It was a rather short sleeping night in our room of the hotel in Hannibal.....as the 1st Lady was asked by Dr. Jeni to do some late hour "baby sitting" in their room, while they joined the younger generation of cousins for some late night drinks and conversation. I finally turned off the lights around 12:30am this morning......and was slightly awakened when she returned to our room around 2am. I quickly returned to sleep, however.....from that time forward, I kept waking up each time the heater in the room kicked on......and, with the sub-zero temps and wind chills down to -20F , it kept me awake off and on most of the night!
I was awakened a bit before 8am when the sun sneaking in around the edges of the drapes on the window kept getting brighter and brighter. As much as I would enjoyed sleeping in my horizontal position a little longer, it was GREAT to finally see some sunshine!!! Attempting to allow the 1st Lady to remain asleep, I tried to slip around the room and get into the shower as quietly as possible. However..........while I was finalizing the morning rituals, she came into the bath and took her own shower ......seeming very much awake, to my surprise!
I went ahead and went down to the breakfast area, where I found a table for four before getting a small spoonful of scrambled eggs.......QUITE GOOD.....and a few pieces of bacon. With coffee that was sooooooo weak that I am almost certain the cooks only took one bean and drug it through some hot water to make the coffee, I sat down and was soon joined by the 1st Lady's sister and her son......and then the 1st Lady arrived immediately after that. Before much longer the breakfast area began to fill up with members of the Redman family who were staying overnight in the hotel.
The rest of the morning passed rather quickly...........as several of us remained in the breakfast area sipping that very, very weak coffee......trying to find the caffeine in those cups to keep us awake.......and just having some great conversations!
Several others of the family arrived around noon, as the catered dinner was to begin at 12:30. When almost everyone was in the Lobby we took some pictures of the various family groups in front, and around, the Christmas tree. We then joined everyone in our "Redman Family Dinner" room......and enjoyed a great meal of turkey, ham, dressing, potatoes and gravy, green beans, some wonderful carrots, a great mixed salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, cranberries, some great rolls, and then all of this was followed by cheesecake with strawberries, cherries, nuts, chocolate sauce, and chocolate crumbles! Yep........a really fine meal for the 32 of us who were there today!!
Following the dinner, we had the usual drawing of numbers for the gift exchange, along with the "stealing" of gifts routine which is always fun. The little ones didn't "steal" any.....a bit of not understanding what to do, or perhaps just wanting to hold on to their toys, etc., etc.
The dinner party broke up around 3pm.......and we made a dash out to Monroe City to see the Matriarch of the family...."Granny"....who was in the hospital just last week and was not about to get out of her very warm house into this frigid, brutal weather today. And so......it was a great day for family.........a day to be together for almost all of the family......and one which will be replayed next year.
The 1st Lady and I returned to southeast Misery around 8pm.......with only one gas and coffee stop along the way. It has been a fun-filled long weekend........and now the rush is on to finish up the necessary things on our lists to prepare for our immediate family's Christmas which we will have/host here at TheHowserHouse stick/brick on Friday of this week. Jay and Anne-marie must leave late on Friday, or very early on Saturday to drive back down to New Orleans, as they are flying down to Cancun, Mexico and then drive on down to Tulum for a week or so. And...the 1st Lady and I will be leaving for the RGV on the 30th, next Tuesday for the next three months.
A wonderful weekend.........albeit a horribly cold and windy weekend, but being with family certainly makes me all that more certain that.......
LIFE IS INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!
(pictures to be posted after I purchase more space on Picasa tomorrow)
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