Done and Dusted

The Amish evening went wonderfully well. The kids enjoyed the lights, and nobody got carsick, which was a real hazard for excited kids with full bellies who are not used to riding in the back of the car. 

The kids were delighted with their things, and to be honest, the puzzles were a hit. I don't think they quite understood what they were initially. Reuben brought one of the small boxes over. We opened it together, and it was two planks, connected together by beads and twine. He didn't know what it was. I explained that it was a puzzle and that you had to figure out how to get them apart and then put them back together. I puzzled at it for a while and figured it out. He was dumfounded. I offered to show him the secret, and he watched avidly, pushing his siblings away when they tried to peek. He was quite proud of himself and passed it around for the others to puzzle over. Levi was just as fascinated with the puzzles as the kids were, and all of them sat with their heads together working on different puzzles. He said, "These will be a good thing to keep kids busy when there is a blizzard outside, or it is too cold to stay out." Dads too, I think.

Baby David loved the corn pudding, and he was gobbling that down anytime a spoon headed his way. 

Rudy loved his gift bag of new wooden trucks (remember, I'd gotten them at an auction, an entire box of toys for $2. David's toys came from the same box. 

The last time we were out, we stopped in Goodwill. Maddie picked up a comforter, a plain navy blue one. She was pleased with it. The upstairs of their house is not heated and she thought it would be very warm for the children. 

It gave me an idea. Upstairs at my house, packed away, is a 'mink blanket' from Korea. It is a hugely heavy very plush blanket. It is very practical for people who sleep on the floor in a land where the winter winds sweep down from the mountains of China and it is cold, cold cold, bitterly cold. 40+ years later, I still shiver to think of it. The blanket probably weighs 15 lbs and Tim cannot bear the weight of it, and so it has been packed away for all the years of our marriage. 

 I lugged it downstairs and took a look at it. It did have a design on one side. I thought that perhaps Mattie and Grandma could make a cover for it. It would certainly be warm. Perhaps the design side could simply be turned facedown, the backing being a plain lustrous blue. 

So we took it up with supper and with the gifts. Levi was sitting in a rocker in front of the wood stove, little David on his lap, rocking his boy. I said, "I'm not sure if you can use this, but take a look at it..."

They were very taken with its softness, and they even seemed delighted at its thickness and weight. Levi stroked it and joked with the kids, "This will go straight on MY bed..." It sounded like there was some discussion about it. 

On the way home, Tim said, "You did a good job

. Those presents were just perfect." 

And they were. 

Tim and I had Christmas morning to ourselves and that wasn't a bad thing. My son and oldest grandaughter called after opening gifts. Mama had to pull a night shift Christmas eve, so she and the youngest grandaughter were having some much needed nap time. It was a nice Christmas morning, a leisurely breakfast (strata, made the night before and baked Christmas morning.)

For all Tim's fretting, he did just fine. He got me earrings, a very soft nightgown, a great mirror for the bathroom at the new house, lotion and soap. I'm not sure why he worries about things like he does. He always worries that it is the 'wrong thing'. He's a practical sort of guy and he tends to buy practical gifts. One year I got a can opener. But in the course of 26 (27?) Christmases, he generally does alright, and I'm not the sort of person who bitches about gifts. I never can understand people like that. So. 

One of Tim's very most favorite gifts was, believe it or not, a ruler. My daughter and son-in-law sent it from the UK. In reading about it, I discovered that, amazingly, it dates between 1781 and 1838. Tim was about as excited as he could be about that. He's been taking that everywhere to tell people all about it. 

There was dinner with Don and Brianna and William and supper with Tim's daughter and family. By the time that we got home, I was ready to put on my soft nightgown and curl up on the couch by the light of the Christmas tree. We read about Hadrian and his reign (117-138 AD if you are interested) while Tim studied his 'new' Roman coin. 

Boxing day was spent putting up the walls in the new house. Tim is getting a load of 2x4s, and I'll meet him at the new build to unload and get a couple more walls finished. (We have four more to do, and it takes time because we are carefully thinking this through. It is a small house and small places are completely livable...you just need to maximize the space. We are tweaking the design as we go. 

Once the walls are done, Tim will do the wiring. Once the wiring is done, we will take a second look at the window situation, decide where we want the last two, install them, and then we will drywall. 

So, in summation, our Christmas was a fine one.