We finished the year strong with a Penn State football playoff win, deli sandwiches for dinner, a challenging game of Mind the Gap, and party hats. More importantly, we finished – and started – the year together.
Category: December 2024
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December 30
We played Trivial Pursuit tonight. Billy won, but Christina finished the game in a foul mood, promising never to play with me ever again. She got a lot of hard questions and I got a lot of easy ones, and I guess she didn’t see the difference. But then we played That Escalated Quickly, and we’re getting better at that game too. Some of the things we come up with – no, some of the things CHRISTINA comes up with – are incredibly entertaining. I’m glad we got so many games for Christmas. This kind of family time makes me so happy.
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December 29
We went to see Rosina and Dion for some beer and pizza. It’s always nice spending time with friends.
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December 28
This guy showed up in our driveway when we were leaving to see the gingerbread house show downtown. Crossed the road to get here, too.
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December 27
We’ve been enjoying all the games we got for Christmas this year. A particular favorite has been Uno No Mercy, which really is brutal, but enormously fun in its extremism. We have a bunch more games to try out, and luckily no classes or practices to get in the way for at least a week.
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December 26
One of the things I got for Christmas this year was a book of (for me) solvable New York Times crossword puzzles and a mechanical pencil. I have been doing crosswords on my iPad for a while now, but there’s something satisfying about actually writing the answers on paper using a really nice pencil. I don’t have the temptation for hints, and I get to use an eraser sometimes too. Ok, yes, I’m a dork.
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December 25
It was a pretty good day. Santa knows what’s up, y’all. There was a game of Poop involved. How could you go wrong with Poop? Dinner was amazing. Maybe not beautiful, but incredibly delicious. We made a turkey roulade with apples, sausage, and cornbread and a side of fried smashed potatoes. Colleen made a kale salad with cranberries and butternut squash that was incredible. Now it’s almost 8:30 and the day is catching up with me. I got about four hours of sleep on account of Christina waking up an hour after I went to bed, just as I was falling asleep. She woke up Pinot and gave him carrots in his crate, which got him worked up. He whined and barked until I finally took him out and dropped him in Christina’s arms as officially her problem. Within 15 minutes, he was running all over the house, barking. Apparently 2:30am is play time. He woke up Robin, and I probably should have just given up then. At some point I must have fallen asleep without realizing it, because I thought I got up to yell at the kids to go the fuck to bed and don’t get up until real, actual morning. They both said that didn’t actually happen, which I guess is good. They were also nice enough to let me sleep an extra 15 minutes after our agreed-upon 7:15am start time. All said and done, a good Christmas. Christmas is morphing for us right now, and it just goes to show that magic flows where it’s needed, in the way it’s needed, and while it’s not always what we expected, it’s still magic.
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December 24
We did a lot to celebrate Christmas Eve, but we forgot to read T’was the Night Before Christmas! Seems like everything worked out just fine all the same.
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December 22
We did our Christmas food shopping and Christmas baking today, and now there is officially nothing else to do until Christmas. And please god no more spending money. It is astonishing how much we spent on groceries. Dinner better be amazing on Christmas. At least the cookies are pretty good!
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December 21
Today was a lazy day of doing nothing, followed by the Run Santa Run 5k. The girls did the one-mile run (which we walked) and then I did the 5k. I beat my Thanksgiving time by almost five minutes. It was a chilly night (under 50 degrees!). My Santa jacket wouldn’t stay on and my pants kept falling down and I couldn’t fix either because I had my phone and car key in my hand. I ran with Monica, who goes much faster than I do. We hung in together for two miles, but I finally had to set her (and me) free. I think she’s a big part of the reason I finished with such an improved time. We did 60/30 splits, but her running pace during the 60s was over a minute per mile faster than my usual pace. I am so glad I did it, I’m so happy the girls did it, even though Christina was mad at me for not letting her bring her iPad and Robin was too cold to enjoy anything. I feel so good right now, like I can accomplish anything. I kind of already have.
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December 20
Finished all my elfing for the week and now there’s nothing left to do before Christmas except run a 5k, go food shopping, bake four cookie recipes, and cook a three-course Christmas dinner for eight people. I do not know what will occupy my time after December 25.
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December 19
These are but some of the bites I suffered at the mouths of the angry ants I disturbed yesterday. The pain has subsided and now they are just itchy and ugly. And also my entire ankle is swollen. Otherwise, all good!
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December 18
We put up Christmas lights today and I almost died. Apparently I stepped on the home of some very angry ants. I have approximately 35 bites that occurred in a matter of seconds. I had such a violent reaction that I almost passed out right there on the front lawn. I am in so much pain, far worse than when I broke my ankle and needed nine pins and a plate to repair it. But… the house is beautiful. Also the moon got in on the action. Thank you, moon.
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December 17
We made a last-minute decision to build gingerbread houses. The girls, oddly enough, were the most successful. Billy’s house collapsed in an earthquake. Mine was structurally sound, but terribly boring. Robin made the bakery and Christina made the toy shop. I think both are beautiful.
Year in Photos 