A "Wicked" Christmas

The White Christmas was upon West Central Ohio when Mother Nature decided to dump an inch or so of rain on us after Midnight on Christmas morning...and we ended up "Green" for Christmas...a light dusting of snow overnight and this morning firmed things up and got rid of slop on the ground....

My pre Diabetes 2 Diet took a hit over a 48 hour period...I jumped up about 5 pounds, from the food, sweets, and sodium....but yesterday I struck back and lost 3 of those and hopefully it was just a blip on the radar screen....didn't bother checking my Blood Pressure....I know that will take a couple of days to get back to acceptable levels....

All-in-all, things went fine......

Christmas Eve_____

I headed out about 1 pm to drive around the lake, just to get away from all things....and called my old fishing/drinking buddy Nick...he was in Coldwater, but asked that I meet him at his Montezuma house for a holiday cigar....I arrived about 2, and we proceeded to BS, smoke a couple of hand rolled cigars, and put a dent in the untapped bottle of Drambuie in his booze cabinet....I left for home about 5. Hal and his girlfriend Lisa arrived from the Dayton area shortly after I jumped out of the shower, and we all headed for Christmas Eve dinner at sister Marty and her husband Pat Hemmelgarn's place....both families kids were all home, and Mom and Mike made it all of our family except youngest sister Kelly...and why would you leave Naples, Florida, in December to winter vacation in Ohio? Plus Kelly and Denmark Mike have purchased a new home on the waterfront in Naples and are in the process of moving....Mike the Master Chef at a gated community in Naples has his busiest time of the year, making travel pretty much out of the question anyway....but we had a good crew consisting of 16 of us....

We stayed for 4 or 5 hours watched the newest member of the family, Lily, at 9 months old open her presents....and Anissa always opens a few with her Uncle Pat, who she jokingly tells each Christmas.."Pat, You Have No Class".... so he handed it back to her this season.... and she had her day in the sun as well.....we headed home before the rains came. Lisa drove back to Dayton, having to be back for Christmas festivities there, while Hal stayed overnight with us.....

Christmas Morning____

I continued on my 48 hour eating spree, turned on the "Christmas Story" Marathon on WTBS and waited for the rest of the family to arise...Anissa was up, and ready to open presents, as was Hal....

After breakfast we opened our gifts....no large gift exchange this year...with everybody grown we tend to be practical, more or less, except with Anissa...who enjoys the opening the packages, more than her treasures received....

A "Musical" for the parents___

Without a doubt the biggest surprise of the morning was the gift from Sam, Hal, and Anissa...instead of the usual Hockey or Baseball tickets at Fort Wayne...they laid out a small fortune for tickets and dinner in Dayton.

The off Broadway production of "Wicked" the prequel to the "Wizard of Oz" is a hit around the country..and is playing this winter in Dayton at the Performing Arts Center...quite by accident and luck, Hal picked out March 6th as the date for the tickets for us...great seats and dinner at the "Outback" for the evening performance....That weekend happens to be the same weekend we were to be in Dayton anyway for my Vietnam Security Police "Mini-Reunion"...

http://www.wickedthemusical.com/#

PRH at a Broadway Musical??? Who would have thunk it?

Thanks Kids...I know Patricia will enjoy it...heck even I like music, and this should be interesting, to say the least.

Aftermath____

Quickly back on the diet yesterday and today that will continue. Sam and I will head for Dayton this afternoon...he wants to talk to a lady about her Toyota. A 1998 with lots of miles, but a seemingly reasonable price...will take a look at it and test drive...I have my doubts, but 2 of my favorite vehicles were Toyota Pickup Trucks...a 1993 and a 2001...and if I ever buy another new vehicle, it will probably be a that brand....

Plus the trip keeps me away from watching the Bengals, just in case they blow their playoff chances against Kansas City, I'll have a hard time kicking the TV from the car....in case disaster happens to the Cincinnati Kids....I don't want to see it, listening on radio will be hard enough.

Starting tomorrow, I'll take my personal look back at 2009....3 months per day, before heading over to Rick's(now in an apartment until the new house on 17 acres if completed this spring, since they need to be out by week's end to the buyer of the current place)on New Years Day. After 26 years at the same place in the country, has to be a culture shock for Rick and Toni....probably the last thing they want to do is entertain the guys on Bowl Day....we will see.

The look back at 2009 starts tomorrow.....

Photos-"Wicked" Poster...March 6th in Dayton/Grand Lake on Christmas Eve...the rain took care of this snow by Christmas morning/Anissa and her Uncle Pat Hemmelgarn..."They have no Class"/and the boys...Sam(left) and Hal show off their new Hoodies Christmas morning....Ohio State and The Bengals...both teams in need of big wins this week.