Christmas Eve

[First Christmas presents of the year! OK, the Super just handed them to me. No gift wrapping . . . at my age I’m subject to paper cuts. I’m not sure who she hired to be the model?]

[And we heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, “Merry Christmas to all and . . . thanks for the Moet & Chandon Imperial and 2 Guys Pizza; it was a nice alternative to milk and cookies!”]

[Why three posted photos?  Because the fruit basket is from the Indiana grandparents and they want to see Jami!  Thanks again, Fran and Ed!]

[Do friends from the “old days” recognize their presents still in use today?  The crystal champagne flutes?  The wine glass candle?]

[My annual attempt at being artsy.]

[OK, you can each open one present!]

[I get to go first . . . I don’t know why?  OK, I’ve been fussin’ for a while about the one thing I wanted – another mouse!  I have a notebook and a laptop but have had only one mouse for a while – and it’s tough to move it back and forth between them (depending on whether I’m using my left brain or my right brain) getting that thingee out of the USB port.  So I got one . . . and a new oriental carpet mouse pad!]

[Then the Super opened hers, which must be some sort of crafty thing?]

[And Jami got wow-wow pants from Mom!  Danny opted to just be the photographer for the night.]

[And Lucky got . . . well, I think he’s trying to figure it out.]

Christmas Day

[As posted on Facebook:  Merry Jewish Christmas! Just saw Star Wars & it was phenomenal. Now we’re awaiting some spring rolls, hot sour soup, and entrees at Great Hunan. Yum!  ~  Jami;    We had a wonderful, restful Christmas. No cooking!  ~  The Super;   And my fortune was: “You have a charming way with words. Write a letter this week.”  ~  Cub Reporter  (Editor’s note: A lot of Jewish Christmases were going on – the theater and Hunan were both packed!)]

Day After Christmas

[We had an off-white Christmas. Our existing snow needed a touch-up. We got it Christmas night and the next morning.  On FB: A drift on our bedroom deck. I’m sure the Super will be out to shovel it as soon as it’s light. I’ll stay inside where it’s warm and cozy to blog about it.]

[FB:  So, under a winter weather advisory, let the blogging begin!]

[Then the ladies and I went out and got to work in our winter wonderland.]

[And the Super made sure her feathered (and furried) friends had enough to eat (she so worries about them).]

[Driveway cleared, I was able to partake of the alumni girls hockey (a/k/a, our “granddaughters”) scrimmage that afternoon – the Super stayed home because her Hoosiers were playing in a TV bowl game.]

[I think this has been an annual event – it’s basically just a pick-up game for whoever is home for the holidays.  And varsity players fill-in so they have enough for a game.  They were playing 4-on-4 with a couple others available for shift changes.  Now, a day later off the top of my head, the alums included Ashley Holmes, Kat DelZoppo, Melissa Drown, Alia Kopischke, Taylor Ellingson, Rachel Drew, Brooke Aaberg, Micaela Swenson, and I hope I didn’t forget anybody?  I’m not going to pretend I remember all their graduation dates, but Ashley and Kat were 2008 (the state champion team) and Brooke was 2012 (from her mom).  The varsity players were Amy Jost (the only goalie), Kristin Trosvig, McKenzie Revering, and Kaitlin Leary.  ID’ing them all wasn’t easy – they have helmets on and no roster jerseys – but with the help of Kristin’s dad, and Melissa’s and Brooke’s moms, I think we got them all.  Below, 45 is Micaela, 14 is Kat, and 20 is Amy.]

[Ashley circles around here.]

[2 is Brooke.]

[Green jersey is Kaitlin, tan jersey is Kristin, 13 in red is Alia.]

[2 is Taylor, blue jersey is Melissa.  Below McKenzie has a big smile on her face keeping up with Melissa.  Is any of this helping?]

[That may be Rachel shooting with Brooke behind her.]

[Ashley may have just shot and Amy’s looking to see if she got it.]

[Hmmmmm?]

[As Ashley skated toward us, she gave a smile of, “How’d I miss that shot?”]

[Melissa (15) is playing club hockey at the ‘U’ – that’s pretty big time hockey.  Her mom said she loves it down there.]

[Ashley is coaching hockey at Augsburg.]

[Taylor is playing softball at St. Ben’s.]

[McKenzie is a junior still playing for the Cards and has committed to UMD in two years.]

[Brooke shares some veteran defenseman advice with Kaitlin.]

[I got a chance to chat a bit with Alia during a short “period” break.  She misses hockey, plays whenever she can – the alums play intra-mural hockey if possible but, like Alia, wish there’d be more ice time available for women’s leagues.  Yeah, two more sheets of ice in Alex oughta do it.]

[And leaving you with Kat.  I hadn’t planned on staying for the full scrimmage (only a little over an hour), but the players were having a lot of fun with each other.  I couldn’t tell if any trash talk was going on, but I finally figured out their “whoops.”  Sometimes the ole synapses aren’t firing on all cylinders, but I finally figured it out in the “3rd period” that the whoops were for hitting the pipes.  Since there was only one goalie, the team shooting at the empty goal could only score by hitting the pipes – early on I was wondering why so many shots were missing the empty net – then was surprised at how many times they actually could hit the pipes!]

Day After The Day After Christmas

[The presents are still under the tree as we await the arrival of the grandson next weekend for the family Christmas.]

Aren’t we forgetting the true meaning of this day – the birth of Santa?  ~ Bart Simpson (Matt Groening)

Up next:  Back to Hawaii?