Well, well, well... Long time no type. Yes, I am feeling a bit guilty. But, I must admit that I have had so much fun over the last few days that I had totally forgotten about my need to write in my diary. For those of you that have followed along for a while, you already know that there can only be one reason for such week long bliss.
Yes Marjorie, my dear sainted mother-in-law, has arrived to sprinkle happiness and joy upon us.
However, even in all of her maternal glory, I must tell you that I have just had a really good time with the family.
It all started Christmas Eve Day with a trip to the movies with the kiddos. Fun enough, it was a couple of mindless hours spent listening to a bunch of guilty pleasures sung by some high pitched squirrels - er - chipmunks. None the less, the kids enjoyed it and it was cute enough. I was just happy to be out and about spending time with the family. It was more than that though. With the snow coming down it was almost magical and every one of the Dungan five was in a stellar mood. No fighting, no bickering. Just happy times. Good stuff.
Christmas Eve dinner was over at my mother's house - just 4 blocks away. Unfortunately, it was missing both Papa Kip and Mama Marge who had been diverted 400 more miles east in attempt to make it to Texas by Christmas. Their late arrival worked out well though. I was still able to enjoy my Christamas Eve dinner and without having to wash dishes - a rarity around the Dungan household. I took it as an early Christmas present.
What I received in trade was a trip along icing roads to the airport. A 45 minute commute on a normal day, the trip was complicated by icy overpasses on Christmas Eve night. Thankfully they were not too bad to me. However, there were several cars not so neatly parked into the guardrails every 1/4 mile or so. I clipped along cautiously at about 30 miles per hour without issue and made the trek in a little less than an hour and a half
I made it to the airport in time to find Lynley's parents getting off the plane. It had been a long flight. They arrived 6 hours later that originally scheduled. It was further complicated by the removal of one of the passengers for "weirdness" and a medical emergency. That would only be an appetizer for what they would experience on the ride home. In the time that we had collected their luggage, the temperature had hit that mark that froze all of the roads. Our trip home would be made between 5 and 10 miles per hour on an interstate littered with sliding cars. We crept along behind a mass of traffic and with the exception of a few occasions where we lost momentum going up some slippery hills we made it home with a minimum of sliding, no dents, and no injuries. The perfect ending to what was a very long day for the Fowler's. I was happy to make it home as well. Thankfully, I had Mama Marge sitting shotgun and gifting me with direction on what I needed to do to get us home safely. Lucky, lucky me. There is something about making it back home for Christmas with my family that was important to me. Not to mention the fact that there was still much for me to do that night, if you get my drift. In the end, Mama Marge talked us back to the house and cabana 1 without incident.
Christmas mornings are fun around the Dungan household. With 3 little believers it is truly a magical time. It isn't something I can put my finger on or describe adequately with words. There is just something incredibly special about being around little kiddos during Christmas. We all get to relive that fantasy through their eyes and that is an amazing gift for an old big kid like myself. Christmas morning brought more shoveling of ice off of the front walk and another trip along icy roads to pick up my mother and Grammy but that was relatively uneventful.
We made it together. Lynley, the twerplets, Papa Kip, Dee Dee, Grammie, myself and, of course, my very own Christmas gift, Mama Marge.
All is good in the Dungan household.
Purpose now is in spending time together.
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