Trees Up to Airborne Son

For some reason the inhabitants of the house were late risers yesterday.  If I had to guess it probably had something to do with the events of Friday night, just guessing – read yesterday’s blog for more details.  The one person who did get up really early was the Keene Friend who pulled one of his early morning disappearing acts again.  There was evidence that before he left he did take Buddy out for one of their early morning walks, that’s how he rolls.

The Cracker Barrel Crowd Recovering From Friday Exertions

When everybody finally did arise to greet the day we bundled everybody into the car for a Cracker Barrel breakfast although it was closer to lunch time.  We settled for declaring it a brunch so as to protect the reputations of those involved.  Cracker Barrel performed the requisite task and the abiding theme of the weekend so far – allowing us to leave completely stuffed with food.

Airborne Son Scaring the Hell out of his Mother

A short respite at home was spent watching first my son’s and then the MEF’s airborne experiences.  They both did a tandem jump and had the commemorative videos to prove it.  The funniest part was watching my wife watch her son exit the aircraft.  We assured her that he survived the jump which did nothing to assuage her anxiety.  She firmly established a ground rule that all future jumping was to be conveyed to her only after the event – she wanted no prior knowledge.

Airborne MEF

The younguns all headed to see Catching Fire while the wife and I were commissioned to obtain the family Christmas tree.  This can be a trying event as I am not a totally amiable shopping partner and my wife is nothing if not the consummate shopper.  The first one I liked she pronounced was “too fat”.   

Foreseeing a long (and cold) session ahead of me I turned for help to the owner’s daughter.  I said we were looking for a tree the same height at the fat one but skinnier.  She proudly proclaimed that she’s been doing it for thirty years and would return with “our tree”.  Wonder of wonders, she did exactly that.  They unwrapped the tree, spread it out and allowed my wife the requisite five minutes to try and find something wrong with it.  She failed and loved the tree.  A new land record was established for our family Christmas tree buying.

My Wife Next to the Tree

When we pulled into the yard the neighbors, eyeing the size of the tree, came out to offer assistance.  My wife explained that I was reluctant to accept even her help but that we would manage; and we did just that with only minor muscle aches but my pride intact. 

Lights On

My wife had spent the morning directing us in repositioning the furniture in the family room to accept the tree.  I was a little upset that the couch was moved to the far side of the room from the television but had to admit even from the new distance it’s still awesome.

Ladies Decorating

Once I got the tree up, anchored to prevent another fall onto the wife (when is she going to stop reminding me about that!) and the lights on I felt my work was done.  A dinner followed with the returned kids (sadly minus son and MEF who ran home) where we watched the incredible end of the Auburn-Alabama game where hubris caught up with the Alabama coach, in spades.

My Son in Law and I Offering Cogent Advice to the Decorators Around Explosions

My son in law and I took up resident on the recently moved couch to watch a Christmas movie while my daughter and her friend launched on a tree decorating frenzy for which they volunteered.  It was to the dulcet tones of Die Hard in the background we watched the ladies transform the tree into something really special.  Like the rest of this weekend so far.

Which Were Rightfully Ignored