I hosted Book Club here last night, and it went really well.  I got my house cleaned in time (always a worry of mine), I made a variation on this dessert, and it turned out well, we talked about this book, and it was fun to see friends and chat.  We always go around the circle and tell what’s new or what’s been going on in the last month or so, and I realized that I had nothing really interesting to say.  Everything interesting or funny that goes on around here, I post on my blog.  So when we get together in person I have nothing to share.  That could be a problem.  This blog is sucking all the interesting out of my life!

So, since I have nothing to add, I’ll share with you a bit from my sister’s life.  Yes, my sister Chrissy (who thankfully doesn’t read this blog) has 8 young kids and is always good for a story.  Her hubby, Tom, really should have a blog, because it would be funny.  Funny in the we-have-a-ton-of-little-kids-and-they-make-us-laugh way.  So, I’ll share an excerpt from their oh so funny (and very long) Christmas letter.

Anna (1st grade) asked Chrissy, “What happened to daddy’s grandma’s wife?” (meaning her great-grandpa). “He went to live with Jesus,” Chrissy responded, reminding Anna that she had attended the funeral and the graveside service.  “Is that the place where I got to chase birds all over?” she asked, looking up in the air as though thinking back fondly.  “Yes,” said Chrissy, somewhat surprised she had remembered the event.  “Oh,” sighed Anna happily, “I love it when people die!”

Someone could get the wrong idea from a phrase like that.  It was even worse when Daniel slipped on his words in front of a foyer full of old people at a retirement home we visit monthly.  After two years of visits, sweet Myrtle had passed away, and within a matter of only a couple of months, our new friend, Betty, had now also died.  Daniel said to me, in a voice plenty loud enough for all of the elderly people to hear, even without turning up their hearing aids, “Did we kill her, too, Dad?”

Another story involves new and creative words.

We’ve had a few church mishaps.  On one occasion, when exiting the chapel, Andrew (kindergarten) said, “Ouch, my jiggle-jogglers.  Ohhh, my jiggle-jogglers.  Ahhh, my JIGGLE-JOGGLERS.”  He had been lightly bumped by one of his siblings, which may hve cause slight discomfort, but that wasn’t the real issue; he was clearly very please with his new word and felt driven to say it over and over, getting louder each time.  I did my best to shush him, sensing many eyes tracking the steps of our slow moving herd.  “Oh, don’t worry, dad,” he said confidently, all the while beaming with a sense of his own cleverness, “they don’t know what jiggle-jogglers means!”

So, thank you Tom and Chrissy for our laugh of the day, and I hope you all have a wonderful Friday!  I am actually excited to watch my tivo-ed shows from last night, since Thursday seems to be the only night with anything new I want to watch on.