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We didn't do anything fancy today, just all went to my sister P's house for informal dinner (meatballs, mashed potatoes, lots of sweet stuff) and presents. Last night we were all supposed to go to an aunt's house about 20 miles away for our annual Christmas Eve gathering but because of the weather forecast (and Irish feeling miserable with an abscessed tooth - he's on antibiotics and pain killers but still feels bad) we skipped out. I had bought a very small cake to take but took it today, instead. (When we were kids, my mom always baked a cake and decorated it to say "Happy Birthday Jesus," with candles - we'd sing Happy Birthday and have cake with our dinner. I've kept up the tradition of the birthday cake, though it's gotten increasingly smaller over the years because there are just so many other goodies that most people don't eat the cake.)
Today I called P to tell her we were running late (what a surprise, ha) and mentioned that I had a cake from last night that I was bringing. Turns out she'd already baked and decorated a full size cake but said to bring mine anyway and asked if it said happy birthday on it. I said it did and she said, "Oh good, that'll make Jenna happy - she's mad because I didn't bake her a cake." (Jenna turned 18 on Wednesday - she had one cake earlier this month at our monthly Sunday at mom's, pizza at home with presents on Wednesday, and will have her birthday tea party - with another cake - at mom's next month. It's not as if she's been forgotten!) I mentioned that it said "Happy Birthday Jesus," to which P replied "Close enough!" There was actually just enough icing gel left in the little tube to scrape off the S-U-S and write N-N-A, so it said "Happy Birthday Jenna" when we got to my sister's. P brought the cake to the table and said, "Jenna, look what Aunt Colleen brought you!" Jenna: "Thanks Aunt Colleen! Did that say 'Jesus' and you scraped it off?" Me: "Just the last three letters!" But she laughed and was happy with it anyway.
Later while we were playing a game ("Fact or Crap" - a trivia game) mom was telling us that she hadn't realize how many things you can do with a cucumber - cleaning windows, getting marks off the floor - till a friend told her about it and then told us to just look up on the Internet "what you can do with a cucumber." The three of us told her no, we really didn't want to look up what to do with a cucumber on the Internet. There's no way that search would end well!
The hysterical laughter part came in while we were talking about Louis Braille (he came up in the trivia game). I know - one wouldn't generally think there was anything remotely funny about someone who pokes his eye with an awl and goes blind at the age of three then eventually invents writing for the blind. We're not horrible, really! Just very prone to laughter. Back when we lived in Texas (about 20 years ago), mom, P, and I decided we couldn't sit together in church anymore after one evening service when the pastor made a very funny joke during the announcements. Everyone laughed, then everyone else stopped laughing and settled down - and the three of us couldn't. We managed not to make any noise, but the pew was shaking from the three of us laughing and as soon as one of us managed to stop, the other two would set it off again. I think that went on for several minutes. Very embarrassing! Still, better to be prone to laughter together, I suppose, than to tears!
Back home now and very tired. It was a good day. Lots of laughter (even if some was really inappropriate), lots of homemade goodies, and everyone got a few presents. Plus both Jesus and Jenna got birthday cakes. Doesn't get much better than that!
Today I called P to tell her we were running late (what a surprise, ha) and mentioned that I had a cake from last night that I was bringing. Turns out she'd already baked and decorated a full size cake but said to bring mine anyway and asked if it said happy birthday on it. I said it did and she said, "Oh good, that'll make Jenna happy - she's mad because I didn't bake her a cake." (Jenna turned 18 on Wednesday - she had one cake earlier this month at our monthly Sunday at mom's, pizza at home with presents on Wednesday, and will have her birthday tea party - with another cake - at mom's next month. It's not as if she's been forgotten!) I mentioned that it said "Happy Birthday Jesus," to which P replied "Close enough!" There was actually just enough icing gel left in the little tube to scrape off the S-U-S and write N-N-A, so it said "Happy Birthday Jenna" when we got to my sister's. P brought the cake to the table and said, "Jenna, look what Aunt Colleen brought you!" Jenna: "Thanks Aunt Colleen! Did that say 'Jesus' and you scraped it off?" Me: "Just the last three letters!" But she laughed and was happy with it anyway.
Later while we were playing a game ("Fact or Crap" - a trivia game) mom was telling us that she hadn't realize how many things you can do with a cucumber - cleaning windows, getting marks off the floor - till a friend told her about it and then told us to just look up on the Internet "what you can do with a cucumber." The three of us told her no, we really didn't want to look up what to do with a cucumber on the Internet. There's no way that search would end well!
The hysterical laughter part came in while we were talking about Louis Braille (he came up in the trivia game). I know - one wouldn't generally think there was anything remotely funny about someone who pokes his eye with an awl and goes blind at the age of three then eventually invents writing for the blind. We're not horrible, really! Just very prone to laughter. Back when we lived in Texas (about 20 years ago), mom, P, and I decided we couldn't sit together in church anymore after one evening service when the pastor made a very funny joke during the announcements. Everyone laughed, then everyone else stopped laughing and settled down - and the three of us couldn't. We managed not to make any noise, but the pew was shaking from the three of us laughing and as soon as one of us managed to stop, the other two would set it off again. I think that went on for several minutes. Very embarrassing! Still, better to be prone to laughter together, I suppose, than to tears!
Back home now and very tired. It was a good day. Lots of laughter (even if some was really inappropriate), lots of homemade goodies, and everyone got a few presents. Plus both Jesus and Jenna got birthday cakes. Doesn't get much better than that!
