The return and Christmas
The Christmas season should have begun for me the day I got home, but it took me a little while to get into the spirit, admittedly. Even after all the Parang that had already been playing for months, I was still in the summertime mood, despite it being the middle of December. The night I arrived in St. Louis, the temperature was a whopping 9 degrees. That's in Fahrenheit, everyone. With it being approximately 90 in Port of Spain when I left, my body had to adjust to a nearly 80 degree temperature difference. I felt like I was at this place but instead of 3 minutes it lasted forever. I mean I don't want to complain, (yes I do. I love complaining) but it took me about 3 weeks to finally warm up. The real problem was that not only was I not physically prepared, I was totally unprepared mentally. For the last few weeks in Trinidad I was picturing my return home smack-dab in the middle of summer, which obviously was just an illusion in my mind because the weather was so pleasant in the Caribbean.
Anyway it didn't take me too long to get into the Christmas Spirit because two of my favorite holiday "traditions" were taking place within a week. (aside: The only reason I put quotations around the word traditions is because I have only taken part in both these events twice, and although I do believe that these two events are actually legitimate traditions for many, I have only participated a limited number of times, which means that it may not yet be a tradition for me. whatever.) The first is the Heimann Family Christmas Sing Along.
Yes. We have a Christmas sing along.
And it's awesome. The population estimate at this thing was 80 this year. And that was small. Just imagine 80 people all holding a beverage of some sort (let's get serious. mostly A-B products with some of those classier people holding a wine, scotch or gin) singing Christmas songs and the occasional German drinking song. Good fun was had by all. Sorry no pictures are in my possession.
The next Christmas tradition was a family trip up to Chicago. There were a good number of us this year which made for a great weekend of shopping and such. Chris and I spent much of our time shopping together, and much of that shopping time was spent looking for a classy raincoat for his then upcoming semester in Ireland. We were unsuccessful in that venture. We found some that looked good at Banana Republic, but they weren't actually waterproof. Smart. We did, however, manage to get a gift for my cousin and god child Owen. Our visit to the Lego store was a trip down memory lane. It seriously made me want to go home and build some stuff. After dinner one night the older cousins and our Uncle Joe and Aunt Cindy went out for some drinks. We hit the Billy Goat Tavern under Michigan Ave and met an interesting character who bought us some drinks, and who had pissed away more money than he cared to realize. We decided to jump ship, so to speak, and head to another place. We ended up hitting a pretty good brew pub (the name escapes me) where Chris proceeded to teach us a pretty fun drinking game. (It's top secret, and I cannot reveal its name or rules in order to keep the shock value alive in case I ever decide to break it out in your presence)
Christmas was a fun affair at both the Kratschmers and Henkens. Not a whole lot to report from either location. It was nice to see my cousin Mary and her husband Bob, as well as the rest of all the families. Christmas day was as loud as every other year, and a bit more dangerous, with my cousin Erin's boyfriend Tom receiving an antique bayonet (which of course was passed around and brandished threateningly).
Ok so this post is going to have to be in parts. I started writing because I couldn't go to sleep. (wow what a surprise) and now I think I'm sufficiently tired. Better than counting sheep.
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