Thanksgiving
I forgot to take my camera to Madison to capture the festivities. But, I am pretty sure I can illustrate a decent picture in your minds just by my story:
We headed to Madison on Wednesday evening despite Adam's cough and fever. Enough drugs can make anyone enjoyable. We took Maggie Mae with us as well and had dinner in Beaver Dam. She did a fabulous job of entertaining Charlie in the back seat.
A normal Wednesday evening was experienced by all. In fact, a normal Thursday was experienced by all....until Russ (my brother) came over. For the past 4 years, we have "themed" out Christmas. Instead of picking names, or buying for everyone, we come up with a theme and create or buy a gift associated with that theme. Past themes have included "the year you were born," "colors," "create the gift around your favorite book," etc...It has been a blast seeing our creative juices put to the test.
This year, another element, was thrown in. Bob and Gene. Bob and Gene may be more of the "creative" type in our family. I should rephrase that, Gene is more of the creative type. Last year, he repainted and remodeled an old police station into a gay bar for our Christmas Village. Quite cool and probably the only gay bar in West Bend. Definitely the only gay bar in West Bend ;) Bob and Gene suggested a "make your own gift" theme for Christmas this year. I am game, I am a stay-at-home mom now with a bit more time on my hands than normal, Adam has been "playing" around with a new idea, we thought we could handle it. We put it out in an email. Some of the responses (although not all by email) were: "I don't think I would be very good at that" and "There is no way in hell that I am making something." Idea shot DOWN!
Russ then suggested an "Old Time Christmas Theme." Dan (other brother) asked for clarification of what that meant. Russ sent a long email. I still don't really know what it means, but the jist is "anything that reminds you of Christmas from long ago..." My Dad appropriately said "Well, then, I am giving an empty box because my Christmas's long ago had nothing.." True enough. I started to think back about Christmas's long ago (circa 1981...) and didn't come up with much. Bob also suggested we make all of Christmas this year "Old Time." I am happy to announce that for Christmas Eve this year (which I host), I will be turning off the heat (like in the Old Days) and cutting the electricity (like in the Old Days). We can stay warm by snuggling up to each other. Awwwwww!
The argument on Thanksgiving came over this theme. Because no one really understood it, we had a bunch of other ideas to suggest including: pick a song and associate a gift to that or buy a gift from a specific "brand" type of store (like candy store, music store, etc...). All of us, except Russ, were pretty cool with either idea. We liked them in fact. The problem, Russ already had his gift done! WTF? It is November 24th, and Russ had already "made" his Old Time Christmas Gift. So then Dan, Russ, Jeanne-marie, and Rhode spent an entire pinochle game arguing this. Jeanne-marie was in tears laughing so hard at the conversation, mostly between Dan and Russ. Rhode was laughing quite hard as well. I heard bits and pieces as I was between rooms with Charlie. Some of the more famous quotes from that card game were:
Dan: "Russ, I think you are trying to Scott Walker us..."
Russ: "Since when to the in-laws get voting power in this family?"
I am sure many more were said, but I missed them. Sadly. Maybe Dan or Russ or Jeanne-marie or Rhode will fill in the bits!
Needless to say, we are staying with the "Old Time Christmas" theme which can include "make your own gift" for this year. I am very excited to announce that my gift will consist of 24 crocheted washcloths as that is one of the few "old things" that I can do. I sure hope you enjoy ;)
We headed to Madison on Wednesday evening despite Adam's cough and fever. Enough drugs can make anyone enjoyable. We took Maggie Mae with us as well and had dinner in Beaver Dam. She did a fabulous job of entertaining Charlie in the back seat.
A normal Wednesday evening was experienced by all. In fact, a normal Thursday was experienced by all....until Russ (my brother) came over. For the past 4 years, we have "themed" out Christmas. Instead of picking names, or buying for everyone, we come up with a theme and create or buy a gift associated with that theme. Past themes have included "the year you were born," "colors," "create the gift around your favorite book," etc...It has been a blast seeing our creative juices put to the test.
This year, another element, was thrown in. Bob and Gene. Bob and Gene may be more of the "creative" type in our family. I should rephrase that, Gene is more of the creative type. Last year, he repainted and remodeled an old police station into a gay bar for our Christmas Village. Quite cool and probably the only gay bar in West Bend. Definitely the only gay bar in West Bend ;) Bob and Gene suggested a "make your own gift" theme for Christmas this year. I am game, I am a stay-at-home mom now with a bit more time on my hands than normal, Adam has been "playing" around with a new idea, we thought we could handle it. We put it out in an email. Some of the responses (although not all by email) were: "I don't think I would be very good at that" and "There is no way in hell that I am making something." Idea shot DOWN!
Russ then suggested an "Old Time Christmas Theme." Dan (other brother) asked for clarification of what that meant. Russ sent a long email. I still don't really know what it means, but the jist is "anything that reminds you of Christmas from long ago..." My Dad appropriately said "Well, then, I am giving an empty box because my Christmas's long ago had nothing.." True enough. I started to think back about Christmas's long ago (circa 1981...) and didn't come up with much. Bob also suggested we make all of Christmas this year "Old Time." I am happy to announce that for Christmas Eve this year (which I host), I will be turning off the heat (like in the Old Days) and cutting the electricity (like in the Old Days). We can stay warm by snuggling up to each other. Awwwwww!
The argument on Thanksgiving came over this theme. Because no one really understood it, we had a bunch of other ideas to suggest including: pick a song and associate a gift to that or buy a gift from a specific "brand" type of store (like candy store, music store, etc...). All of us, except Russ, were pretty cool with either idea. We liked them in fact. The problem, Russ already had his gift done! WTF? It is November 24th, and Russ had already "made" his Old Time Christmas Gift. So then Dan, Russ, Jeanne-marie, and Rhode spent an entire pinochle game arguing this. Jeanne-marie was in tears laughing so hard at the conversation, mostly between Dan and Russ. Rhode was laughing quite hard as well. I heard bits and pieces as I was between rooms with Charlie. Some of the more famous quotes from that card game were:
Dan: "Russ, I think you are trying to Scott Walker us..."
Russ: "Since when to the in-laws get voting power in this family?"
I am sure many more were said, but I missed them. Sadly. Maybe Dan or Russ or Jeanne-marie or Rhode will fill in the bits!
Needless to say, we are staying with the "Old Time Christmas" theme which can include "make your own gift" for this year. I am very excited to announce that my gift will consist of 24 crocheted washcloths as that is one of the few "old things" that I can do. I sure hope you enjoy ;)
Comments
Post a Comment