christmas recovery

christmas was wonderful!!  my parents arrived on christmas eve day and we packed the presents they brought under the already packed tree.  then, a bit later, we packed ourselves into our car and drove south to duncan where tobin's family lives.  his grandmother had invited all of her children and their children and their children over for an evening of merriment and snacks.  the house was packed and we all had a lot of fun.  i enjoyed seeing one of my dearest friends and her children.  i met jennifer when we were 11 and in the sixth grade.  i had just moved back to the united states and had really never even thought about the state, oklahoma. having lived in germany for nearly 4 years, i was in culture shock for much of that first year. she lived  in my neighborhood and we soon became good friends.  we were always together for the remainder of our school lives there.  crazily enough, she started dating tobin's cousin, mark, when we were seniors.  they eventually married one year after tobin and i.  i find this very lucky...i will always get to see her and will have a hard time losing touch.  i don't see her as often as i would like, but cherish the times we do get together. 

tobin's mom and and aunt traveled to the mediterranean a couple of months ago and she was thinking ahead and brought back some amazing gifts for us wrapped up for christmas.  she has this beautiful inlaid wooden piece of a vase of flowers that is completely amazing and that i have always admired.  it is amazing to me that this medium of art is even possible especially done in such precise and tiny detail.  she brought US back a beautiful inlaid wooden piece!  i am so excited about it!  it was made by an artist in sorrento, italy.  the artist's shop walked them through the entire process.  she also brought us a beautiful spoon rest from palermo, italy.  the artist has signed the back, "tre erre"...which i believe translates as "three r".  i have already used it and washed it and used it and washed it...etc.  thank you thank you thank you!

we headed back to norman town that evening, avery slightly irritated that we could not teleport ourselves and instead had to drive the 75 miles.  he was READY to get santa's treats set out and for him to drift into the land of slumber.  

he woke us up at about 6am ready to get to work.  santa brought each of us (including the fish, guinea pigs, dog, and cat) lovely treats and presents.  one of avery's favorite gifts (not from santa) is an "xtracycle".  he plays the percussion at school and the instrument is like a large piece of carry on luggage.  he lugs it back and forth on the back baskets of an old english bike. it is quite awkward.  "while the standard bicycle is well-known as a low-cost, non-polluting mode of transportation available to most the world's population, it's value as a utility vehicle is yet to be fully realized.  the xtracycle is a fixture that can be attached to, or detached from, virtually any existing bicycle, elongating it's frame and readying it for a burden.  the resulting extended-wheelbase vehicle retains the simple efficiency of the bicycle while greatly increasing its effectiveness.  a modular plug-in rack system makes it possible to configure the xtracycle for hauling loads that where previously considered too long, heavy, bulky, perishable, fragile, or important to be transported by bicycle.  an xtracycle-equipped bike can haul groceries, packages, lumber, computers, passengers, water, firewood, cellos, bread, and nearly any other cargo on rugged terrain.  the device will handle loads of up to 200 lbs (400 lbs with an optional heavy-duty rear wheel), while maintaining the handling characteristics of a mountain bike." (http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/bicycle.asp).  i cannot wait for him to get used to it so he can haul me around like i did him for years and years!

my parents, knowing my love of kitchen gadgets, gave me a beautiful set of bamboo cooking spoons, forks, etc.  also, some lovely pasta that i plan to cook for dinner tonight.  having them here with us was the best gift they could have given us.  it was very special to cook christmas dinner with my mom while enjoying the merriment coming from the basement as my dad, tobin, and avery played.  we had a wonderful dinner with wonderful company.  thank you thank you thank you!

christmas was wonderful!!