The Restivus

My gorgeous wife as she looked sitting next to me for Christmas dinner, stunning to the point of making me entirely inept with keeping the camera strap out of frame.

















My parents were adamant that pictures be posted of them pal-ing around with our dog Ginger!

















The meal set before me. A challenge that I met valiantly.

















From where I sat at the table: from left to right: Tony, his girlfriend Karina, Gina, her boyfriend Stefan, and my father in that nebulous state between standing and sitting.

















My mother, Tony and Karina.

















Gina, Stefan and Dad.





















From Gina's POV: Laurie, me, my mother and Tony.

Christmas update

I'll start by saying that for some reason no pictures were taken on my camera after my parents arrived for some reason. I assume they have pictures on their camera which is identical to mine.
My folks actually came into town Wednesday night. As you can imagine, we've been a bit preoccupied and the holiday really did sneak up on us this year. I did, in fact, buy presents up to Christmas Eve this year.
Last night my parents took Laurie and I out to dinner. We also had the hymn sing and pie feed (and the ghosts of Andy Griffith and Garrison Keillor were there too I suppose) with our church.
This morning the males in the house slept in. Laurie has been preparing a Christmas meal all day. Gina came over and we had our family opening of presents. I'll walk you through the pictures. The first is me with an awesome pencil from Gina with a guy in a beanie on the end of it.



Here are the kids opening their stocking presents.














One of Laurie's specific items on her list was Susan Boyle's cd. I got that for her.



















The kids got me a set of 10 Beers Of The World. Each from a different country. Contrary to appearances, I had not drank any of them when this picture was taken.















Schubert stuck right by me all morning on the chair. All of the activity made him nervous (even more so than usual.) When my parents showed up he went and slept on the bathroom floor which is what we do in our house when things get too crazy.






























Gina also got me a coffee mug with a picture of Einstein on it.












I wanted to be sure to post pictures of the kids with the items my grandmother sent for them. Here's Gina with her new purse.



















And Tony with his new flannel hoodie.



















Gina also hit gift-giving gold when she got me the first season of This American Life: the tv show. Note the unfettered delight on my face, the unhesitating assumption behind my eyes that we will be watching it tonight.















I, in turn, succeeding in marrying form with function in my gift to Laurie of a silicone pot holder in the shape of Pac-Man.

















Also jewelry and a lovely antique box.
















One of my favorites was this new coat from Laurie which I think it probably destined to be one of those articles of clothing one associates with a certain person. It was love at first sight. Somewhere a tailor thought that they were imagining up an ideal person when they had me in mind while they fashioned this coat.












Then my parents showed up with more presents. I will try to put all of what I was given here:
a tripod flashlight
enough In-N-Out gift certificates to eat exclusively there for a month
John Hodgman's book
a copy of Life of Pi
Poppy Z. Brite's Soul Kitchen (you can expect another gushing book review of it soon)
Candy
a DVD of Irish poetry
a DVD set of the Ken Burns National Parks series
radio controlled sumo wrestlers
a board game about books
a DVD series about the Vatican Museum
A DVD show of Nature's Most Amazing Events
Tom Waits' Glitter And Doom cd
a Wagner cd
a classical guitar cd

So, it was a year of great gifts and a lovely morning. Soon we will be full of food.

Autumnal Update of the Paul Branch of Clan Mathers

"Oh!—fruit loved of boyhood!—the old days recalling,

When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!"

-Whittier

Well, the flash doesn't quite capture it, but there's the Guy Fawkes Jack-o'-Lantern. I sculpted it last night, blasting Camille Saint-Saens, and baked and then over-salted pumpkin seeds. Also, it would appear from this picture that I've been over-watering the toy pomegranate bush. Duly noted. In the end, I am both proud of my jack-o'-lantern and bracing for mentions of Col. Sanders.

My parents are coming up for a week. They should be here in a few hours. I think my Dad is going bear hunting and my mother will have a lot of time to spend with the family. Tony, my step-son, is coming up with them and it is our understanding that it is his intention to stay.

In other news, our church is moving. We found a space that is both better for our purposes and significantly cheaper. Just in time for Reformation Sunday, we'll now be meeting at the Seventh Day Adventist chapel (they're renting to us as, you know, they meet on Saturday and don't use it on Sunday.) Our Monday night men's study through the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith has quickly become one of my favorite parts of the week. Laurie's Jonathan Edwards study takes place across the street on Mondays. I'm in awe of the great work she's done on that study. It continues to be a seemingly endless conversation source in our house.

Also, Laurie and I are reconsidering home-ownership. Considering it enough for me to feel okay remarking on it on my blog. Options are being studied. Pros and cons listed. Much more on that soon I'm sure.

I am still unemployed, but we are still entirely above water, by the grace of God and the American Unemployment Insurance system which, like everything else, is in His Hand. I have at least two job plausibilities at present and they both would a) bring in adequate money and b) I think I would enjoy. I am endeavoring to avoid placing too many eggs in those mental baskets, but I hope at least one of them pans out (although I think I just mixed myself into a scrambled egg metaphor. What does this portend?) I also have a business venture I am actively putting into motion. Also more on that soon.

Other than that, I'm reading Alexander Woollcott and Evelyn Waugh. I've taken to having black tea in the afternoon and I've taken to milk and honey in my tea. I've also taken to afternoon walks up Park Avenue by our house toward Midway on the surprisingly under-used bike path through one of the most heavily industrial districts of Chico. Singulair seems to have my asthma entirely under control, almost undetectable in my day to day life.

Our cat Agnes has filled out and is looking much better than she's probably ever looked in her life. Her coat is thicker and her eyes brighter. She still has some sort of kitty asthma and, of course, her ears will always be mangled from the fights in her outdoor past. But she seems very happy with her life now. The other cats still haven't taken to her, but Ginger and her are fast friends. Ginger defends her and they take naps curled up together on the couch. Agnes is very sweet, but seems to take deep offense if one closes the blinds at night. She'll sit next to the offending window and beat at the blinds with her paw until one of us (usually Laurie) gets up and opens them. Afterward, her signature wheeze sounds suspiciously more like a chuckle.

So, all things considered, life is fair to middlin' for us right now. Laurie and I remain very happy. The near future is a bit uncertain for us, sure, but I would add that yours is too whether you know it or not. Ta!

Folks

My folks were in town this weekend which ought to explain my relative internet silence this weekend. On Friday Laurie and I, my brother's family, and my folks went out to dinner at Original Pete's (where I had never eaten before. I know from my delivering days that they have a very clean kitchen though. The food is excellent.)
All of us in our assorted permutations of Mathers families are going through rough patches right now.
Long time readers of the blog know the last time I saw my mother an emergency room doctor had just told her to say her goodbyes. She pulled through and this weekend they came up to visit.
But there is a strength when we are together. We have a very strong family and a very loving family. At that dinner there was so much laughter and so much love. I've said it before, but I won the family lottery. Not only do we love each other in the kin/blood way, but we actually really like on another. We are friends as well.
A long time ago when I was going through a rough period of my life (when my ex-fiance left me) I was hiking one day in the Modjeska Canyon area. I remember sitting by a creek in an obscure, esoteric portion of the canyon. It was a minor tributary, but I sat there for a long time listening to the trickle of water and watching the creek. I remember thinking while I was up there "Remember, when you get back, when you're in the midst of all your troubles in the city, remember that this is still going on up here. This still exists."
I think this weekend had a little of that same feeling for me. Anyway, it was wonderful to spend time with my family and good for my soul.