Monday, December 21

It has been a very long day. We got up at 6:30 so we could get ready to go to another town to be with Hubbie's family. Of course, I skipped my exercises again. Before we left town, Hubbie and I delivered a box of cookies to Caring Hands Hospice to be used in making gift boxes for hospice families. I also left a tin of cookies as a gift to the office staff.

We got on the road to the other town around 9:30 a.m. We arrived at the church where the family gathered for a "cousins party" around 11:00. Here, all the ladies set to work getting food ready for lunch. We provided a tray of deli meats and cheeses, along with flat bread for wraps, and various cheese balls and crackers. Others brought fruit and veggie trays and a ton of desserts. Pizzas were planned for the kids and whoever else wanted one, so some of the ladies prepared meats, sauces, veggies, etc., so that each individual could make their own.

Many of the adults, including Mother and I, preferred sandwiches, though, so I was glad we'd brought the makings for them.

After lunch, there were games and crafts. Daughter led the kids in a game about the Nativity. An aunt helped the kids make beaded Christmas ornaments. And we led them in constructing graham cracker cookie Christmas houses. Then a nephew involved everyone, kids and adults alike, in a game in which we all sat close together in chairs in a circle, while he read a story about Mr. and Mrs. Wright and all the Wright children, who did things going in right or left directions. As the story was read, we were to move to the chairs on our right or left. It was a fast game of moving right and left and sitting and standing, so some folks were out of breath at the end of it. This was one time I was glad that I exercise regularly.

Nephew provided a couple of other games, too...a "guess the name of the Christmas carol" paper and pencil game, and another in which teams blew up balloons and stuffed them into the legs of pantyhose. The leader at each table then put the pantyhose on his or her head, ran to a chair and sang "Jingle Bells." Folks wearing balloon stuffed pantyhose while singing "Jingle Bells" look pretty hilarious.

It was clean-up time after that, and by about 2:30 p.m., we had the church fellowship hall looking spruced. From the church, we went to Daughter's house, where we visited until time for the gift exchange. Hubbie's daughters an son gave him a new Bunn coffee maker to replace the one that quit working in the camper. He also received a pocket knife from his granddaughter. Mother got hand cream and Christmas themed dish towel and pot holder. I got a new makeup case (which was really for my birthday rather than Christmas) and a colorful tote from Granddaughter.

At 6 p.m., we had a supper of turkey and dressing, a choice of baked sweet or white potatoes, green bean casserole, corn-on-the-cob, raw veggies and dip, canned cranberry sauce, and homemade crescent rolls, plus an array of desserts.

Finally, around 7:30, we headed home. Shih Tzu, who had stayed in the van all those hours (because she can no longer tolerate crowds of people) was plenty ready to be home. Hubbie had tended to her frequently while we were at Daughter's house, feeding her and walking her and seeing that she had plenty of water, but she finally grew bored with being confined. I don't blame her.

At home, we watched a movie, "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus," an R-rated film starring Nicole Kidman. The movie is about the real-life famous photographer, Diane Arbus, but as the title implies, this is a fictional account that supposes Arbus falls in love with a man with werewolf syndrome, a condition that causes excessive body hair. Arbus is noted for her photographs of "members of society's fringe." The movie starts with a brief scene featuring not-your-model-type fully nude folks.