Four Hundred and Going Strong

I am closing out 2012 with the 400th edition of the Swann Family News, but more on that below.

SHOOTING STARS. Before I get started recounting our Christmas I want to share a story I forgot to write up last time.

The Geminid Meteor Shower peaked back on the 13th and that evening as the boys and I were returning from Ben’s basketball practice we parked in the field behind the shop and watched until we got cold (which didn’t take too long). We got quite a show, seeing two to three meteors per minute. Some were very impressive. It was one of those special moments I will treasure, not so much because my sons were asking me questions (and no, I don’t know all the answers), but because the three of us were simply enjoying the beauty of the night sky as made by our Creator.

There are so many details in this world that we miss because we are too busy to stop and look at the handiwork of God.

DON’T FLUSH! I am happy to report that we have had a great Christmas, though the unexpected challenge for us was that we were without water most of the day. It turned out that there was a major water main leak just down Henry Road from Highway 25 which affected quite a number of customers in the area. I became aware of this before everyone else got up when I heard a sucking air noise in the washing machine. I felt sorry for the crew out there having to fix the problem on a cold, damp, Christmas morning.

We were able to carry on with all of our Christmas activities. Mrs. Connie said, “We’re pioneers,” so breakfast was still on. I helped Vicki wash her hair over the kitchen sink with bottled water. Judging from the way she squawked I’d say the water felt pretty cold even though it was at room temperature.

At any rate, there are far worse problems to have on any given morning, much less Christmas. Better to be without water for a while than electricity on a cold day. Our water service was restored around 2:00.

A MOST WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS. To begin this tale I need to start by saying I do quite a bit of the gift wrapping at our house. This year I threw the kids for a loop because when I wrapped the presents I put numbers on the labels rather than names (I kept a key to the numbers in a notebook). The boys were so funny because they’d come up to me and say, “I don’t understand. What does number eight mean?”

We decided to put a little adventure into Christmas this year by staging a scavenger hunt for most of the gifts around the house, so Christmas Eve night found us writing clues and hiding gifts. The kids were totally oblivious to our sneaking around because they were watching something on TV. The next morning we presented them with eight clues that sent them looking all over. One clue had them going to their own closets and when I read it aloud and the kids figured out where to go Ben stopped with this most incredulous look on his face and exclaimed, “How did you get by me? I was awake almost the whole night!” He marveled again at our prowess because their final gifts were hidden right under their beds.

The major gift for the boys was a pair of Google Nexus 7 tablets. Ben knew immediately what it was and practically jumped out of his skin. Nate wasn’t quite up to speed, but quickly figured out that he had something really good. Jenna got a lot of smaller gifts that she wanted and a good haul of cash. I netted several books that are on my reading list.

CLASSIC TV. Two things we as a family got for Christmas were complete DVD sets of I Love Lucy and Gilligan’s Island. Nate is in hog heaven in that we no longer have to wait for the next disc to come from Netflix in order for him to get his Lucy fix, and we’ve enjoyed introducing them to the antics of those poor castaways of the S. S. Minnow.

KENNY IS STUMPED. For those of you who keep up with the Kenny Swann/Kim Hendley exchange on Facebook -- which has offered years of entertainment for many -- you’ll be glad to know someone finally has Kenny stumped.

For several years now Jenna and Kenny have exchanged gag gifts. Jenna usually picks on his lack of hair and Kenny tries to dream up anything he can to get her goat. They’ve both come up with some good gifts. Kenny’s crash helmet after Jenna’s bike wreck was a classic.

Alas, the gift giving is over. Jenna gave Kenny a baseball cap that reads, “Wish you were hair.” and Kenny had nothing in return. He said he had thought and thought and thought and couldn’t come up with an idea that wasn’t lame so he conceded and called a truce. When I heard him say that I thought, “Well, that’s what you get for messing with Mary Poppins in training.” I think they decided that Jenna would be Santa’s Helper next year.

I think Kim needs to team up with Jenna.

THE 400TH EDITION. I know I have said this sort of thing before, but I am really quite amazed to see “Number 400” in the header above (even more so that my software is reporting that I’ve typed over 318,000 words). I remember first dreaming up the concept for the Swann Family News when I was mowing the part of Aunt Mar’s yard we call the “strawberry patch.” I knew then that I wanted to keep a running journal of our family’s life, but that the only way I’d stay at it would be to make it into an email newsletter so I’d be accountable to more than just me. Even at that I never dreamed I’d still be at it 400 issues later.

This brings me to the birthday and Christmas presents I gave Vicki this year. I took the first two years of the Swann Family News, added pictures from our digital archives, and had them bound into book (I used the same service I used for The Wit & Wisdom of Aunt Mar). Vicki got volume 1 for her birthday and volume 2 for Christmas. Mom and the kids each got their own copies for Christmas as well.

The nice thing is that I don’t have to think up new gift ideas for a while, I just have to make another book in time for the next occasion. This edition, for example, will be in volume 10 if I get that far making books. Hopefully they will be something my family treasures for years to come.

Joe