In Eckleburg's Eyes - 12/25/2008

I had a great Christmas Eve as I celebrated Christmas with the Walker and Hickey families.

I met KLTW, KJW, MPW and RAW at RAW’s home at noon. Shortly before I arrived, RAW had asked KJW what she wanted for Christmas. Her reply? “A new tv...in my room.” The two-year old is definitely her daddy’s girl.

After a short discussion, we all crossed Kingston Pike (via car) to visit JTH and his parents. JTH was to join us later but was detained cooking more batches of puppy chow to distribute as Christmas gifts. (This photo is proof that he actually did do the cooking.) We thought we would keep him company. KJW played hide and seek while he cooked. She is not too bad at hiding. Unfortunately, she squeals as she hides which counteracts her ability to conceal her small body.

At one point, KJW snuck into the next room where JTH’s father CEH (aka “Homer”) was sitting and watching television. She crawled into his lap and when she realized she did not know him well, she said, “Ah oh” and got down. Homer did not mind.

We played with JTH’s mother’s dog Skye for quite awhile. We were eventually joined by the neighbor’s hound Blue who jumped the fence to visit. KJW loved the dogs. She would instruct them “over here!”and “Puppy, catch me!” She also attempted to get the dogs to wag their tails by demonstrating the process.

KJW coaxed Skye into his cage (“jail”) and then locked herself in with him. At one point JTH was feeding Skye cheese, one of his favorite treats. He asked KJW, “You want to give it to him?” and then handed her a piece. She immediately ate it before the dog could!

In other KJW news, she now has a serious phobia that her nose will turn blue. She picked this up from our viewing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on December 15th. For the past week and a half she has been periodically asking us to check her nose for a transformation. Of all the things she could have picked up from that movie...

KJW will begin attending preschool at my church on Tuesdays. Her parents really did not need a babysitter on that day but felt the child needed interaction with other children. She will be taught by the longstanding team of Amy Gibson and Hazel Swanson.

After a good visit with JTH’s parents, we ate a late lunch at Mangia Pizza & More in Turkey Creek. I had never eaten there before and was surprised when I saw my cousin’s best friend JS in the kitchen. It was great to see him and not just because he comped my meal.

I ordered the chicken calzone and it was amazingly good. It was great food but the plasticware was the worst I have ever used. I broke five different forks trying to cut the meal. I promise that I was not trying to be destructive either. Admittedly, most customers probably learn their lesson quicker than I did...

We then returned to RAW’s house where we exchanged gifts. KLTW bought me a hardcover book, Barack by Jonah Winter and illustrated by A. G. Ford. It is children’s biography of Barack Obama! KLTW was pleased that she bought me a book I did not already have. Admittedly, it was a risk.

The Walkers and Hickeys also seemed pleased with their gifts.

I spent Christmas Eve night with my parents. We ate at Aubrey’s and then watched “Christmas Truce” on the History Channel. It detailed the story of the armistice on Christmas 1914 during the trenches of World War I. We opted to do this instead of attending a service.