I can't have a repeat of that today. I just can. not. There's a kitchen to clean, laundry to do, floors to mop and vacuum, a bathroom that could use a good cleaning, clutter to be conquered, a bed to be made (as soon as I can hoist Calvin out of it - 11:30 and he's still snoring away. Yes Calvin, you *do* snore).
I'll get to it. After I write an entry. And after I work out (I must be getting better - the achiness from the last workout only lasted a day - the achiness from the workout before that lasted for four).
There's just not enough motivation existing inside me this weekend.
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Post-Thanksgiving Stress Syndrome has begun. I have officially ONE MONTH as of today to get all the Christmas shopping done (the majority of which I'm doing on-line. Then, whatever can't be had at Target or Ross ain't getting given). I have a Christmas dinner party to plan, which is getting more complex by the moment. Thanksgiving at Calvin's grandparents prompted the invitation to be extended to three more people. So now that makes a grand total of (counting...) 24 people. Egads. I wish I hadn't counted. Our decorations are sorely depleted and need to be replenished. As it is (shoot me if you want to) I kinda want to go with an artificial tree - less mess, it doesn't up and die on you the day before Christmas (that happened last year), you don't have to water it, less of a fire hazard. Now, I'm the biggest fan of real trees you'll ever want to meet. Coming from the Pine Tree State (yes, Maine is the Pine Tree State), the smell of a cut tree is something I adore. The cleanup of the needles, however... not so much.
Unbeknownst to Calvin, I am leaving the clean up of the front and back yards to him. They're a disaster from all the construction activities, courtesy of the HIPFH(tm). They can't be left in the condition they're in. The addition needs to be painted (outside) before Christmas, too. And all the interior paint touch-up stuff needs to happen, and we need get the rest of the window coverings, and a couple of area rugs, and we have officially *no* money, and and and...
I'm gonna stop now before I spin myself into the ground.
For your viewing enjoyment, the required Thanksgiving pictures! I must say, our digital camera (Sony Mavica) was quite a hit among the relatives. It is a pretty cool little thing, even takes 90-120 seconds of streaming video, depending on how much disc space you have. It records the images on a floppy disc inserted into the camera, so as long as you don't run out of discs, you don't run out of pictures. We contemplated getting a camera with a memory card, but spare cards cost upwards of $100 dollars. A box of discs costs $5.99. I'm not so great a math, but even I can do the calculations.
Anyway, there's no pictures of me (as usual, I was the one behind the camera). And, strangely enough, none of Michael. I think it was because he was busy torturing his young cousins. Said by the youngest cousin to his mother: "Mama, Michael's not going to make me put my face in his armpit again, is he?"
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Top to Bottom: Calvin's brother-in-law, sister's boss' son (got that?) and nephew, watching Star Wars. "Luke... I am your father..." If they said it once... |
| Left to Right: Calvin's grandmother, Calvin's sister, and Calvin. |  |
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Kitchen chaos - with the addition of Calvin's mom (foreground), and his sister's boss. She and her son are joining us for Christmas dinner. |
| Left to Right: Calvin's brother-in-law, Calvin, Calvin's grandfather, and his nephew (the ham) in the foreground. |  |
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Calvin's grandfather, who is by far the sweetest, kindest man I've ever met. He kept stopping us all every five minutes to give us hugs, tell us he loves us and is *so* happy to see us. Every member of Calvin's family (myself included) would do anything for Grandmother and Grandfather. |
| Calvin's sister. Calvin is the oldest, followed by her. His youngest sister couldn't make the dinner. I like this lady - and the competition between she and Calvin is hysterical. Calvin's mom's birthday is the 28th (?) so we bought gifts for her. Calvin's sister called the night before the dinner to ask what we were doing for a gift. Heard from Calvin's end of the discussion... "Oh, yeah? Well, I bet *our* gift is gonna make her cry!" It did (so I guess Calvin won the "Best Gift Award"). We gave her a photo flip-album with pictures of Calvin as a baby, and the kids as babies, and some current pictures. That whole nostalgia thing gets 'em every time. |  |
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Calvin's niece, nine. She's a gymnast, and got a 9.125 (I think) on the uneven bars at her last meet. She's adorable, sweet, and pretty as a picture. |
| I love this picture of Marie and her youngest cousin. Darn red-eye, anyway. Anybody out there know how to PhotoShop red-eye out of a picture? The family was commenting the entire night on how mature Marie is getting to be. |  |
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Calvin's mom's husband. I guess that would make him a step-dad, but he's so close to Calvin's age he's not thought of as such. He's a really cool guy, from Nebraska. We give him a very hard time about college football. |