There are things that you do as you grow up that become the milestones which mark points in your life. I won’t go so far as say they define you (in reality, how much does your first solo, licensed drive to the store for a milk run really say about who you are as a person?), but they are important and special.

Tonight, Jackie and I had our friends over for Christmas dinner and gifts.

This isn’t something that really presents itself as an opportunity very often, because usually at such times Dave and Margie step up and handle it (And I mean HANDLE it: Margie can feed 45 people with an MRE and some basil.), but Dave and Margie are in Cali for Christmas, and this is the first major holiday in our SEVEN YEARS in Denver that Jackie and I AREN’T going to South Dakota…

So, with 5 days to prep and plan, we decided to do something. The possibility of failure was high.

We potlucked. Jackie made the turkey and some treats, and there was much much good stuff to nosh. (It was all good, but I have to give special props to Juli’s indian-style potatos and Madeline’s fruit salad with no-friggin-marshmallows.) Most impressive: all the food was ready at the same time, despite being prepared by four different people.

Afterwards, we had pie and ice cream (Randy made his famous “run past Village Inn for really good pie”.), and we exchanged gifts. Books in much abundance — I’d have to say everyone scored (I certainly did).

Props to Randy, who has collected about four copies of any book he thinks is good, and brought over a bunch of extra copies of stuff to give away that he thinks everyone should read. Of the stuff he laid out on the table for people to browse through, I have read about half — he’s never been wrong yet.

We watched some of the Tick and all of 24. We drank egg nog (provided by Lori) mixed with 151 rum from our honeymoon in the Bahamas. (Finally, something to DO with that stuff.)

It was just great. Everyone was chatting, joking, feeling the spirit.

Hell, I even got the lights up in time.

It was cool. It was fun. Milestone. Thanks especially to everyone who was here.

Afterwards:

Me: “Big success.”
Jackie: “Well, it wasn’t Margie.”
Me: “It was us. That’s good too.”