it\u2019s three a.m. on saturday night. the wind has been howling outside for the past hour and a half. or at least that\u2019s how long i\u2019ve been awake listening to it. it was so loud that i was sure it was going to blow all the siding off the house, as well as major chunks of house itself.<\/p>\n
so far everything seems to be intact. <\/p>\n
except, oh yeah, i\u2019ve been awake for an hour and a half.<\/p>\n
it\u2019s partly due to the dinner we had last night.<\/p>\n
we were going to go to kevin\u2019s parents\u2019 house in northern illinois on saturday morning to celebrate christmas with his family, including a brother-in-law who i have yet to meet, and spend the night and come back tonight (sunday night). but then kevin started looking at the weather forecast and it sounded unbelievably horrible up there in northern illinois – lots of ice covered with snow plus 40 mph winds and it sounded like once we got up to their house, it wouldn\u2019t be possible to get back.<\/p>\n
so instead we stayed home. it was warm here, in the 50\u2019s, and we walked to bed bath n beyond. mollie couldn\u2019t go inside of course which is always a disappointment for her. not going inside places, that is, i don\u2019t mean that she has a special affinity for bed bath n beyond. although i\u2019m sure she\u2019d love it if she was inside.<\/p>\n
anyway, a beautiful day. <\/p>\n
then, instead of having a very healthy dinner last night at kevin\u2019s familys\u2019 house, we went to our friends\u2019 house for the most richest meal i\u2019ve had in a very long time.<\/p>\n
you know those articles in the paper every day where they warn you that you\u2019re going to gain FIVE POUNDS BETWEEN XMAS AND NEW YEAR\u2019S? well i think i gained them all last night. <\/p>\n
jonelle made sauerbraten and homemade noodles, and some creamy delicious mushroom dish involving lots of heavy cream. plus mashed potatoes and delicious gravy and green beans cooked with bacon that was crispy and wonderful.<\/p>\n
for dessert, jay brought a homemade apple pie.<\/p>\n
five pounds. in one meal.<\/p>\n
afterwards we played a game involving words and cards and three of the baskett\u2019s five children, although rarely all three at once because periodically one of them would stomp away, up to their room where they\u2019d been sent because they were yelling a little too much, or they were just mad and had to get away and stomp upstairs and slam the door. it certainly was a lively game, but mostly not because of the game itself.<\/p>\n
when that was over, ashton, who is 10 i think, and i played a game in a book. it was full of interesting scenes and we had to find stuff hidden in them. the scenes were composed of all kinds of weird things, and they looked like real photos except they were filled with things like a giant tea bag. let me tell you, the game was hard. we had to move to the floor under a bright light in order to try to find all the stuff on the pages, and we never did find all the stuff. <\/p>\n
i\u2019m not going to eat any more food between now and new year\u2019s eve.<\/p>\n
randy is having a party tomorrow night. he\u2019s going to have his chocolate fountain (i have to set it up), but i promise i\u2019m not having any of that chocolate. xmas eve we\u2019re having the family over here and i\u2019m not going to eat any of the four million cookies i\u2019ve made. xmas day, brunch at mom and dad\u2019s, dinner at amy and jim\u2019s…<\/p>\n
oh, what\u2019s the use. eat eat eat, there\u2019s no way around it. we\u2019re also going to some movies in the next few days, unless of course we\u2019re going to be stranded here at home because of the storm and are forced to eat all the cookies in the freezer.<\/p>\n
i\u2019m looking forward to the gifts i\u2019m giving. i\u2019m also looking forward to making amy listen to “i want a hippopotamus for christmas,” so that she can love the song too.<\/p>\n
ok then,<\/p>\n
almost christmas grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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