Further Bounty
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
In which the Christmas season enjoys a final hurrah…
Sqeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaal!!!!
Collette quickly snapped awake as she heard the drilling run of Puck in his footies.
“It snowed in the night!” he declared in jubilation, running to pounce on the bed.
Yes, there was a decent slushy powdered sugar dusting on the ground as the sun was rising.
It was time to visit the Silverspoon house for the last Christmas gathering of the season, as Relevance and Kitts had not arrived from Texas until the previous day.
As soon as they opened the front door, seven minutes after nine, the gifts were ready to roll. Bacon was distributed. And Puck immediately fascinated himself with the new heavy-duty Marbleworks display already erected in the living room by Relevance and Izzy, which included a ramping slide.
The gift stack was insurmountable as usual. Amongst the flurry of paper, Collette unwrapped a soft black Chinese sweater tunic, two tickets to tour Busch Stadium, and a 2012 calendar from ‘Santa’, and a pair of soft gray boots from Curly. Puck ripped open a stack of 1960’s copies of The Happy Hollisters. OLeif received a fancy flashlight and a skinny wallet…
“Now that you have a new wallet, I can have your old one, Dad!” Puck practically crooned.
There was always enough loot to go around: bored games and other gaming things, Texas cufflinks, books about beef, photography knick-knacks, rare bourbon-whiskey, fancy sports jackets, guitar cases, etc.
There was also much chocolate.
And Curly had composed an original song for Theodore and Gloria, which was performed, and recorded, by the four kids. There might have been a couple of glassy eyes in the room…
Lunch arrived in the form of: bloody marys, raw shrimp, fried shrimp, hush puppies, fried fish, and wine for those who would.
“Izzy,” Kitts told him after the meal, “if you clean up the kitchen, I have a surprise for you.”
The dishes were quickly done, and Kitty produced a package.
“But you have to be forever grateful and helpful,” she said.
“What?”
“Well… at least for awhile.”
And Izzy had another game for Christmas.
Collette read to Puck from his book stack: The Happy Hollisters and the Indian Treasure, and Kitty gave him a whole real dollar for the inherited wallet.
The one o’clock hour inducted The Grinch, Puck’s debut viewing, while Kitts knitted him a hacky sack in whites, yellows, browns, and oranges. Theodore napped. And Relevance and Collette got some work done. As the Grinch’s heart grew to ‘three times its size’, despite his protests, Theodore commented…
“God gave him a new heart… Actually, pretty Reformed. See?”
This was followed with groans from over-eating and napping. Coffee. And homemade pies: key lime. Collette researched annoying international adoption tax credit laws. And Kitts knitted another hacky sack for Puck in brown.
6:45, and most of the gang was at Mission Impossible, after OLeif had escorted Collette and their son home for the night, with the sleigh-load of gifts.