Merry Christmas Eve!
We left Cincy at 6:30 yesterday morning and arrived safely in Green Bay by early afternoon. We were lucky to have nice driving weather and the drive actually seemed reasonably short for 9 hours, though we did encounter our fair share of idiots incapable of staying in their own lane as we passed through Indiana’s beautiful ice-covered trees, windmill city, and Illinois’ snowy cornfields. According to the news, 93% of holiday travelers this year were driving.
We arrived at Ted’s parents house just in time for a bowl of his mom’s homemade chili soup. Then last night we spent six hours at a Christmas party with a group of Ted’s friends from high school and their husbands/wives. It was a really fun time (obviously or we wouldn’t have stayed 6 hours!). I enjoyed finally meeting people I’d heard so much about and I think Ted really liked catching up with his old group. The snacks and tasty liquors to sample were jolly as well. It is definitely one of the few times since college that I’ve been out past 2 a.m. I’m lame and haven’t been to a party, other than our wedding, in months and months. I think the last was a Magik party of some kind when I was still working there. I’d like to think I’m not getting old at 24, but even for as much as I love a good party (and who doesn’t?) I definitely don’t get to do it very often anymore – living cross-country from all your friends will do that to you. By the time we headed to bed at 3 a.m. I was ready for that long winter nap. It was a great change of pace to hang out with a group of people in my age range – especially since I now spend most of my days alone at home.
Today we enjoyed our Christmas Eve and day off by sleeping in for a change, then heading to the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay with Ted’s parents to check out the museum’s restored exhibit of the mechanical moving Christmas figurines from the window displays of Prange’s department store in the early 1940s that were originally displayed in the windows at Marshall Field’s in Chicago and sold to Prange’s in Green Bay the following year. They were neat! More old-fashioned Christmas stuff for me to swoon over! Afterward we drove by Bay Beach (Green Bay’s little old-fashioned waterfront amusement park) to check out the construction progress on the roller coaster (Elvis Presley’s favorite) that they’re putting in. It should be ready by the summer.
Tonight we’re going to listen to the choir at church sing some Christmas carols then attend midnight mass to properly ring in Christmas with a celebration Jesus’ birth. I wish you all a joyful Christmas with your families, friends and all the blessings we’ve been given!
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!
