Speed Update of what I promised previously..

A week ago I posted this. And sadly, I only got to one of those things on the list. Christmas was a busy time for Prudence! In a quick micro-update to atone for the lack of updating about things promised, I give you:

The list:

My flight experience to Another Smalltown on Tuesday (this should be up by Thursday PM): See this post. 


More on Prudence's Dad and his craziness (based on a conversation about Justin Bieber and what promises to be an adventure in last minute Christmas shopping over the next 2 days): My dad is one of the funniest people I know. While I was in Another Smalltown for Christmas, we watched a few Christmas specials, including re-watching the one by this beautiful man: 

Photo Cred: FAMEmagazine

But before Mr. Buble serenaded me on his very first Christmas special for the second time this holiday season, we watched the adoption special "A Home for the Holidays" (in which Mary J. Blige was wearing what can only be described as a red adult onesie.) 

Mary J. Blige's Fancy Red Onesie. Photo Cred: CBS

And like in the Buble special, one Justin Bieber makes an appearance to sing his one-hit Christmas wonder, Under the Mistletoe. 

Now... don't ask me how, but my dad somehow understands/gets/whatever's Lady Gaga. But he couldn't seem to grasp the idea of the term "shawty." Example (from Under the Mistletoe):

I should be playing in the winter snow / But Ima be under the mistletoe. / With you, shawty with you, / With you, shawty with you, / With you, under the Mistletoe, yeah.

After explaining that a "shawty" is a term for an attractive girl or girlfriend or whatever (according to Urban Dictionary), I did like the Spelling Bee, and used it in a sentence (or... in other song lyrics, actually):

 Go shawty, it's your birthday, you're gonna party like it's your birthday.

I think he got it after that. ANYWAY. Mr. Bieber gave us another round of his "Under the Mistletoe" in the Buble special. But this time, Dad wasn't as concerned with the term shawty but more about that level at which young Justin decided to wear his britches. My dad exclaimed, and I quote:

"Oh my goodness! Look at him. He's wearing them below his A$$!" 

Photo Cred: Aurora Record Company

 Oh Dad. Again, you get Lady Gaga, but not The Biebs. Guess he's just not a Belieber like Mr. Buble.

The Importance of Family and Traditions (because the season just begs for this): One of the last things we talked about in my 4th grade Sunday School class on the Sunday before Christmas was tradition. Catholicism is chock full of tradition, and I love every last bit of it. I had my students talk about their family traditions, and as expected, many of them revolved around being together, decorating the house for Christmas, getting a tree, and opening presents. I think these kinds of traditions are super important because it really helps to ground your family. It gives you something to look forward to time and time again.

In Prudence's family - we've ALWAYS had a Christmas Eve Drop-In at our house. I think this year marked the 25th annual - since I'm 26 and I was only 13 days old on my first Christmas - I don't think Mom entertained friends that year. But for 25 years, family, friends, and neighbors have come over to our house (yes, even when we moved about 7 miles from the old dwelling) on Christmas Eve to enjoy each other's company and enough food to feed an army. We're talking Smoked Turkey, BBQ, Rolls, Stuffed Mushrooms, Veggies, Cheese Dip, Spinach dip, and enough sweets to make you want to join Weight Watchers on Christmas morning. If we stopped having the drop-in, I don't know what some of our friends would do since they've ALWAYS come to our house on Christmas Eve. 

The Smoked Turkey from this year's Christmas Eve Drop-In

The Desserts. Mmmmm.

While putting everything together sometimes seems like a hassle, it's still a pretty great feeling to entertain friends and family and to enjoy the company of other people. On my (delayed) flight to Another Smalltown, I picked up a book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. 

I'll do a more full-fledged post on it when I finish reading the book, but yesterday on the flight back to Smalltown, USA I read the chapter "Lighten Up" where Gretchen refers to "being a treasure house of happy memories." It's often the traditions and rituals we have with family and friends that supply us with our happiest memories. 


Christmas in Another Smalltown (because that's happening in t-minus 3 days...err, it happened 3 days ago): Christmas was grand in Another Smalltown. As I mentioned with family traditions, Prudence's family does indeed have a drop-in on Christmas Eve were upwards of 60 people come to our house for food and fellowship. Lots goes into preparations for the evening, but it's great to see family friends who've watched me grow up - especially since I've moved away from Another Smalltown and am only there about 3 or 4 times a year now.

This Christmas, we had two new additions to our family gathering: My brother got married in June, so this was Sister-in-Law's first Christmas with the Thorne family. And earlier this year, Brudder and Sister-in-Law adopted a beagle, so it was Spanky's first Christmas with us too. Food was eaten. Presents were opened. And fun was had. It was a really great Christmas - it just went by too fast!

So...there you have it. A relatively speedy update of topics I had promised previously. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, readers! Happy 4th Day of the Christmas Octave!