Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023 11:47 am
Post Holiday - No Blues
But today I am dressed up and waiting for a text to tell me what time to be at a restaurant to meet up with friends. This came totally as a surprise last night. One of my oldest friends, who I really don't talk to anymore except through Facebook comments, is in town for the Cotton Bowl. He's from Missouri so it is his team (and they won). We used to all meet up at JazzFest and have a great time. Last time I went was probably 1994 or 1995 so I may not have seen him since then. Along with him will be other friends that were with us back then, but that I really haven't even stayed friends on Facebook. These guys are all old sports writers and have the quickest wits.
Last night I got his text and I was so excited about seeing him that my nephews' wives were giving me the raised eyebrows and saying, "Is this someone that..... ???" No, no, no. If I had wanted to date him I would have dated him back then. These guys really saw me more as one of the guys. Or maybe unattainable! One of our group dated me a little and we always stayed friends. He finally married well into his 40s and his wife had also never married. They had a great marriage for a few years and then he died of a brain aneurysm. We miss him!
Back to Christmas. I enjoyed having the company on Christmas Eve. I didn't make cornbread. I had lots of snacks and chips and dips, which would have probably been enough, but the bean chili was okay, too. It wasn't as thick as I wanted it to be and I realized later I was going to put adobo chilis in it and I forgot so it had no real heat to it. But it was fine, the game was lousy and then they went home and I had a quiet Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day they had their first Christmas ever with just the two of them and I had my first Christmas ever with just the one of me! I really enjoyed it. I watched Kansas City football and drank lots of eggnog. I read and I napped. I did worry a bit that my friend that I message with on Facebook was no where around. I knew he was supposed to be home alone for Christmas, too. I wouldn't worry except that he doesn't have a sister checking in from time to time like I do, and I worry with the holidays and sadness, etc. He did reply the next morning and said he'd slept away his day so he was fine.
I did talk to my aunt on the phone and texted with a few other folks. I would do it again.
Last night the girls were all adorable. The littlest one is three. When they left she came running back up the sidewalk and had her arms thrown out and hugged her grandmother and grandfather around the legs and then even came and hugged me! She hasn't really known me much until now, it seemed. The other girls were all fun and sweet, the third one being a little more shy as always. We did a gift exchange of games among the adults. When I went to pick my package it had a name stuck on it-- the oldest girl's name. I said, "What's this?" thinking maybe this was supposed to be a gift for her. She had done it herself as a joke and it was a good one. She was quite pleased with herself. The second one read a whole book to her dad and sister (that I had given the little one for her birthday). I didn't know she could read so well. She's only in first grade. I was praising her and she said, "I learned to read in kindergarten." She was beaming that I was impressed. The oldest has never shown off her reading because she is dyslexic, so it really did impress me.
Okay. I'm going to go see the guys. I can maybe get our name in for a table. It is a sports bar and bowl games are on so it may be crowded.