Oh boy...the day after the big day....is anyone tired...more tired than normal? There are many things that I missed as I sit back and reflect on the frenzied week and doubt if anyone noticed or cared besides myself. For example, I forgot to send cards to a few family and friends....do they care? Does it matter? I doubt it in the long run.
Christmas Day was the climax of two months of anticipation. What do I mean by "two months?" Well, I began to see decorations in the mall, receive e-mail notices, and hear Carols in late September. I had not bought the Halloween candy and the Christmas Shoes song was on the radio with the announcer asking the audience when we want to start hearing the 24/7 holiday music. Is this crazy? You betcha!
Then the music began and I tried not to notice....seriously, if I hear Paul McCartney's Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time again, I will pass out. It has to be the most overplayed, horrible song on the Christmas list. Other BPM bad and almost UN-listenable songs include: Karen Carpenter's (sorry)Merry Christmas Darling, Alvin and the Chipmunk's, and Grandma got run over by a reindeer. And now, it is over...no songs...no more holiday cheer...back to normal and wondering when to take down the decorations...how sad.
To boost the spirit back to holiday level, I will share the details of the first annual ping pong tournament. It was a highly anticipated event as dad and Buddy ran off to Dr G's during the day to practice. In their minds, they were favored to win. But I began to think that there would be a dark horse victor and I was right.
We were the first family to arrive at the party, so Buddy and I played a practice game and I smoked him...boy was he peeved! I began to feel confident knowing that I took down one of the biggest challengers in a preliminary match up. Then the actual matches began...As the brackets were played, winners and losers emerged. I won my first round match against Big (and I mean Big) G. Big G made a tactical error when he prematurely considered himself a winner. In a rookie mistake, he began to gloat when we were tied at 10. Then he proceeded to hit the next two balls out. I moved into the second round to face another competitor, Buddy. he had worked his way into the next round in a quick match against a 12 year old. The kid had no chance and Buddy was not even going to give him a point...OY!
As I waited for my next round match, I made a huge mistake....on hindsight, what was I thinking? I must have lost my head and all sensibilities as I sat down in front of the hor dourves and ate my body weight's worth of brie and crab dip. naturally I had to wash it all down with a Merlot or two...or possibly three (I wasn't driving or counting...it was Christmas....). Then it happened, I was called for my next round match against Buddy. He was fueled on Gatorade and I had one or two glasses of wine. Did you know that you can lose your ability to react after a few sips of wine? Further, you can lose the competitive spirit when you have had a few more sips and so I was toast and knew it. He won easily even after I beat him earlier in the day.
As the tournament moved on, Buttercup's boyfriend, Da Coach began to dismantle his competition. He even beat Lil A (oops). She ran to the bathroom and I thought that she was having a meltdown. She emerged in a few minutes composed and ready to play Wii. Disaster was averted. Then it was time for the finals of the tournament and the opposing players were dad and Da Coach....It went down to a tie-breaker and Da C won the first annual tournament. As he made a speech, he gave the trophy and money back to Lil A who grabbed it with great excitement. I whispered in her ear...."give him the trophy, but keep your $20...." which she did and ran up to her room to hide her money. Game, set, match...a successful tournament....wonderful day...now it is time to clear away the boxes and move back into reality. Buddy wants to spend his gift cards before he forgets about them, as if that would ever happen.
We have made a pledge that we are going to have a cookie-free house once the current batch is gone. I have to now squeeze myself into my sweatpants and hit the treadmill.....have a great day!
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