December 29 - “That’s when it happened …”

We started the day off right. Christmas Day tradition and all. That means breakfast bread (aka monkey bread) and cinnamon rolls on the side. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the finished product breakfast bread this time. We bought a different brand of biscuit (Only kind available), and the permeability just wasn’t the same. It could probably have been salvaged with another half stick of butter or so.  Now, it’s not that it tasted bad. On that front … it was awesome as usual. Just needed to be juicier. Hence, more butter.

 

Zak and I went to Walmart to get some distilled water for Chris’ c-pap machine. Caleb came along for the ride. They were quite impressed with the unique ambiance of the truck. As we went to check out, I chose a line (Self-serve, of course) where three workers were kind of hanging out.  One was actually pacing back and forth.  I told them we saw them all hanging out, and we wanted to come to the party.  Fortunately, they took it in the good-natured way it was intended. One of them said she still had five hours to go, and she was bored.  I asked her how she could possibly be bored while working at Walmart. Her friend added, “Yeah.  Especially THIS Walmart.” My point exactly, my new friend. By the way, Zak did great driving.

 

Here's a quote from AnnaGrace.  I completely missed the context.  Sorry.

“Como estas ocho grande pucho”

 

Our Christmas gift giving went great. Sam was amazed at the flurry of gifts flying across the room as each family shared their bounty. When all other gifts were dispersed, Nathan approached us with one other in his hand. But before he presented it. He said, “There is one other gift for you in the backyard, Dad.”  And sure enough, there in its box was a brand-new barbecue grill. And then he handed me final gift. It was a basketball. Interesting, at best. But it gets better. He also added that my final gift was in the bed of his truck … one of those full-sized basketball goals. Gotta say, I was flabbergasted. Guess they want me to stay in shape so I can cook when they all come over? More likely it gives the kids something to play. While the Dads all worked on putting the grill together, Cailyn and Zak (with moral support from Micah) actually put the whole basketball contraption together. Uncle Nathan did come in at the end and help with the power tool screwdriver, but those two can certainly claim ownership. Nice job.  Oh … and the Dad gifts for the old guys were fun as usual. It was great adding Sam to the mix.

 

Back to basketball … It wasn’t long before a game was organized.  5 on 5 basketball in the street. Uncle Josh and Uncle Kel joined in the fun.  I watched from the expensive box seats (aka: the handicap shower seat I hastily found in the garage). One of the neighbors even came over to watch for a while. No idea who the ultimate victor was.  But fun was had by all.

 

The fun didn’t exactly last, however.  At least not for Uncle Nathan.  Later, as everyone got ready to return to their respective homes, several of us went outside to move the car and place the goal up near the house. Nathan grabbed the goal pole and attempted to pull it down to the rolling position. That’s when it happened. The apparatus came apart and the entire top half fell down upon his head. I had a few flashbacks to high school when a similar thing happened to me.  I ended up with an untold number of stitches and a broken nose. Nathan, however, came out of it with just a sore rear end and maybe a crack or two in his pride armor.  What we did discover was, the pole itself seemed to be defective.  We were actually very blessed that no one else was hurt by a toppling backboard. Nathan is going to see about returning the whole thing or at least getting a replacement pole.  Whew.  Scary.

 

Everyone finally got loaded up and on the road.  Josh and his crew were on their way to Crosby for their final Christmas experience there.  Kel and his crew headed back to LaMarque.  Nathan and April and Cailyn went around the corner for a brief visit with some good friends before they headed to Santa Fe. Chris and I did a preliminary, cursory cleaning of the house before collapsing onto the couch. Long day, but a fun one. Let’s do it again in about a year …

 

Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

 

Father, thank you for family get-togethers. I love the chaos and the conclusion.  Amen.