We Are Off Like A Shot! The Day Is Full!

Posted on Saturday, December 6, 2025 by Paul

I had to work hard for my first bicycle!  I am probably ten years old, so this would be 1954, and I wanted a red two-wheeler.  Well, Dad got me a fantastic bike that I used for years and years.  But getting to it was a problem.

It’s Christmas morning, and I ran to the tree looking for my bike, but alas, no bike.  I went through this year’s activities to see where I was naughty.  Unfortunately, there were many instances of my being maughty.  I chalked up not having a bike under the tree to the long list of indescritions.

I did not cry or pout (Santa would be proud), but I did open the other presents.  But up in the tree was a simple tag without a present.  What is this, torture?   I read the tag attached to what looked like a kite string, which said “FOLLOW ME.”

This was odd, but being a well-behaved child (on Christmas morning), I followed the string.  I will never know whose idea it was, and then Mom and Dad ran the string around the hood, but I will never forget freezing my b00-tocks off following that incredible string.

I had to go through the alley, across the muddy empty lot, down the sidewalk, around May & Brownie’s home, and finally to the front door of my house (look for the red arrows).

Inside the front room, I discovered Mom and Dad had tied the other end of the string to a brand new red 26″ racing bike!  I struck paydirt!

I rode that puppy clear into Jr.  High School, when I discovered two things: 1) girls and 2) bikes were not COOL!

Now is the time to get serious about finishing the decorating.   But first, we did our morning kiss and dance!

We love mornings!

We jumped out of bed, had our morning coffee, and got the decorations to 95% complete before stopping to get ready for today!

First, we are off to South Coast Repertory for “A Christmas Story”.  This visit to South Coast Repertory will be my 30th time seeing the play, and I always look forward to finding minute differences from year to year.

Do you remember last year?  See our website.

We invited 15 family and friends to join us this year!!

After the play, we got VFR to the Elks Lodge for the Christmas Gala!  Do you remember last year?

Ronnie will be DJ’ing, so we know the business will be good for a couple of hours before he changes to “jump up and down, shake, and wiggle” dancing for the younger crowd!

Beware of the DJ!!!

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Today Decorating Goes Into High Gear!

Posted on Friday, December 5, 2025 by Paul

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

It is now 1954 on Christmas Eve, and our family is doing the traditional Christmas Eve activity.  First, some background is required.

Mom and Dad were married twenty years before I came along, and during these twenty years, Dad was known for his poker playing and drinking. So I pop up on the scene, and Mom lays down the law! “Paul (Senior), no more gambling or drinking or else!”

Dad is pretty smart; he took option number one…with a small caveat! Once a year, he could “gamble” (if you call playing poker with the neighbors gambling and once a year, he could have a drink!”

Now that the background has been explained, I’m going to the work Christmas Party on Christmas Eve. We would jump in the old ’53 Pontiac and drive the three miles to Dad’s boss’s home in the Cheviot Hills.  Ralph was Jewish, but he hosted the Christmas party every year.

Ralph was a generous man who gave gifts to all his store managers. I was considered a “special” store manager.

We would arrive around 5:00 pm and celebrate until 8:00 pm, at which time we sent home sans one person; Dad stayed and really celebrated. Dad would stay behind and drink his beloved “High Ball”.  A highball is a cocktail made with a spirit and a larger proportion of a carbonated mixer, served over ice in a tall glass.

The drink is simple, consisting of a base liquor like whiskey, gin, or vodka, mixed with a bubbly non-alcoholic beverage such as soda water, tonic, or ginger ale.  The drink was typically served over ice in a tall, straight-sided glass, known specifically as a highball glass.

Dad, like me, enjoys a Bourbon and Seven!

Mom and I would go home, and a few hours later, the phone would ring. It was someone from the party asking if Mom wanted to pick up Dad or if someone should deliver him home.

Dad was a happy drinker; the more he had, the funnier he got.  He would NEVER think of driving in that condition, so Mom knew he was safe.

Several times, Mom would admonish me to stay away from the presents under the tree while she went to get Dad.  She would be gone about twenty minutes, and during that time I shook, rattled, and rolled every present with my name on it…that was quite a task!  OK, I was an only child and spoiled!

The next day, Dad would wake up happy as a clam with zero handover effects. We would celebrate Christmas morning before going off to have Christmas dinner at Aunt Opie’s.

Oh, yes, gambling?  Dad would go down the street to Knute and Hazel’s house on July 4th and play some serious poker.   Penny-Ante poker was his game.  “Penny ante” means minimal stakes or something trivial/petty, derived from putting just one cent (a penny) into the pot before dealing.

We got up at 6:30 am so we could visit with Robin before she flew the coop and headed out to do her weekend chores. We had coffee and discussed the plans for the day.   We also planned out my birthday dinner on the 13th (just three days early).  Robin departed at 8:00 am for a doctor’s appointment.

My wife is on a new diet.  Coconuts and bananas. She hasn’t lost weight, but can she climb a tree?

We were in the TV room when all of a sudden:

Mama was in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
The Hallmark channel was going strong
We awaited the meeting, fight, and falling in love.

When out on the doorstep, there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the lounge chair to see what was the matter.
Away to the front room window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a delivery truck, and 300 tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Amazon!

It was Santa at the front door, disguised as the Amazon delivery man, and his reindeer looked just like a panel truck!?

Early presents for a good little girl???

We worked on the house decorations until noon, then headed to the gym for our bi-weekly beating!   After the gym, we attacked Ralph’s Market, stocking up on Christmas Eve and Christmas supplies.  We never drink hard liquor at home, but when we poured our eggnog, we wanted to “fix it”.  Search high and low, we had no Scotch, Bourbon, or Whiskey in the entire house.  This problem was remedied!

What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa? A rebel without a Claus.

To save on gas money, we went to the cleaners to drop off my Tommy Bahama Christmas shirts.  After Monday, I will have a stack of Christmas shirts to wear.

As soon as we returned home, we hit the remaining Christmas boxes with a vengeance, and we are now about 80% done.  Mary did a terrific job setting up “Santa’s Village” and arranging the nativity scene.  Tomorrow morning, we will complete the last 20% before our all-day events begin.

We called Colleen, and it was +14 degrees in New Hampshire!

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Busy Busy Busy; I Needs To Retire!!

Posted on Thursday, December 4, 2025 by Paul

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

For the rest of the year, I plan to revisit old Christmas memories (The Ghost of Christmas Past?)  Please laugh and giggle along with me as I navigate my misadventures on the way to adulthood (some people are not sure I have made it yet!).

Christmas Memories:  So it is now 1954, and Dad takes me with him to visit the wholesale toy warehouses from which he bought.  I was (generally) well-behaved, and after walking around the display room, the salesman said, “Go pick out anything you see that you like!”  Wow, in a toy warehouse.  I looked at Dad and said, “Did he say ANYTHING?”  Dad said.  “Yes, he did!”

So I walked around this 30-foot-long table loaded with toys, studying each one very carefully.   Dad said to me, “Hurry up, son, we have other places to visit today!”

OK, I made my decision!  I bent over and pointed to a massive coil of rope under the display table (used by the trucks to tie down their cargo)!

Dad could not believe I chose a rope over a new Red Ryder Wagon, a Davey Crockett Coonskin Cap, a Chemistry set, and other goodies.

NO!  Not Me!  I wanted the rope!  Dad tried his best to talk me out of my selection, but to no avail.  The rope came home with us, and I played with that rope until there was nothing left.  I made elevators that took me to the top of our trees, I made Tarzan swinging vines over LaBalona Creek, I created the world’s first “zip-line” over Comey Avenue, and a thousand other things only the mind of a child could think up!

Dad told that story over and over for years!

SO, THE MORAL TO THE STORY:  If you want to give me a Christmas present, pick up a coil of rope and I will be as happy as a clam!

OK, it is 7:30 am, and we are up and running!  We had our cup of coffee and planned the day, which I thought would be relaxing.  Nope, it’s a typical day for us; running from here to there!

First was the CPAP Technician, who was dropping by for the second time to explain why the CPAP system wasn’t working.  When I entered the hospital, Mary brought my trusty CPAP machine, but the doctors wanted me to have oxygen at the same time.  The respiratory technician at the hospital did something, because since then the machine works fine for 10 minutes, then turns on the afterburners!  It blows so hard my ears pop, and my toupee lifts about 2″ off the top of my head.

It all started several years ago!

After the visit, we headed off for Girls Night Out at the Elks, where we bought tickets for the New Year’s Gala.  We purchased nine tickets for us, the Dudas, the Adams, the Kuhns, and Gail.  We set up for a table of 16; the others will call in their orders.

Just us showing off our musical hats.

We had a super meeting of the minds, even though we had to depart a little early for the doctor’s appointment.  We got New Year’s Eve figured out.

The gang was all here.

The Elks watched over the entrance way.

The Lorateddge was deco.

The staff loved our musical hats and wanted to capture the moment.

The Lodge had a large tree.

From there to the doctor’s office to have him check up on my ablation surgery results.  Duh, if I walked in on my own power, that should be good enough.  We got good news, the old ticker had zero afib, so I am officially off the medication.  In two weeks, we will return to the office and see Dr. Cobb to verify the afib is gon!

I should have worn my hearing aids!

We headed home to decorate the house, and Mary had some last-minute work to do with Robin’s birthday present.

Work work work!

Robin was due in at 4:30 pm, and we decided to go to Yang Ming’s Chinese Restaurant since the food is excellent, the service is superior, and it is only a mile from the house.

We had a wonderful dinner and went home to watch a Christmas movie entitled “Capnip Cafe”.  Going inside, I snapped a quick shot of Jeff’s house to send to him.  Our handyman put up his lights and turned them on at the right time.

Ladies In Waiting?

We crashed around 10:00 pm.

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We Are Having A Mid-Week Crisis!

Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2025 by Paul

Nope; NOT DONE YET!!!

I envisioned the house decorated for the cleaning folks, but alas, many boxes remain, scattered throughout the home.  Domilita and her staff will be here at noon, and hopefully they can find the floor.

To add to the confusion, Mary has a doctor’s appointment at 10:00 in Irvine, meaning we have to depart around 9:00 am because traffic is unknown.

Did You Know?  Early ornaments were often edible, like apples and nuts, while candles were used for light before Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, developed electric lights in 1882.  Other trivia includes the tradition of the Rockefeller Center tree beginning in 1933, the first artificial trees being made of goose feathers, and the fact that a 7-foot tree needs about 80-170 baubles, depending on desired fullness.

On the way back home, we stopped at Benji’s and had brunch.  While driving home, I had a great thought!

Our cleaning staff was almost done when we took off to Trader Joe’s for Egg Nog and to Staples for a software manual.

We headed in to get one thing and came out with many!

Mary made a great dinner from Thanksgiving leftovers, and we then decided NOT to decorate tonight; tomorrow we will start on the decorations as soon as we get up.

We watched two adventure movies instead.  Charles Bronson was excellent in Mr. Majestyk.  Summary: Vince Majestyk (Charles Bronson) is a Vietnam War veteran trying to keep his watermelon farm afloat when he is approached by a crook (Paul Koslo) who tries to force him into employing an inept band of farmhands.  This incident lands Vince in jail for assault. There, he encounters mobster Frank Renda (Al Lettieri) and instantly makes an enemy when he tries to obstruct the mobster’s escape plans.  Vince must stand up for his farm and his workers in the face of Frank’s efforts to eliminate him.

When the movie was over, so were we!  We skipped down the hallway singing Christmas carols.

We always kiss goodnight, but Mary’s beard tickles.

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Decorating Gets Underway, One Day Late!

Posted on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 by Paul

Mary woke up ready to decorate! hic!

We were up and moving at 7:00 am; Mary fixed coffee to get our hearts started, we worked in the office paying bills and taking pills, and then got dressed for the big move!  Seventeen trips back and forth from the garage to the staging area (commonly known as the Family Room).

Before we started, we looked at last year’s photos to decide if we were up to the chore; we are!

Naughty or Nice? I’m aiming for ‘I tried’.

Oh my, we have our work cut out for us!

“Transportation” means Paul and his handy-dandy two-wheeled hand truck! Below is the result of eight trips from the garage to the family room, where serious unpacking and placement begin. We began on Tuesday, the 2nd, with unpacking the major boxes but between Mary’s watercolor class and medical appointments, we got only about 20% of the unpacking accomplished.

After unpacking these, come another ten containers of goodies.

After working so hard, we are officially accepting Christmas cookie donations.

We did NOT get back home until after dark and decided to watch a movie instead of unpacking.  But first, the artwork had to be inspected!

Mary’s latest watercolor was NOT COMPLETED in the class, so she has some additional work to do, but this will give you an idea of the final result.

Mary plans to make the road/river distinguishable.  I need to get her a #1 brush for her detailed work.

Using the magic framer, I made some minor adjustments.

Mary did pay me a compliment on my decorating efforts!

Hey, I tried!!

We rewatched three episodes of “Hart of Dixie” before switching to an Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The movie was made 39 years ago, so he was pretty young.

Summary: When efforts to prosecute mob boss Luigi Patrovita (Sam Wanamaker) are repeatedly derailed thanks to a mole in the FBI, the only choice is to bring in an outsider — specifically, Mark Kaminsky (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a disgraced agent who leaps at a chance for reinstatement. After FBI chief Shannon (Darren McGavin) gives him his orders, Kaminsky fakes his death and reemerges as an ex-con named Brenner. Undercover and accountable to no one, the former Fed tears up the mob from the inside.

The bad guys lose!

We headed to bed around 10:00 pm, just after I took a shower necessary because of my employment in the “Transportation Department”.

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I Was A Cut Up Two Months Ago

Posted on Monday, December 1, 2025 by Paul

Two months ago, Mary hauled me into the ER.  They examined me and decided I needed to get my blood thickened before an operation would be considered, so with two pounds of sawdust and a bag of cotton ingested, I was ready for the horizontal.

On October seventh, the doctor removed 24″ of small intestines and put me on a path to get to my desired 185 pounds, yeah!!  Not the best way to lose 25 pounds of ugly fat, but at least I didn’t have to exercise.

Today was Monday, which meant it was time to get exercised, poked, prodded, and otherwise made fun of.  Yes, it was the gym.  I worked hard and even got a compliment from my trainer!  She said, “Thanks for not making me blow my soft drink through my nose when I saw you on the leg stretcher machine!”

After the gym workout, we went home, and Mary fixed a delightful breakfast.  A few minutes later, we were off again.  Mary had an appointment with the massage therapist.  I waited in the car for about two hours and got many pages of Clive Cussler’s latest book.

Arriving home, we both emptied the garage refrigerator so it could thaw.  The bottom of the fridge wasn’t cooling, so after some research, I decided to turn the unit off for a couple of days to see if the fans/evaporator were blocked by ice.

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Christmas Season Starts Today!

Posted on Sunday, November 30, 2025 by Paul

We must behave.  Santa is watching

We always begin Christmas with a trip to the Curtiss Theater in Brea to hear the Alley Cats in concert!  Our group laughs and giggles, then heads to a local restaurant.

Visit our website for details. 

We both have our musical hats on, and at he touch of a button we can sound like a chorus.

We arrived in full costume.

Vicky and Jim were already there, camera in hand.

Vicky arranged for everything.

The Alley Cats sounded great!  DooWop (or acapella) is a unique singing style that will live forever,

After the intermission, we went back in time to the 1970s.

The boys dressed up in 1970s costumes.

The boys came out to get audience members to join them on stage!  Bon and Donna were selected.

Bob gives the boys some dance hints!!

After the show, the boys came to greet their followers.  Mary finally met Mondo, one of the founders.  I talked to Mondo for a few minutes, reminding him that I have been following him since 1987.

Mary meets Mondo, the founder of the Alley Cats.

Time to dine at Cedar Creek Inn.   We had a great meal with friends and family!

The gang is all here…

Enjoying life…

May and Donna made their wine selections.

The wine selection was great!

After the show and dinner, we were ready to crash.

We were both tired, so we crashed.

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Happy Birthday James!

Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2025 by Paul

James turned 85, and he invited us to his birthday party at Old Ranch for dinner with family and friends.

With a few open hours, we packed away Thanksgiving, relabeled the boxes correctly, and stored them in the garage until we either see Joe or our gardener, who will put them back up in the attic for another year.

We stopped short of bringing in Christmas, that can wait a day!

We got ready to depart for Seal Beach with an ETA of 5:00 pm; we were right on time!

James made a little speech and then pointed me out, laughing at how he could not keep up with my busy “social calendar”.

I told the story of the time James got 85 after nineteen holes, and we were sitting by the fire.  When Robert came out with the drinks, we pointed to James and said, “85 today”.  Poor old Robert began singing Happy Birthday…. this was fifteen years ago!

Introduction of the family!

We had great seats!

I was losing steam after two hours.

James versus the candle!

James won!

I was pooping out around 8:00 pm so we departed early; our friends understood.  Mary napped om the way home but after three Arnold Palmers, I was awake and ready to take on the world.

An Arnold Palmer drink is a nonalcoholic mix of iced tea and lemonade, named after the legendary golfer. The drink originated when Palmer’s wife, Winnie, made it for him, and a woman at a golf course overheard him ordering it and asked for “an Arnold Palmer drink” for herself. The original proportions were about two-thirds iced tea to one-third lemonade, though variations exist

The parking lot had an eerie look as the ground fog had formed, and with the driving range lighting made for a Halloweenish look!

Ground fog is a type of fog, also known as radiation fog, that forms close to the ground. It is a result of the ground cooling significantly overnight, causing the air immediately above it to cool to its dew point and condense into tiny water droplets. This type of fog typically forms on clear, calm nights, particularly during the fall and winter

The ground fog was thick on our way to the car.

We made it back home in about 17 minutes since there was little traffic.  We were too tired to watch TV, so we talked a while and then hit the sack; I needed my beauty sleep!  Mary met a bunch of people I had known via years of playing gold with James, and like a trooper, she introduced herself and ended up having conversations with almost everyone.   Mary is an amazing person, and I am proud to be with her!

I made a decision; I am NOT the arm candy, she is!

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A Wonderful Day Indeed!

Posted on Friday, November 28, 2025 by Paul

We did!!!  The bathroom scale has been banned from showing itself for several weeks!

Two weeks ago, we got a call from Becky (Mary’s youngest daughter), who invited us to a post-Thanksgiving lunch with her and her brother (including their families).  We thought this was wonderful!!

We were up early and got ready to go to the “Irvine Spectrum,” which is a large outdoor shopping mall.

The Irvine Spectrum Center is a lifestyle center developed by the Irvine Company, located in the Irvine Spectrum district on the southeast edge of Irvine, California, United States.  The center features Nordstrom and Target department stores, a Ferris wheel, and a Regal Cinemas 21-screen movie theater.  Built over a 10-year period, the first phase of the center opened in 1995, and the second phase followed in 1998.  The third phase was completed in 2002.  The fourth and fifth phases were built and completed between 2005 and 2006.

What we forgot was that it was “Black Friday” and the place was jammed.  There were police and security everywhere, and signs saying “Parking Lot Full.” We drove around for twenty minutes and decided to go to the parking garage and drive to the third floor, where there were a few potential openings.

Out of the car, we were ready for a short walk to the restaurant, Javier’s.   Did I say short walk??  We should have brought water, a box of MREs, a small tent, and an elephant gun!

The photo was taken from space.

We couldn’t quite read the space map, so we went to a kiosk and downloaded directions to our phones.  We are off with the first stop being the elevators.  So we can adjust our lungs to the altitude difference, we stopped at the second floor and finally at the first floor.

We followed the red brick road and slithered oodles of people standing in lines to go into stores.

We followed the directions.

About 1/3rd of the way there, we ran into the Christmas Tree.  The base of the tree looked to us like a good place to set up camp for the day and continue our journey tomorrow.  However, the invite said 11:00 am on Friday, so we trekked on past the tree and into the narrow corridors, hopefully leading to Javier’s.

Oh my!  It looked small from the satellite photo.

About four hours later, I startled Mary by yelling, “Javier’s Ho!” in my deep sailor voice.  Yes, we arrived!   Having not eaten for days, I was ready to say hello and get down to the gastronomic delights promised in the menu.

The kids were already there.  They called the police and un-reported us as missing.

We got down to serious conversations immediately (immediately after getting our first round of drinks)!

We got to Javier’s about ten minutes late.  Dan and Becky were entertaining the kids.

We had a great time visiting and catching up.  I tried to get a photo of the boys (Adam and Ethan), but alas, they were both being “tickle bugs” and were busy eliciting uproarious laughter from the adults.

David and Kate were ready for some hours d’oeuvers.

Since it was the season, I polished off another three margaritas.  We jabbered for quite a while before heading to the door.

When the police showed up, we told them, “We Were Framed!”

Paul, Ethan, Mary, Becky, Kate, Adam, David, and Dan.

We really enjoyed visiting with family!

Merry Christmas, all.

Mary waited for all the pictures to be taken.

On the way home, I was fading fast, so a nice Security person came and helped Mary get me seated to rest.  They decided to drive us to the car when they heard we were four miles from the parking lot.

The journey to Javier’s was the longest I had attempted since the operation.

They then called for a car, and the driver took us right to the vehicle, thus saving us days, perhaps weeks, of foot travel.  Being smart, on the way to Javier’s, I dropped popcorn so we could find our way back.  Alas, the popcorn was gone thanks to the Santa Ana winds.

To end the visit, I attempted to open the door for Mary and missed a step, going down face-first on the concrete with a clatter like a reindeer on the roof.  People from neighboring cars rushed to my aid, thinking I was “out of it – drunk”.  No such luck, I am still not totally stable on my feet since the operation.

After a few minutes of total humiliation and studying the patterns in the concrete, we managed to get me into the car.  People are so nice when you are in trouble OR they wanted our parking space??

I drove home without incident!

Before going to bed, we went to TCM and decided to watch Goldie Hawn in “Swingshift”.  Summary:  During the Second World War, a navy wife helps the war effort by taking a job in the local aircraft factory, where she meets a man declared unfit for military service who sweeps her off her feet.  When her husband returns on furlough, things become very complicated.

We crashed around 10:30 pm, and tomorrow is another day!

 

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Turkey Day Has Arrived!

Posted on Thursday, November 27, 2025 by Paul

I woke up and immediately screamed, “Activate: Feast Mode!” on my way to the kitchen to find my favorite knife and fork!   Mary almost fell out of bed, but when she saw it was only 6:00 am, she went back to bed (she is a smart girl!).  She did mumble something about “put a sock in it!”

Soon thereafter, we were both awake and sipping on our wake-up juice, often referred to as coffee, that black elixir that comes from the coffee bean.

Did You Know?  Coffee is thought to date back to 800 A.D., when 9th-century goat herders discovered it.  The herders noticed their goats eating the plant, and afterwards they seemed to be ‘dancing’.  Fascinated by the results, the goat herder tried them himself and discovered that it made him excitable too.

Despite it being called a ‘bean’, coffee is actually a fruit.  The ‘beans’ grow on a bush and are found in the centre of a coffee cherry.

Joe (our son) and Charlie (our 18-year-old grandson) came over to give us the traditional Thanksgiving Day hand and to move the Christmas boxes from the attic into the garage.  Grandpa is NOT allowed in the attic anymore!  Now we can start Christmas decorating on Saturday morning.

Oh my, we have our work cut out for us!

Visit our celebration here on the Liles Family Website.

A new survey found that 80 percent of men claim they help cook Thanksgiving dinner.  Which makes sense when you hear them consider saying ‘that smells good’ to be helping.

Dianne taught how to make real whipped cream.  No more whipped cream from an aerosol can!  The lights dimmed as Dianne added more vanilla to the ever-growing bowl of whipped cream!

With remarkable aplomb, the master created her calorie-encrusted elixir right in front of our eyes.

The mixer’s whir could be heard from blocks away as Dianne pressed the speed button to the maximum setting. We were visited by the local Firehouse and two sets of Orange’s finest – they let us off the hook!

The disappearing act begins!!

Remember: An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.

Experts filled plates, meticulously selected turkey and ham slices, and the mashed potatoes disappeared quickly.

The attack on the meal has begun in earnest!

We were happy to have Bill and Sandee Cpss join the gang today.  We made sure Fast Eddie and Crazy Greg kept them entertained.

Mary and I received gifts from our kids, Robn and Bob!  Mary and I shall put the gifts to proper use as soon as possible.  I was not able to help much this time due to the slow recovery, but my amazing wife stepped in, flying around the kitchen, making sure everything was ok and that our guests had everything they needed.

After everyone had departed, we watched TV, and Mary put herself into “Clean Up Mode!”

When things quieted down, I made a new drink.  The Thankstini: A fun and delicious new novelty drink I invented.  Cranberry juice, potato vodka, and a bouillon cube.  Tastes just like a turkey dinner.

We finally hit the hay around 11:00 pm after an entertaining and fascinating day with family and friends.

Before I went to sleep, I remembered what Johnny Carson once said: “Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday.  People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year.  And then discover once a year is way too often.”

Posted in Cooking, Family, Friends, Fun, Holidays | Leave a comment