OK, here is the rest of the story from Christmas


Christmas Day

Paul and I have to go help to decorate our dinner table at 10 a.m. We are both up and showered and out the door by then. We have our dinner service and help get the table decor set up. There are about 17 tables of 10 to 14 seats so there will be quite a crowd for dinner. The Escapees club will provide the ham and turkey with gravy. Each table decides what they want to serve for dinner and then assign folks to bring these items. From what I can tell based on the table decorations, some of these folks go all out. I suppose that it is because as full timers, the Escapees that will share a Christmas dinner together become like family. I always tried to make Christmas and Christmas dinner special for my family and I think we have a lot of great memories of Christmases past to remember.

After we were done decorating we were off to pick up Zack. Since we are not bringing really anything to the dinner, I asked if anyone would like pineapple sauce for the ham. Everyone said go ahead, so I will need to get the stuff for that. We stop at the CVS, the only store open in town to pick up more cough and decongestant stuff for snotty Zack and to see if they have the stuff to make the pineapple sauce. Well, they had the pineapple...I need corn starch and corn syrup (one of our table mates, Louise offered to let me borrow some from her if I didn't find what I need...hmmm, hello Louise?) We pick up Zack and head back to the rig to make Christmas morning breakfast. By the time we get home it is like 11:45 and by the time Paul makes our eggs, ham and muffins it is almost noon. Not too good for breakfast, and our dinner is at 2. Not a problem...we have stuff from last night(boiled gulf shrimp, cheese and crackers, bread and dill dip) that we can nosh on later tonight if we get hungry. After breakfast, I make the pineapple sauce. We had stopped by Louise and Bill's rig and picked up the syrup and starch. She was laughing and said she didn't know how OLD they were, and wished me luck. Funny that when you cook at home, you have most everything you need...on the road you have to plan for heaven's sake. No way would I have corn syrup and corn starch in the rig for any reason. Thank goodness for people who travel full time...they have everything.

We all get dressed and head over to the activity center around 1:45. The place is hopping. You should see the food that is being brought in...coolers, crockpots, chafing dishes, casseroles and baskets...it is amazing. The smells are incredible. Our table mates arrive and we proceed to set up the goodies...Paul pours the wine and then the entire group pauses for a moment of silent prayer. Our table host Steve, heads up to the kitchen to get our ham and we dig in. One thing I will say...it was great. Company was great and we all had a good time. The ham was a spiral cut and to me tasted a bit salty. The ham we have at home is better I think!

We all stuff ourselves...well, not really. The Ziaja's were still full from breakfast so we didn't eat too much. After dinner we cleaned up our table, said our goodbyes and headed back to the rig. It seemed that everyone had a great time and enjoyed the dinner. There were about 200 people there I think.

We had talked about going to see Night at the Museum at the show earlier. Zack was itching to get out so we went to the single screen theater in Livingstone. We did get popcorn and a drink...popcorn was really good...hot and fresh. The movie was only so-so. It is geared to kids actually, but Zack and I laughed our butts off. Paul fell asleep...so what is new?

After the movie, the rain had finally stopped and we headed back to Rainbow's End. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean with Zack for awhile. He is very anxious to get outta Dodge. I understand. I am very happy that he was here with us. Sometimes he is gonna hafta make a sacrifice now and then right? We don't know what is in store for next Christmas, so spending time with this grandpa and us is important for all of us. I am not going to take the drive to Houston tomorrow to drop Zack off at the airport. We say our goodbyes and I am sad to see him leave. He is chomping at the bit. I will miss him. Nothing was clearer than this...he is grown up and has a life of his own and we will be lucky to spend time with him whenever we can. Our little boy chattering with excitement about Santa's arrival....taking pictures in front of the tree, leaving cookies and milk for Santa...just memories now, but oh so sweet. Our first Christmas in the rig. It was unremarkable and quiet . But we are together. Zack and grandpa celebrated with us. No gifts, a tiny little tree on the table; no cookies, no fruitcake or candy. Just us remembering Christmases past and looking forward to Christmases in the future.

Merry Christmas

Dee