In Eckleburg's Eyes - 12/12/2008

On Thursday night, KLTW, KJW, RAW, and I drove around Farragut to look at Christmas lights.

I met the family at their home where they provided a home cooked meal. We had pork chops, green beans, and rice. It was great. The Brady Bunch fan in me was disappointed that there was no apple sauce to accompany the pork chops but it was otherwise fantastic.

KJW was quite the stinker on this night. After vehemently protesting saying the blessing, she refused to eat most of her meal. When asked to eat the rice she slyly asked, “Mommy, do you want some rice?” She also asked for ketchup to dip her pork chops in. Though she did not eat much of the pork chops, she did eat the ketchup.

Due to the rainy weather, KJW had been confined in the house since Tuesday, which broke her routine. This is a cardinal sin for her age group. By the time I had arrived she had already been spanked twice, first for hitting her father in the head with a maraca and then for repeatedly touching the lights on the Christmas tree and saying “ow.” I promise the child is quite bright ordinarily.

I played KJW’s new Dora the Explorer Memory Game with her. The version we play with KJW is simpler than its design. We use only six pairs of cards and the goal is, after revealing the first card, to turn over the other cards in succession until the player has matched the original card. If nothing else, it teaches KJW to take turns.

After the game, RAW and I watched part of the Celtics' domination of the Wizards. We left in the second quarter. RAW attempted to persuade his wife to wait until halftime, citing that there were only seven minutes of game time left before the break. KLTW is now wise to that move and realized how much time was entailed in her husband’s statement. So we hit the road to see Christmas lights in Farragut.

We had heard about a great show at Shadrack’s Watersports and RV off Watt Road but decided it was not worth the $10 charge to enter. So we drove around aimlessly in search of lights. KJW is now at the age where this activity is fun. She sang us “Jingle Bells” and waved to a Santa Claus that was waving at her. Her commentary was priceless. She did have a difficult time distinguishing between Christmas lights and well, lights. The most unusual sight we saw was a lighted Santa praying to Jesus. (Note: This photo was taken with my right hand as I held KJW in the left. Hence the poor aim and extreme close-up.)

In case you were wondering, the Celtics won the game 122-88 to establish the best 23-game start in franchise history.