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And then there were three
Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 11:44PM 
My family straggled home one by one today. Andrew arrived first, before noon. He was hungry so I filled him up with two grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips, fresh-baked cookies, and plenty of milk. I think he also drank a Pepsi.
TG got home from work early, at about three in the afternoon. Stephanie and Joel and the granddaughters were next, at five. Erica straggled in at five thirty, mad as a wet hen because traffic between McDonough and Columbia elongated her trip by a whole hour.
Audrey brought up the rear at a few minutes before nine, having had similar struggles where I-40 meets I-26 around Asheville. No surprise there. The trip from Knoxville to Columbia can be a breeze but on the night before Thanksgiving, it is usually fraught with difficulties of the vehicular variety.
The important thing was, they all got here. Safely. Audrey, late to the game, grabbed a plate and joined us in the family room.
There was quite a din, mostly because Andrew insisted on playing soccer with Allissa, who was majorly into it.
Javier was sulking because Erica made him wear his orange turtleneck sweater -- the one with the crossbones on the back -- even though it was 78 degrees outside.
I'd been playing most of the day with my iPod Touch, a gift from Andrew (actually he won it in a drawing at Offutt AFB last week, and he already has an iPhone, so I benefited from the trickle-down effect), and I was still preoccupied with my new toy as we sat around talking.
Next thing I knew, Melanie and Allissa were standing beside my chair, each holding a brightly-colored gift bag. Stephanie hovered nearby, mouthing instructions to her small brood.
I didn't get it because it's not my birthday and, God be praised, we still have a few weeks until Christmas.
Allissa dug in her bag. It contained a tiny -- so tiny! -- red Christmas stocking.
Okay!
Melanie looked into her bag. She brought out a piece of paper with other pieces of paper stuck to it in random shapes. There was ribbon. Unable to see what was written on it because Mel was hogging it, I was mystified.
Audrey, standing behind my chair, "got it" first ... and just from the way she said "Ohhhhh!" I knew.
The paper announced that a new baby will arrive in July, 2011.
Sue ... neener!
After divulging her big news, Stephanie (a/k/a Little Mama) quickly lost her energy and within minutes, strongly resembled these narcoleptic meerkats.
She (and my grandson I hope I hope I hope) are sleeping peacefully now.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Reader Comments (4)
Oh yay! Congratulations to Stephanie and to you. Not that you'll ever catch up to me or anything! How fun to have all your brood around for the holiday. We're keeping it pretty low-key, just dinner with the usuals tomorrow. It's very cold here, in the teens last night. Can't imagine 78 degrees at Thanksgiving.
I'll take that 78degrees, if you please, I'm freezing. Happy Thanksgiving and What GOOD news. You'll have to do a little family tree for me so I know who's who? You've been blessed for sure.
Congratulations, grandma! You have one more reason to celebrate Thanksgiving!
Hooray! I'm so excited for all of you! Something else to be thankful for today.