Turkey Day came and went. The girls made dream catchers for all the guests out of paper plates, leather cord, beads and feathers. We cooked and seasoned, then went over to my parents for the feast. Auntie Lori and Uncle Terry were visiting from Oregon. Have I not introduced you to them before? Oh my. I must correct that immediately. Auntie Lori is my Mom's younger sister. Number 3 out of 4 girls. She is the awesomest! She was a school teacher and is the best "with kids" person I have ever known. When I was a kid she would direct our cousin Christmas Pageant on Christmas Eve. She would play the part of the angel and she would read the Christmas story while we played our parts dressed in bathrobes and towels. As the only girl cousin in the appropriate age group, I had to play Mary forever. Susan played the baby Jesus until she was like 5 or 6. We all acted like we hated it but secretly we loved it. Auntie Lori was the person that would flop on my bed when I was a teenager and ask me all about my friends and boys and get excited at all the stuff in my life that my Mom thought was dumb. She loved to talk, shop, read and would hide with me when it was time to do the dishes. She gave me my copy of Charlotte's Web, the first book I ever read AND the first book that made me cry. It's the book that made me realize that literature has amazing power. She always made me feel super important and smart, even when I made dumb mistakes. And Uncle Terry, well I can't say enough about Uncle T. Except for my Dad, he was the single biggest influence on me as a kid (as far as a guy goes). When I flew for the first time by myself, it was to Oregon to visit them. He was so different than my Dad. My Dad is mellow and chilled out. Uncle Terry was animated and emotional. My Dad did stuff to let me know he loved me. Uncle Terry would tell Jeff and I every night how much he loved us and how we were his buddies and he'd tell Shmedley stories about his pet raccoon. He was all about "awesome", "neat!", "wow" and animated stories about anything and everything that included sound effects and hand and body motions. When everyone in my family told me that Mike reminded them of Uncle Terry when he was younger, I knew I had a good guy and not to let him go. Both my Dad and Uncle Terry are "those" Dads. The ones that will do anything for you, will make signs to get you elected to Student Body President (my senior year) and pick up Thai food on the other side of town because you are sick and feel like chicken with yellow curry. (last night) They are the move you in and put up shelves and paint and fix stuff for you Dads. And they are the never let you down Dads. Ever Ever. Mike is on the right track on being that sort of Dad. It was important to me even at a young age that I picked somebody like that. And I totally totally totally did. (Except for the handyman part. Mike is all about hiring a handyman if it will save him having to do a huge job. Or calling my Dad if it is something little. But if you need your computer fixed or a vasectomy, Mike is your guy) Anyway, is there anything better than a good guy who loves being a husband and plays dress up with his daughters including a hot pink boa while watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? I dare say there is not. (That is what is going on at my house right now)
So Thanksgiving was fine. I ate the wrong things and my Dad pitched a gravy hissy fit but we learned what Wondra was. (A separate post in necessary about Wondra alone) I made leftover turkey pot pie Sunday night. Yum. That recipe will go up on my recipe blog ASAP. Now, we are online shopping for gifts and looking forward to beginning Christmas traditions this week. We have already looked at lights. Tree and our own lights will go up this weekend.
It's sure different this year having Mike home. My heart goes out to anyone (Amelia) who's husband is deployed right now. It just sucks. I will be there again next year. I am not looking forward to it. For now, I am going to soak up all the family Christmas spirit and fun we can have. Rudolph and Yukon Cornelius just landed on the island of misfit toys so obviously...I gotta go.
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