mystery gift: a game of chance, patio presents, elite club is over-rated, card request, & an almost b-day

Thank you all for the kind words, prayers, and thoughtful comments for my last post. Joe's daughter's baby is due any day, so they are waiting to finalize the funeral plans. Still hard to wrap my brain around.

I did make a request of Joe shortly after I found out he'd passed away. I know he's new to heaven, but I'm hoping he can use his charm and make a miracle happen for another family I know. I've not shared this yet. It has shook me to my core. I learned about it in early November and this intention is never far from my thoughts and prayers. I will share next week. One horrible-news post is all I can muster in one week. 

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Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. The Shenanigan family truly had a very delightful and relaxing day filled with good food, great memories, and laugh-out-loud moments. I managed not to cry the entire day. 

Despite all of my rushing around and last minute buying, the kids were very satisfied and pleased with their gifts. Everyone accepted that Reggie had more to open. I'm happy to report that he is no longer going to be the kid at school who dresses strictly in hand-me-downs. 

Somewhere under here is a kitchen table.
 I think this was a result of dragging
 gifts to my folks' house and back. 

The department store that wraps gifts complimentary messed up. Considering what I asked of them, all if forgiven. Three of the 16 gifts for the males lost the sticky note with the recipient's name on it. This lead to a new twist on Christmas morning called:  MYSTERY GIFT. I was able to narrow it down to Reg, Ed, or Tank. I might not recommend MYSTERY GIFT to people who care that everyone gets the correct gift on Christmas morning. Otherwise, it's funny. 

We put sunscreen bottles in the 3 youngest kids' stockings, so there were some raised eyebrow looks, as in DOES THIS MEAN WHAT WE THINK IT MEANS? Those 3 are looking forward to time in the sun over spring break. 

Tank stuttered a bit, as in WAIT, WHAT'S HAPPENING AND WHY AM I NOT GOING? Um, college kids have a different spring break and you applied to attend a mission trip, 'member? After we cleared that up, there was no pouting. If I needed to, I could always say two magic words to put him in his place:  SKI TRIP. 'Member that adventure?

We ALL slept late on Christmas. I haven't babysat since Dec. 17th and guess what? I've discovered that sleeping from midnight till 8 or 8:30 am is apparently my original factory setting. I'm living my best life, in the sleep department anyway. I didn't think it was possible for me to sleep that late again. In a word:  glorious. 

The family on the patio - that speck in the
distance is Lad and Finn crossing the golf course. 

Their blinds can be raised with a remote but
something broke and I thought they had
 it fixed, but alas this was our visit -
my folks continuing to ram their heads
 into the bottom of their blinds.

Since my dad is immune compromised, my side of the family didn't gather. Each family took time stopping by and standing on my folks' patio, at least I thought that was the plan . . .  We'd already picked up our gifts from them (yes, my mother shops for all 22 grandkids - each kid gets multiple gifts. Try to wrap your brain around that one), but we had each of our kids (and Coach and I) bring two gifts along when we visited. We opened them on the patio because it wasn't terribly cold out. Lad walked over with Finn who wagged his butt till it almost fell off. I think my folks enjoyed seeing us open the things they'd purchased.

Finn helps Lad open his gift.

As we were leaving, Marie showed up with her family. We drove away as they filed into my folks house. So, they'd all gotten the booster - which we weren't able to all get prior to Christmas, plus Mini was still isolating. Still, it felt crappy when they got to hang out indoors for hours (they stopped by my house after they left my folks' house to grab a god daughter gift off of my deck, so I know how long they were there) while we were stuck on the patio for 10 minutes. Hard not to slip into that mode where I feel like some people in my clan are getting elite treatment, even thought I do get that they were more germ free than my people. 

A new tradition:  patio presents -
that we hope ends this year.

Ed sensed my frustration:  YEAH, WELL THE DIFFERENCE IS MARIE'S FAMILY PROBABLY NEEDS TO HANG WITH OTHER PEOPLE TO ENJOY THEIR DAY BECAUSE THEY DON'T GET ALONG LIKE WE DO. WE LIKE BEING TOGETHER, JUST US. WE HAVE FUN TOGETHER.

Is there anything better than that sentiment? And, he's probably right. I've decided to hold onto those words like a warm hug. Lord knows my guys have their moments, but on the whole my messy, goofy, funny bunch enjoy cracking one another up and being together. As a mother, I do cherish that. 

This is BEOFRE family game started - it was
 kids learning the game while some of us were
 still prepping food and tossing out boxes and
 wrapping paper, HEY, DON'T
 GET UP, I'VE GOT THIS. 

We played a new game Christmas evening that we really enjoyed. It's called SMART ASS. Then we brought out an old favorite:  BALDERDASH. Tank cares little about winning that game, so he works hard at creating the goofiest definitions. The 'judge' who has to read his fake definitions struggles to do so without rolling around laughing. Classic. Tank's pawn was still in the start when the game ended, but someone he felt like the winner. 

It took me longer than usual to get my Christmas cards in the mail. When the cards were done at long last, I raced back to the mall to shop for the girls. I was done shopping on the 22nd. Not exactly a record. 

*By the way, if any of my regular readers would like to receive one of my cards with my lengthy but humorous poem, please email me your address. My email is my real last name clan7 at yahoo. LMK if you need help figuring out my legit last name.* 

So much for not buying clothes. I did make
 them all commit to getting rid of old stuff
they don't want. I'll update you as improvements
 warrant, so expect never to hear about that again. 

A few days before Christmas the doorbell rang. A woman was standing on my front porch with a beautiful floral display. It was wintery and oblong with a bunch of evergreens and a candle in the center. I was SO surprised. As I reached out to take it, she said:  DELIVERY FOR MARYANN AND MARK. Oh.My.Gosh. It was for Mary Ann and her hubby. I pointed the woman in the right direction. She was so apologetic. I was like HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. 

Curly:  YOU SHOULD'VE KEPT IT.  *lest you think my kid is an ill-mannered monster, she was kidding. 

The thought of Mary Ann never having the manners to thank someone for the center piece gift because it was delivered to my house in error had me giggling . . . like a maniac.

My birthday is tomorrow, December 30th. 

(or as my friend Kari would say, IT'S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH, BITCHES . . . that just doesn't work for me though. People are too busy to entertain my birthday requests for a month).

I'm planning to post something, probably funny and short (famous last words?). I'm not gonna lie, my birthday is often glossed over. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to comment on my birthday post. It can be simple or maybe you can tell me your favorite post (from my blog - that was implied, right) or make a request for an upcoming post. If you've never left a comment, THIS is the day. Get excited. I might not respond to your comments till Friday since I'm sure my offspring will refuse to let me lift a finger - even on a keyboard. Thanks in advance.