Saturday, December 23, 2006

Kickin' off the holiday season

Our first of many Christmas parties with family this year. My Mom hosted as always, and the food, company and gifts were great. The girls MADE OUT LIKE BANDITS. My Mom loves to give gifts, and her precious little granddaughters can only have the best.
I only wish that these toys came with economy-sized ibuprofen. Isabelle received an electric
guitar and piano. Lorelei got a baby grand (pink!) piano. God help me.



My niece Heather, aka Ched. Story behind her nickname: Michael, her little brother, couldn't say "Heather" when he was a baby...it came out as "Hedder", which rythmed with "Cheddar" and then was shortened to "Ched". She is beautiful, smart, talented and a little sh*t. It's basically my attitude in a taller, smarter package. She's 5 foot 8, can dance, sing, she's on the cheerleading squad at her college, and she just made the Dean's list for this semester. Smarty-Pants.
That is my brother on the right. Yet again, here is another man who forcibly reminds me of my Dad. Ever heard the phrase, "The apple didn't fall far from the tree"? Well, in this case, the apple NEVER FELL OFF THE TREE. He is a clone of my Dad, just with more hair. He's the Great White Hunter of the family, drives a Dodge Ram 1500 Diesel (Susan is drooling...), can fix anything, and is one of those guys about which you say, "he's good people".
Geoff went out shopping AGAIN tonight. The man needs help.
I love him for wanting the girls to have a truly stellar Christmas, but we are on the border of OBSCENE.
Postscript:
M & M's have alot more caffeine in them than you think.
Isabelle and Lorelei loaded up on them before we left Mom's house. Lorelei, bless her heart, passed out before we could even hit the highway, but Isabelle was wired for sound. It is a 45-minute drive home, and she didn't shut up the whole time.
Sample of our dialogue:
Isabelle: Why do we have hands?
Susan: So we can pick things up.
I: What would happen if we didn't have brains?
S: We wouldn't be alive.
I: Oh. Yar. Yar. Yar. Yar. Yar. Yar.
2 minutes later:
I: Yar. Yar. Yar. Mommy, these lights look familar. Are we on our exit?
S: Not yet.
I: That looks like a hotel.
S: It is.
I: Why do they have hotels in INDIANA???
S: We are in Ohio now.
I: Ohio. OOOOO HIIIIIII OOOOO. Ohio, Ohio.
S: *sigh*
I: Frosty, the Snowman, was a jolly, happy soul....
I: Why do we have noses?

12 comments:

LauraHinNJ said...

He must be out buying stuff for you!

Happy Christmas!

Susan Gets Native said...

Maybe...I TOLD him not to go crazy.
Merry merry to you, too!
(Got your card today. Beautiful. And Isabelle fell in love with your bunnies and ran to put the magnet on the fridge!)

The Swami said...

Grrrrrr, Swami thinks that Geoff may be the person that out bid him on EBAY. It was for the hunting rifle that had once belonged to St. Francis of Assisi.

Dialogue continued:

Isabelle: Mommy, why are you and Daddy trying to have grandpa committed to "the home?"
Susan: It's what grown-ups call, obvious.
Isabelle: Does it have anything to do with grandpa wanting to put a yak under our Christmas tree?

Anonymous said...

Yup, first thing that entered my head is Geoff is out buying stuff for you! Woo Hoo! Merry Christmas to you Susan! Enjoy you day! (And I hope you don't get too big of a headache).

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Susan. You will always remember these wonderful years with joy!

Mary said...

Your converation with Isabelle tore me up! Isn't it fun to see your kids all wound up like tops? Like the others, I'll bet Geoff was out shopping for you Susan :) Have a very Happy Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Susan!

Anonymous said...

Susan. That dialogue could have happened in our car and, as the mother of an 8-1/2 year old, I feel duty bound to tell you that the level of discourse goes up but the non-stop chatter doesn't. Once a chatterbox, always a chatterbox. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas Susan & Family.

Anonymous said...

Susan....hope you and Geoff and the girls have a truly magnificent Christmas! Sending hugs to all of you from New England!

xxoxoxooxoxo

Anonymous said...

GREAT pics - and great dialogue. I have had too many conversations just like that...

Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas, Susan!

Regarding noisy toys: Whenever I ask my cousins if their kids have such-and-such a toy, the reply is always, "I don't think so - Does it make noise?" Childless aunties then feel obligated to buy all the noisy toys, since the parents won't!

Regarding chatterboxes: I'm one. When I was a little kid, there was a talking doll named "Chatty Cathy," and that quickly became my nickname. And, as someone else said, it doesn't go away. My Dad used to pick me up from college for holiday breaks, and I would talk his ear off the whole way home. He would say, "You get in the car, say, 'Hi Dad, guess what happened?' and then you don't draw another breath for 5 hours." On a recent car trip with my cousin and her husband, she & I yakked (with apologies to the Swami if I misused this phrase) from Cincinnati to Cambridge, till her husband finally asked, "Could we have just a few miles of quiet?"

Enjoy it while you can. Too soon, the answer to "What did you do today?" will be a grunt, a sigh, and perhaps a muttered "Nuthin'", complete with an eye-roll and a shoulder-shrug.

~Kathi