morning!
So we're 14 miles from Sue and Terry's cabin after we left and Dad gets pulled over because he sped through two small towns so we had to wait about 15 minutes for the cop to write the ticket and Dad was like (to Mom and me) "There was no one else around!" and he said since they were pulled over on a two-way road, it was a lot more dangerous than what he did, which I have to agree. Luckily, there weren't TOO many cars out, but there were a few. The cop said he dropped Dad's "charges" so he would only be fined for driving five miles over the speed limit. After that we returned on our way home without any more incidents.
On the drive over, Dad asked me if I had read anything good lately and I said, "Not really." (I only read five books this year...I really slacked). I told him I had tried to get into the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" books, but gave up after reading half of the second book because I could just not get into it. I had a hard enough time finishing the first book! He asked me if I had read 50 Shades of Grey and I was like, "Uh, no." He told me he had read it because Mom had bought it. (I can't believe my mom bought that book...in a public place! Dear God, I would be way too embarrassed to look at it at the bookstore!) The only reason Mom bought and read it was because all her other friends had read it :::rolls eyes::: (Huh, I wonder why she just didn't borrow the book from one of her friends? I didn't think to ask her that at the time). Well, maybe I'll read it and I can report on how God-awful it is. I asked my parents if they knew what it was about before they read it and they did (God, I think that makes it even worse!) and I said to them, "You do know it was a Twilight fan fiction before it became a published book, right?" No, of course they did not. Mom wanted to know what fan fiction was so I had to explain it to her.
After everyone arrived, we ate pork tenderloins with potatoes and green bean casserole and about a million cookies were lying around, not to mention Anjali made gaucanole dip and there was a veggie and dip plate. We were very well fed! We gathered in the living room to open presents. Most of them were for the youngsters: Owen, 6 and Evan, 3, who belong to my cousin Jay and his wife Rebecca. Jay was one of my cousins who wasn't able to make it. Leah, nine months, who belongs to my cousin David and his wife Anjali, and of course, little Gracie, almost four months who belongs to my brother. Owen was handing out the gifts with the help of his Grandpa, my Uncle Verlyn. I had given all the girls around my age a bottle of shower gel from the Bath and Body Works: Pink Sugarplums for Kelly, Winter Candy Apple for Pauline, Frosted Snowberry for Rebecca, Vanilla Bean Noel for Anjali, and Twisted Peppermint for Lendie (my other cousin who wasn't able to make it). All the cousins were given a Christmas tree ornament which Grandma always gave us every year. I wasn't sure if she had bought them before she died or if Aunt Sue had kept the tradition going. I got an angel from Germany. Bill and Kelly got a cute one with two penguins with a baby penguin that said, "Baby Makes 3".
Gracie and Leah got matching outfits from Aunt Mary (Leah's grandmother): a white shirt with a snowman face and black polka dot pants. Kelly and Anjali dressed them up and lay them on the floor together and about five people had their cameras out taking photos. It was the cutest and funniest thing ever. I haven't seen any photos of them up on Facebook and I'm dying to see!
Leah seemed to like my nail polish because she would put her tiny itty bitty finger over one of my nails and stroke it. She was so cute because she would stick out her little tongue and make the funniest faces. I held Gracie when she came in and she immediately starts crying! I seem to have a magic touch with babies and making them cry! Whenever I hold a baby, they always cry....I've only held like two babies in my life, but I'm two for two! She made a grab for my necklace as soon as she was in my arms.
I don't mean to sound conceited, but I think I was the best dressed there. Of course, I was a little overdressed while everyone else was wearing casual outfits or nice sweaters. I wore a shortsleeved turtleneck from White House, Black Market with color blocks of white, black, and red and a hint of glimmer (it looks a lot better than how I'm describing it!), a gray wool mini skirt from the Gap, gray wool tights with black polka dots, red tartan Mary Janes, a snow flake necklace, small green holly earrings, a silver skinny headband over my straightened hair, and I had done my nails in a glittery red color called "Don't Toy With Me."
All the little kids seemed memorized by at least something I was wearing/donning.Leah seemed to like my nail polish because she would put her tiny itty bitty finger over one of my nails and stroke it. She was so cute because she would stick out her little tongue and make the funniest faces. I held Gracie when she came in and she immediately starts crying! I seem to have a magic touch with babies and making them cry! Whenever I hold a baby, they always cry....I've only held like two babies in my life, but I'm two for two! She made a grab for my necklace as soon as she was in my arms. Owen patted me on the leg once...I think he liked the polka dots on my tights!
There weren't as many animals as people or kids, but I saw quite a few this weekend. Roxie, David and Anjali's Rottweilier was in the basement. They let her out to take a walk and she lunged out when they opened the gate to let her out. She's a big dog! Mom, Sue, Jane, and I went to Jane's house in Clear Lake to see her kitchen which she was working on. Her dog, Lacey, and cat, Newman, were waiting for us. As soon as I petted Newman, Lacey came over because she wanted attention too. We were all sitting around the table and Newman jumped up, demanding attention. He liked to play with the tree skirt around the Christmas tree and he would take it about two feet away and be completely covered by it. It was so cute! And at Sue's house, where my parents and I spent the night, there was their outdoor/indoor cat, Patches. She mostly stays indoors at night and during cold days. She has her own little room in the basement with a litter box, food and water bowls, and a little cushion to sleep. I brought her up in the morning. She is a tiny cat, but has a loud purr! Her name is Patches because she's a gray cat and looks like she has patches on her body. Terry let her out in the morning and when my parents and I left about ten minutes later, she was at the door, ready to come in! It was a cold morning!
So we're 14 miles from Sue and Terry's cabin after we left and Dad gets pulled over because he sped through two small towns so we had to wait about 15 minutes for the cop to write the ticket and Dad was like (to Mom and me) "There was no one else around!" and he said since they were pulled over on a two-way road, it was a lot more dangerous than what he did, which I have to agree. Luckily, there weren't TOO many cars out, but there were a few. The cop said he dropped Dad's "charges" so he would only be fined for driving five miles over the speed limit. After that we returned on our way home without any more incidents.