Skip to main content

Unexpected Company

By Pamela
A weekend without obligations.

Totally unplanned, uneventful.

All rest and relaxation.

I NEVER have those!

This weekend was close. Friday night I sat at home, wrapped in a blanket and talked to my friends; Dana and Rose. In the midst of talking to them my cousin, Phillip, called. Phillip pretty much never calls me. Then he wants to know what I am doing Saturday night and if he can come over.

Really Phillip has been to my house once. But Phillip is my cousin and he is welcome here any time! So of course I told him we would be home Saturday night and we would love to have him come over.


We made a trip to the bank Saturday morning. {The Boy drove us. I hardly even scolded his driving!} The Christmas Tree came down Saturday morning. We met a friend of ours at Eagle Days {We saw about 7 juvenile bald eagles}.
The photo above is taken with my zoom lens about 1-1 1/2 miles away. Through the telescope the Park Rangers has set up we could see five juveniles in those two trees.  We saw another flying around the sky right above the area we were standing in. The seventh one was seen on the way to Eagle Days. We were lucky enough to spot one sitting along the highway.


I think she was more interested in throwing rocks onto the frozen lake than looking at eagles.

When we got home from Eagle Days, The Husband and I cleaned up the Christmas Tree mess. Real or artificial you get pine needles everywhere! Then I settled back and decided to get some research done for our upcoming trip to Disney.

If Phillip was coming, he was running late.

But then shortly after 7:00 I notice two vehicles pull into my driveway. The first a truck with his lights off and then a car right behind them. Phillip walks through the door with his girlfriend, my cousin Chanelle, my cousin Kevin and his wife,brother and sister-in-law. Cousin Phillip brought the whole family!

So, what was an ordinary Saturday night turned into a Johnson Family gathering. My family knows me very well. They knew if I knew they were coming over I would have fretted over food and drinks, and party favors for them. So, they went through my husband, kept it all very hush hush and showed up with food and drinks in hand. An instant party!

Wendy brought some yummies some of which she even canned herself. Family stories flew around! Oh, my did family stories fly. Some of which, I had never heard before! Some of which, maybe I could have gone a lifetime without knowing?  ;)


We ended up around the kitchen table playing Catch Phrase and drinking the same beer our parents use to drink.

Thank you dear cousins! It was a super fun, totally spontaneous night. You are all welcome any time!

Labels:

Comments

  1. JohnnyJanuary 6, 2013 at 3:00 PM

    Oh I LOVE spontaneous gatherings like that! Sounds like a perfect weekend. xx

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Weekend Project: A PVC Camping Lamp Post and Flag Holder

By Pamela
I have seen a few of these around campsites and I knew I would like to have one. The only problem that I had is The Husband. He already thinks we drag too much stuff with us when we go camping and if I had told him my desire to have a PVC Camping Light Pole he would have shut it down quickly! So, that leaves a girl with only one choice: Figure out how to do it by herself. I did some internet searching and found a few road maps on RV forums. They seemed easy enough! I visited the local hardware store for the supplies: An exterior post lantern light 2 inch PVC pipe (I used 5 feet but had to purchase a 10 foot piece) A 3 inch toilet flange A 3 inch to 2 inch Reducer PVC Glue A 12 foot electric cord kit 2 - 3/4 inch PVC Caps I also used a few supplies we already had on hand: White Spray Paint 3 1/2 foot - 3/4 inch PVC Pipe Drill Bits (1 inch and 1/2 inch) Tent Stakes The first step was preparing the lantern light. I could only find black i
19 comments
Read more

Tonsillectomy (Warning Photos!)

By Pamela
The Short Chic came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat back in April. So, when The Boy started complaining about his throat hurting about 12 days later, I was pretty confident that he had inherited his sister's strep. Instead, The Boy was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess growing on his right tonsil.  We had to immediately see an ENT  Physician who took a needle and drained the abscess. He removed about 5.5 cc of puss from The Boys throat.and then told us that once you have a peritonsillar abscess you were high risk to keep getting them. The Boy's tonsils were now compromised and needed to be removed.  We were told to plan for a two week recovery so we worked a surgery into our summer plans. Between family vacations, summer sports, and the beginning of school The Boy had his second surgery. A tonsillectomy.  Pre-surgery prepping went well. It must be nice to be young and have healthy veins for an IV! The Boy had lots of pre-surgery visitors. My
Post a Comment
Read more

Liver Cheese: A Family Tradition

By Pamela
Today is an anniversary date. One of those dates you wish you did not have to remember but there is no way you can forget.  Fifteen years ago today,two days after his birthday, my father died of lung cancer. He was a lifelong smoker and his cancer was aggressive. His battle was short. He fought for six short months after his diagnosis. He knew the chemo was not working and that his time was limited. When he came to this realization he became the best dad in the world.                                                In the days before my father's passing, my family shared some memorable moments. One of those moments centers around the deli meat: Liver Cheese.I would not be surprised if you have never heard of it, or even never tasted it. But I was raised on it as it was one of my Dad's favorite things.  What is it? Well, it is a German food that is actually called Leberkase. It is bacon, corned beef, pork, and onion that is ground together and baked. It comes with a
16 comments
Read more