Apparently Our Parties Aren't as Cool as We Thought

It was a festive weekend of sorts for me, how about you? I can't really say I'm in the "Christmas spirit", but then again I haven't been in the "Christmas spirit" for years now. At any rate, I still like to take in a few Christmas festivities so as to try and find the "Christmas spirit" that I lost all those years ago.

On Friday night my parents were hosting a Christmas party for the folks at the church where my dad preaches. I called my grandparents on my way home from work to ask if they would like me to pick them up for the festivities. My grandmother said they didn't know anything about it, asked who it was for and I told them Hampton Cove Church of Christ. She said, no they weren't going because they didn't know about it and if it was announced (it was) that they didn't hear the announcement. Somehow this doesn't surprise me. I had a feeling this did not bode well for the 6:30 party. Sure enough, at 6:30, in addition to my brother, parents and myself, there were only six other people at the party. Everyone was supposed to bring a finger food and thankfully I prepared three different items, otherwise there wouldn't have been very much to eat.

Despite the low turnout, we still had a good time talking with one another and I think some folks even played games after I left. My mother caused the greatest excitement of the night when she nearly choked to death on a roll up sandwich that someone had brought. My brother and dad did the Heimlich maneuver while I yelled for someone to call 911. One or the other of them managed to un-lodge the food from my mother's throat; sadly, it did not fly across the room and hit anyone in face, which would have made for a much better story.

Saturday morning The Tide had an appointment for her annual shots. Why yes, I have spent a small fortune at the vet's office this year. I wish y'all could see how excited The Tide is when we go to the vet's office. I have never in my life known a dog to love the vet as much as The Tide. One day I may have to bring someone along with me to video her nudging me out of the front seat so she can get out and run to the door. It's one of the funniest things in the world and always give me a big laugh. While we were inside waiting, another dog came in and The Tide growled and barked really fiercely that even the vet asked about it and thought it was funny knowing how sweet she is. She got a good report and we were soon on our way. After a quick stop by Target and Hobby Lobby, we headed back home to catch up on the DVR.

Saturday afternoon at 4:00 I was supposed to go to a wedding; but, after being lazy all day, I did not feel like getting all dolled up for a wedding. Not to mention the fact that the wedding was in Guntersville and I just did not want to drive over to Guntersville all by my lonesome. So, I just took a hot bath and put on a fresh pair of pajamas instead. I called my parents to speak with my mother about a top secret Christmas mission and my brother invited me to go with them to a concert at the library and look at the luminaries and decorations downtown. I agreed and told him to swing by and pick me up. Long story short, the van had some issues (you know us and our old vehicles) and so my mother could not be transported anywhere. So, instead of it being the four of us, just my dad and I went to the concert.

The concert was the Army Material Command Jazz Band and the Rocket City Jazz Orchestra. Both bands were so great and they each had a few songs with singers and the signers were also quite good. The concert was free to the public and started at 7:00 and lasted two hours. There were a ton of people out and about downtown on Saturday as there were a lot of Christmas festivities taking place. After the concert, my dad came in for a quick demonstration on how to mix up the sour dough that Erika and I learned how to make a couple of months ago. It took all of five minutes and then he was on his way. I mixed up a second batch as I was making cinnamon rolls for m Sunday school class.

Sunday morning I got up at 6:00 and rolled out my dough and made the cinnamon rolls and then watched some TV while they were rising. I got ready for church, baked the rolls, iced the rolls, and left the house. The rest of Sunday was pretty low-key with a couple of church services, a nap, and dinner at Jason's Deli with the over 65 crowd, which I really enjoyed. I had a few good laughs at dinner and really enjoyed spending time with my Aunt Linda and some other folks whom I have known for years and some I had just met.

This week brings a full schedule as well. Tonight my brother is supposed to come over for dinner and then we plan to drive around looking at Christmas lights and sing Statler Brothers Christmas songs. We will also honk at the houses that have Christmas decorations that meet our approval. We are weird, but this is one of our favorite things to do and I'm really looking forward to it. It's been a few years since we have been able to have this quirky brother/sister time together. On Thursday, we are going to see The Living Christmas tree; Friday is my Sunday school Christmas party and Saturday is A Christmas Carol and at some point I must fit in a showing of The Hobbit. So, it's a very full week, but hopefully it will be lots of fun.