christmas day with the swansons
both of my parents are originally from cleveland, and most of their family has remained there. that means our christmases are split. we spent christmas eve with my father’s family; christmas day was held at my mother’s sister’s house.
this christmas was much like those we’ve had in the past. everyone converges on the host house (invariably my aunt’s) about lunch time. people snack and drink all day until somewhere between five and seven, when we have a turkey & ham dinner buffet style and wherever you can find a seat. we then continue snacking and drinking until 11 or midnight, when people leave. now, when i say drinking, i don’t really mean drinking; someone might have three or four beers or glasses of wine during the course of the entire day. it’s social drinking.
anyway, this christmas everyone showed up; this hasn’t happened in a while. one of the family’s gifts to my grandparents was a professional photo of the entire family. that involves 33 people (2 grandparents, 2 sons + wives, 2 daughters + husbands, 21 grandchildren + one husband and one fiancee) in 10 households (not counting the several grandchildren in college as separate households), some as far away as texas and georgia. this was no mean logistical feat. it was good to see everyone again; i hadn’t seen one of my cousins since she had gotten married four years ago.
one of my cousins, ian, got the lord of the rings version of risk, which i had not previously heard of. we got a game going with another of my cousins and ian’s girlfriend, who had bought it for him. this game is sweet. there are a few rule changes from the original risk, but the biggest thing is the board, which is a map of middle earth. i recommend this game.
while we’re on the topic, the swansons are great lord of the rings fans. last year, we got into a great discussion of the trilogy vs. the book; one of my uncles was as disappointed as i was to find that tom bombadil was not in the movies. both of my mother’s brothers are big fans, as well as several of my cousins. there are a few holdouts, though.
anyway, i’m at that long rambling part of my post, so it’s about time to wrap it up. one final highlight: two of my cousins and i had our asses handed to us–by my brother–in
happy holidays. go blue!