Thanksgiving Festivities
I have recently returned from a wonderful fun-filled weekend with family! And now I shall share a few of my favorite memories with you.
Esme (my new car -- short for Esmerelda) and I set off on our adventure Wednesday afternoon once I finished work and obtained a check from the mailbox. The drive home was fairly uneventful, although I did pass several accidents and saw many highway patrol cars monitoring traffic. Fortunately following the speed limit posted seemed to avoid undue attention from these officers and no questions were asked about my 30 day tag that supposedly expired January 1st of 2010. At least I have all the papers to prove that the purchase transaction did not occur until a few short days ago. Try 2011...
As mentioned in earlier posts, I did not anticipate being able to make it home for Thanksgiving this year, so this was an extra special time to be with family. I was especially excited about the prospect of spending time with the Kliewer side of the family in Oklahoma celebrating traditions that I remember from my childhood. Specifically eating delicious food until unable to speak or move (I may be exaggerating a bit, but not by much) and going out to the pasture for a chili cookout and s'mores by the bonfire was anticipated. Being adult and responsible and all that entails, I haven't been able to participate in these activities for several years. Can I share a secret? Every other year we all make the trek down to OK for this gathering and usually most of us stay at the church for at least one night. We are always given instructions on where we are not allowed to be, and one of those places is 'the Parlour.' The parlour is a lovely little room used for weddings, showers and the like with plush carpet, fancy couches and chairs and a chandelier suspended from the ceiling.I am a rebel by nature and my first instinct when told something is off limits is to try to figure out how to get in. Now, amazingly enough, I never have tried to slip into the parlour before...but this time was different. My sister, second cousins and I are now responsible adult women who know better than to instigate pillow fights or spill dark red substances onto the immaculate carpet. So why couldn't we handle being in the parlour just this once? We reasoned that there were many more people staying at the church, and better us than unruly little girls or sweaty boys. In the end that reasoning won out and we finally realized a dream and *gasp* stayed in the parlour. Now I can cross that off my bucket list! One small flaw in our otherwise excellently carried out plan. The janitor just happened to be at the church the following morning and not only noticed our luggage, but actually caught us going in/coming out of the parlour. Uh oh...
We also played a game called Compatibility, which claimed to be "arguably the best game of the decade!" I disagree, but it was amusing for a short while. The basic concept of the game was similar to 'Apples to Apples' with a twist. Instead of using descriptive nouns we had expression cards -- cards with random pictures depicting nature scenes, dumpsters, a shirtless old man, abstract art, shapes, a parking garage, couples kissing, places of worship and a distraught little girl...to name a few. The matcher would pick a number to designate which word would be described and then all the players would pick the cards they felt best showed that word. Everyone was trying to predict the cards the matcher would pick and then we all ranked the cards from strongest to weakest, then flipped them over and obtained points based on how many cards were the same as the matcher's cards. Oddly enough, the shirtless old man made several appearances throughout the game. I know I did a poor job explaining, but hopefully the idea that this game was a little quirky has been conveyed to my readers. It might interest some of you to know that I chose a picture of a person in a creepy bunny suit for "things that make me feel insecure."
Probably my proudest accomplishment of the weekend is completing a 550 piece puzzle in less than two hours! We call it 'speed puzzling' and use very different techniques than the usual leisurely assembling of a puzzle. If you need us we are available for your next family gathering, and we only charge a small speed puzzling fee. Please book us ahead of time, as our schedule fills up quickly.
And now, after such thrilling escapades I am quite weary. So without further ado I shall retire to my cozy bed for some much needed beauty sleep. Until next time I bid you adieu!
~Liz
PS- This post was light and humorous. Next I shall write about the serious events that took place and reflect on the abundant gifts God has given to us.
Esme (my new car -- short for Esmerelda) and I set off on our adventure Wednesday afternoon once I finished work and obtained a check from the mailbox. The drive home was fairly uneventful, although I did pass several accidents and saw many highway patrol cars monitoring traffic. Fortunately following the speed limit posted seemed to avoid undue attention from these officers and no questions were asked about my 30 day tag that supposedly expired January 1st of 2010. At least I have all the papers to prove that the purchase transaction did not occur until a few short days ago. Try 2011...
As mentioned in earlier posts, I did not anticipate being able to make it home for Thanksgiving this year, so this was an extra special time to be with family. I was especially excited about the prospect of spending time with the Kliewer side of the family in Oklahoma celebrating traditions that I remember from my childhood. Specifically eating delicious food until unable to speak or move (I may be exaggerating a bit, but not by much) and going out to the pasture for a chili cookout and s'mores by the bonfire was anticipated. Being adult and responsible and all that entails, I haven't been able to participate in these activities for several years. Can I share a secret? Every other year we all make the trek down to OK for this gathering and usually most of us stay at the church for at least one night. We are always given instructions on where we are not allowed to be, and one of those places is 'the Parlour.' The parlour is a lovely little room used for weddings, showers and the like with plush carpet, fancy couches and chairs and a chandelier suspended from the ceiling.I am a rebel by nature and my first instinct when told something is off limits is to try to figure out how to get in. Now, amazingly enough, I never have tried to slip into the parlour before...but this time was different. My sister, second cousins and I are now responsible adult women who know better than to instigate pillow fights or spill dark red substances onto the immaculate carpet. So why couldn't we handle being in the parlour just this once? We reasoned that there were many more people staying at the church, and better us than unruly little girls or sweaty boys. In the end that reasoning won out and we finally realized a dream and *gasp* stayed in the parlour. Now I can cross that off my bucket list! One small flaw in our otherwise excellently carried out plan. The janitor just happened to be at the church the following morning and not only noticed our luggage, but actually caught us going in/coming out of the parlour. Uh oh...
We also played a game called Compatibility, which claimed to be "arguably the best game of the decade!" I disagree, but it was amusing for a short while. The basic concept of the game was similar to 'Apples to Apples' with a twist. Instead of using descriptive nouns we had expression cards -- cards with random pictures depicting nature scenes, dumpsters, a shirtless old man, abstract art, shapes, a parking garage, couples kissing, places of worship and a distraught little girl...to name a few. The matcher would pick a number to designate which word would be described and then all the players would pick the cards they felt best showed that word. Everyone was trying to predict the cards the matcher would pick and then we all ranked the cards from strongest to weakest, then flipped them over and obtained points based on how many cards were the same as the matcher's cards. Oddly enough, the shirtless old man made several appearances throughout the game. I know I did a poor job explaining, but hopefully the idea that this game was a little quirky has been conveyed to my readers. It might interest some of you to know that I chose a picture of a person in a creepy bunny suit for "things that make me feel insecure."
Probably my proudest accomplishment of the weekend is completing a 550 piece puzzle in less than two hours! We call it 'speed puzzling' and use very different techniques than the usual leisurely assembling of a puzzle. If you need us we are available for your next family gathering, and we only charge a small speed puzzling fee. Please book us ahead of time, as our schedule fills up quickly.
And now, after such thrilling escapades I am quite weary. So without further ado I shall retire to my cozy bed for some much needed beauty sleep. Until next time I bid you adieu!
~Liz
PS- This post was light and humorous. Next I shall write about the serious events that took place and reflect on the abundant gifts God has given to us.
posted by Liz at
00:26
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