The Progressive Dinner

12/31/05

Course #1:
Daniel & Janel featuring Jake & Julie- Appetizers

blt dip......spinach dip......wontons.....cocktail weenies

Course #2:
Trina & Greg - Soup & Salad

cheese soup......tortilla soup......some kind of salad

Course #3:
Mom & Dad - Main Course

prime rib......cauliflower casserole, smashed potatoes

Course #4:
Tracy & Dave - Desserts

fudge pudding cake with ice cream......peanut butter pudding cake

I was responsible for the smashed potatoes, but Mom took over. She thought the recipe called for too much milk & butter, but she put in 2x the sour cream called for. Then we decided to add ranch dressing mix and bacon to the top of it. the potatoes were wonderful.

lion, witch & the wardrobe

well, i saw that movie. i have to say, it was the best darn movie i've seen in a long time. i don't know if i liked any movie better than that one.

i did watch napoleon dynamite tonight. it's a quirky, funny movie.

i also got in a small fender-bender. i'm not sure whose fault it was; we never called the cops or anything, not much damage and no injuries at all. here's what happened: i was in the left laneon a four lane highway. the car in front of me was going very slow, i thought they were gonna turn left, so i changed lanes to the right. i was passing them (at far below the speed limit because of how slow they were going) when they changed lanes into me. i was even with them when i noticed they were changing, and thought it would take too long to brake, so i sped up while honking. they glanced my rear panel, and we pulled over. there were just a couple scratches.

i don't know if you're not supposed to pass on the right under any circumstances or whatever, but they were going really slow...

the panel that was scratched on my car was the same that was already damaged in a collision over a year ago when i backed into another car. for this reason, and because i doubted the other driver had insurance, or might have been an illegal alien, and also cuz i wasn't sure who was wrong, we didn't call cops.

ugh.

holidays

okay, i arrived home in johnsburg on friday, dec. 23rd. we had our chicago trip last weekend, (it was a lot like last year only different), and then i had 2 days of school before break. when school was over tuesday, my mission was to finish shopping, and i did that on thursday.

christmas eve we went to my grandma's in arlington heights. it was fun, we played 'catch phrase.' on christmas morning, we all opened gifts, my two nieces opened the scarves i had made them, and i got good stuff! i got 2 dvds - napoleon dynamite, one flew over the cuckoo's nest, and i got a book - the lovely bones, i got this little gadget game called '20 questions,' and it plays 20 questions with you. it guesses correctly most of the time, and surprisingly close when it doesn't get it exactly. i think it must work on a q/a database thing... it's kinda creepy. i also got barenaked ladies' barenaked for the holidays and travel boggle from the only person who probably still reads this blog.


now yesterday, my dad made pizza and then we played 'would you rather' which was pretty cool. you can tell, i think, that we really enjoy board games and stuff. we seem to enjoy the ones where opinion and guessing prevails over knowing facts or trivia. it's just more fun.

so today is my brother dan's birthday... he's 24. he likes for all of us to go to mcdonald's where there is a playplace for the kids to have fun. mom brings a cake and we goof around. tomorrow my dad, brother dan & i will be going to fix my grandparents' garage door. after that i might meet terri, i don't know...

on new year's eve, we will be having our second annual progressive dinner. we'll start at janel & dan's for appetizers, then to trina's for soup and salad, then to mom & dad's for the main course, then to tracy & dave's for dessert (and board games, of course).

then i return to peoria on sunday or monday.

re-gifting?

this morning, timothy asked me, "do you care if i bring you a present for christmas?"

i replied, "of course i care."

he defended, "but i just wanna bring you a present!"

i replied, "and when you give it to me, do you want me to say, 'i don't care.'?"

he laughed. i said i would love a present.

"good," he said. "ya wanna know what it is?"

"no, i'll be surprised."

"okay. it's something my mom doesn't like."

"oh really?"

"my mom and dad don't want it anymore, so they want me to give it to you."

tree-killing began as celebration of life

that's right, according to this website, the original reason for killing evergreen trees was as a celebration of the fact that evergreens remain "ever-green" throughout winter, when everything else dies.

why should this have come to be part of christmas? read all about it.

"Awwight you wascally kwissmiss twee, you've fwaunted yaw abiwity to be awive duwing wintuh wong enough! it's time fuh you to come decowate my home with yaw gweenewy!"