After the High Museum we all went to the Center for Puppetry Arts to see Shoemaker and the Elves. Tears of Joy will be restaging it and I am slated to be the designer for their production so it seemed like a good idea to catch the show while I was here.

We drove down to Atlanta early so that we could go to the High Museum and see the Andrew Wyeth exhibition. He has long been one of my favorite artists.

and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we went. Mom, Rob and I went to Grandma’s to do some New Year’s cleaning. I say that we cleaned Grandma’s house. In truth we just vacuumed and then I attempted to dust, but there wasn’t any dust.

In between my cleaning attempts, we got to do some visiting. I learned that when Grandma was in high school she was on the girl’s basketball team. Who knew?

She fed us a pimento cheese sandwich for lunch. Mm-mm good. That’s some serious comfort food that I miss when I’m in Portland.

Rob and I drove my brother to the Atlanta airport yesterday. We visited friends, stayed at George and Julie’s (my cousins) and then drove back today.

In other news, I’ve spent most of my time on the computer today trying to put the finishing touches on Shimmer.

How can we still have so many leftovers in the house? It is staggering. At each meal, the counter is covered with food from Christmas Eve. It doesn’t help that Mom is also cooking something to supplement the leftovers, as if there isn’t enough food already.

Dad took us out on tromp around the property to look at the new property lines and to clear the walking path some. There’s a lot of land here.

Ah youth. Peter knocked on our door at 8:00 to let us know that Santa had come–no, more accurately, to let us know that it was time for him to open his presents. I have to give him credit for letting us sleep past 8:00, I suppose.

When all the gifts were opened, actually, by the time we hit the halfway point, we could no longer see the carpet for all the wrapping paper. It helped that Emily was spreading her toys as widely as she could.

After that we went to Grandma’s house and spent time with the family on Mom’s side. It was good to see everyone, although I continue to be shocked by how much kids have grown. It was strange this year because we did not have to race back home for the Talent Show. I kept feeling like we needed to leave, but we didn’t.

Once back at Woodthrush Woods we had a potato bar and played some of Katherine’s games. The highlight of the evening came during a game of Cranium. It included a section that is loosely based on Charades and Rob drew the card “Supermodel.” He did a runway strut that would have made any designer proud.

So I guess we got a Talent Show after all.

The festivities went off without a hitch last night. Twenty-three relatives in one house for dinner.

I had to go to the mall today.

Surely, that explains all of the horror without further detail, so I may go onto the pleasant things.

Steve and his family arrived during the night and somehow managed to get a teenager, a proto-teenager and a three year-old into the house without waking anyone. Now that, is fine parenting. This morning Rob and I went downstairs to the smell of pancakes cooking and Mom bustling around the kitchen. She is a non-stop cooking machine.

Well, almost. She did consent to go to Couch’s Barbecue for supper. I don’t think it had anything to do with being tired, I think it was a decision based entirely on having no where to put anymore leftovers. At dinner we gave Katherine her birthday presents. I think, and it’s hard to tell with fifteen year olds, that she liked the jacket that Rob and I gave her.

That was part of my mall activities today. I finally resorted to going into a store, Wet Seal, and saying, “Help. Fifteen-year old niece. I see her once a year and I’m clueless about what teens are wearing these days.” I felt like such a fogey and I’m nowhere near the right age for that.

After dinner Mom, Rob and I tackled prep work for dinner tomorrow. While we did that Dad, Steve and Rob did a mini-beer tasting. I’m very impressed that my husband managed to taste beer and help in the kitchen. Everyone else went to the basement to watch The Grinch. Had it been the original, I would have joined them.

Now, I just need to finish wrapping gifts, a feat which is complicated by the fact that our box o’presents has not arrived from Portland. I will be very put-out if my party favors arrive after the party.

Rob and I made it safely to Chattanooga last night. My parents have already had us busy with Christmas preparations. Today, Rob and I went for a walk up to the log house to see the preparations for moving it. I took a basket to cut greenery for the mantle down at Woodthrush Woods.

I have to say, it’s not cold here. Crisp, yes. Chilly, even. But after Minnesota it is a long, long way from cold.

We got a package in the mail today from the Celsi Household, which included several treats packed in evergreen boughs for padding. It’s a much more festive form of packing material than newspaper or styrofoam peanuts. The branches were still supple and fragrant so I added them to the greenery I cut on our walk. They are now gracing the piano in the living room.

This evening we went to an Italian restaurant in Cleveland, TN to hear Jim Palmour, a friend of Mom and Dad’s, play. Rob is going through Mom and Dad’s wine cellar because they have several wines that are on the verge of being over-the-hill so we took two bottles with us. Mrs. Palmour arranged for us to sit with her and after Mr. Palmour finished playing, he joined us for dinner. The meal was quite nice although the service was a bit spotty. The highlight was an apple, onion and dill bisque which put me in mind of our Iron Chef Apple Battle. Rob and I are already discussing the feasibility of doing Iron Chef Iceland.

We’re on our way to Chattanooga. I got no comments from the typewriter in security. How disappointing.

John, Rob and I went to Kevin’s woodshop. They are just starting a new project, so kept apologizing that nothing was happening. The shop is well-equipped and has lots of tools that I’ve never seen before. And routers. I’ve seen them before, but now I covet one.

After that, Laura, Rob and I went into Albany to a thrift store that Rob is fond of called Mother Seton’s. Now, I’ll admit that I went into the store and wondered why the heck he liked it. Granted, the clothing was very, very inexpensive but the selection seemed thin and sort of run-of-the-mill. Then, as we were leaving, I spotted a case. A suspicious square case–a typewriter case. Inside rested a beautiful Smith-Corona typewriter in wonderful physical condition. It has one small flaw, the U key doesn’t work, but it looks like an easy fix. She wanted $2. Now, I ask you, how was I supposed to leave it there?

I’ll have a project in Chattanooga, so get the tool bench ready, Dad.

Airport security should be interesting…

Tonight we all went out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Although the food wasn’t as good as Shawna’s cooking, it was still a nice treat to sit down and have someone wait on us. I say this, even though the poor boy who was our waiter seemed as if we were the first table he had ever served. He kept forgetting things and then jumping like a rabbit when we asked for things he’d forgotten.

It was fun.

I’m on vacation, right? So why did I spend today type-setting for Shimmer, dealing with scenic design questions for Arabian Nights, and computer issues for Portland Spirit?

I did manage to cook dinner tonight, but that was the only thing today that didn’t feel like work.

Shawna and I had a girl’s day out today. We went to Scholl’s to pick up a prize she had won in a drawing. She won some moisturizer which looks like it will be lovely.

After that we had a quick bite to eat and then went to see Pride & Prejudice. I enjoyed it, but then I tend to be a weeper at films. I think they did a nice job of catching the supressed conversations which take place in silences and looks.

After the ice-fishing, Rob and I went to Saint John’s Abbey, a Benedictine monastery which has really interesting architecture. It was built in during the period when everyone was doing very modern, minimilist structures, which by and large look like concrete blocks. This doesn’t. It is clean and massive.

Rob’s mom says that he likes it because it is “masculine.”

Here’s a shot of the interior balcony supports. You have no sense of scale from this photo.

Once again, we came home to the smell of Shawna’s cooking. Laura came down from Duluth so the dinner table was quite full.

I’ve survived the hazing ritual of ice-fishing. They tell me that it’s a leisure activity, but I’m convinced that it’s just a way to get the Southern girl out on the frozen lake. Rob and his brother, Kevin, took me out to the ice-fishing house in the middle of the lake that their house fronts on.

Rob drilled a hole in the ice with an auger. He’s delighted by the simplicity of the auger, and I have to admit that it’s an elegant way to get a hole in the ice.

The ice is about six inches thick at this point; I guess it will get thicker later. They keep telling me that it’s not cold yet, but the weather is making Iceland look warm.

After that, we went into the ice-fishing house, which is surprisingly cozy. I sat between Kevin and Rob. Look at them! They both seem to be having loads of fun staring at a fishing line that goes through a hole in the ice.

Rob caught two Great Northerns. Here’s Kevin, holding up the smaller one. My nephew, John, caught one last night so we’ll have a fish fry sometime this weekend.

My sister-in-law, Shawna, spent the morning cooking while we were out. The house smelled wonderful when we came back in–after my nose thawed. She’s making stuffed peppers for dinner.