Christmas Trip
Strength, I seem to play hide-and-seek with my strength some days. I have days where I feel like my old, invincible, bullet-proof, strong, German self. Then there are the other days when the tears flow and I want to crawl into a dark cave and never come out. Thankfully I have Liliuokalani. She knows or maybe senses from another room as soon as the tears start and she comes running up to me to lick my tears away and console me. Once the tears stop Lili goes back to what ever she was doing before. Kelekona is my shadow and is seldom more than a few feet away from me. When I sit on the sofa she just about lays on top of me. They both sleep with me at night. They give me strength.
Nevertheless, I knew in the deepest part of my heart that for me to spend Christmas and New Year's alone in the house with the memory of all the love and laughter that is gone would not be a smart thing. So,,,I called Nan and told her that the girls and I would be coming down to spend several days for Hanukkah and Christmas.
We packed up and hit the highway, along with several million other people and several thousand Packers fans. I know the Packers fan for a fact because when the Packers played the Bucs on the 21st in Tampa, roughly 40,000 Bucs season ticket holders had sold their seats to Packer fans and the Packer fans were all on I-75 with me on Saturday night.
Anyway, Nan and I relaxed on Sunday and watched the Bucs lose to the Packers. After a 13-1/2 hour drive on Saturday I was very happy to not be going anywhere on Sunday.
Monday the 22nd we took all four dogs to a nearby dog park. Lili has Nan well taught in the game of fetch.
When we left the dog park, Nan's two Pugs hopped into the passenger front seat so I had to sit in the back seat with my girls. Lili, being the queen, insisted on laying down, leaving no where for Kele to sit except on top of Lili. And this is how we rode home from the dog park.
The night I had arrived I told Nan about a house a couple of blocks away that looked like the Griswalds lived there it was so lit up. After dinner we walked down to check out the lights. Nan knocked on their door to thank them for all their efforts. Imagine our surprise when we found out they used to live in Boone, NC and their children went to App State.
They had put lots and lots of lights out. It was really a sight to see.
They even had a hippo which made me think of the Christmas song about wanting a hippo for Christmas.
2 doors down from Nan's house these people also put out a lot of lights. My guest room window faced their yard so when I crawled into bed at night, I turned out the light, opened the blinds and looked at their yard like a little kid.
Other neighbors took all the lights they didn't know what to do with and wrapped this pillar at the edge of their driveway.
One night we decided to drive over to view a large Christmas light display. We had friends come over to go with us and then eat dinner afterwards. Nan dressed her pugs up in their bow ties. The light display will be entirely different post.
For Christmas Eve dinner I bought a bottle of champagne and Nan bought the food. I made Osso Bucco, or braised veal shanks, in the crockpot. I served them over roasted garlic mashed potatoes and Nan made roasted broccoli to go with it. What a wonderful meal.
Christmas Day we were invited to a friend's condo for an incredible dinner. The table was set complete with small gifts for each of us.
They also had a Menorah since one of them and Nan are Jewish. It was a great mixing of both holidays. I would however love to steal their martini neon light.
Nevertheless, I knew in the deepest part of my heart that for me to spend Christmas and New Year's alone in the house with the memory of all the love and laughter that is gone would not be a smart thing. So,,,I called Nan and told her that the girls and I would be coming down to spend several days for Hanukkah and Christmas.
We packed up and hit the highway, along with several million other people and several thousand Packers fans. I know the Packers fan for a fact because when the Packers played the Bucs on the 21st in Tampa, roughly 40,000 Bucs season ticket holders had sold their seats to Packer fans and the Packer fans were all on I-75 with me on Saturday night.
Anyway, Nan and I relaxed on Sunday and watched the Bucs lose to the Packers. After a 13-1/2 hour drive on Saturday I was very happy to not be going anywhere on Sunday.
Monday the 22nd we took all four dogs to a nearby dog park. Lili has Nan well taught in the game of fetch.
When we left the dog park, Nan's two Pugs hopped into the passenger front seat so I had to sit in the back seat with my girls. Lili, being the queen, insisted on laying down, leaving no where for Kele to sit except on top of Lili. And this is how we rode home from the dog park.
The night I had arrived I told Nan about a house a couple of blocks away that looked like the Griswalds lived there it was so lit up. After dinner we walked down to check out the lights. Nan knocked on their door to thank them for all their efforts. Imagine our surprise when we found out they used to live in Boone, NC and their children went to App State.
They had put lots and lots of lights out. It was really a sight to see.
They even had a hippo which made me think of the Christmas song about wanting a hippo for Christmas.
2 doors down from Nan's house these people also put out a lot of lights. My guest room window faced their yard so when I crawled into bed at night, I turned out the light, opened the blinds and looked at their yard like a little kid.
Other neighbors took all the lights they didn't know what to do with and wrapped this pillar at the edge of their driveway.
One night we decided to drive over to view a large Christmas light display. We had friends come over to go with us and then eat dinner afterwards. Nan dressed her pugs up in their bow ties. The light display will be entirely different post.
For Christmas Eve dinner I bought a bottle of champagne and Nan bought the food. I made Osso Bucco, or braised veal shanks, in the crockpot. I served them over roasted garlic mashed potatoes and Nan made roasted broccoli to go with it. What a wonderful meal.
Christmas Day we were invited to a friend's condo for an incredible dinner. The table was set complete with small gifts for each of us.
They also had a Menorah since one of them and Nan are Jewish. It was a great mixing of both holidays. I would however love to steal their martini neon light.
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