Christmas 2002

Christmas 2002

Greetings from the Ellwing Household.  So much material, so little space!   Cassie took up a new hobby and it’s consuming all her time.  Sleeping is the hobby, and boy, is she good at it!  She can (and does) sleep anywhere and everywhere. We have found only one way to keep her awake, and her teachers are currently considering using the Jake method of Cassieawakeology.  We have her stand.  Works so far.  Even the pro snoozer cannot sleep standing upright…yet.

Cassie continues to bring home strays.  Stray children, that is.  This year, a stray arrived who had been “kicked out” of her house. Cassie and the kid decided she would live at our house for a while.  Mind you, I have no idea who the kid is,  who the parents are.  “Kidnapping” charges came to mind!  Was she an arsonist, drug user, runaway (“harboring” again) or kid in trouble?  No response to telephone messages left at the kid’s house.  This year I got smart.  I called the police BEFORE they knocked on my door!

On the other hand, did you know that Calley does not sleep? Really!  She’s up and wandering most nights.  Calley was up and roaming at 3:00 Am.  She knew I wouldn’t get up (and world be angry) if she woke me. So she called my cell phone from her bedroom. I went flying down the stairs (a cell phone ringing at 3 Am usually means someone died).  I fearfully answered, “Hello?” Calley declared, “Hi Mom, I’m hungry…since you’re already downstairs, could you bring up a bagel?”

Speaking of stairs, during the Winter Olympics, Calley took down and pulled apart my curtain rod, outfitted her “My Twinn” doll with the curtain rod “skies” and Ace Bandage “ski boots”.  I walked into the house just in time to see her doll qualify for the Olympic downhill team by “skiing” down the staircase. Last month, Steve and I just lay in bed, listening to and hysterically laughing at the footsteps running up and down stairs, doors and drawers opening and closing and kitchen utensils clanging.  The laughter abruptly ceased as I suddenly realized that when we get up, I would not be laughing anymore!

Cassie and Calley both went to camp this past summer.  Calley terrorized horses and counselors, while Cassie was in a Leader-in-training program. In the fall, we wrote the camp that both of our children wanted to return next year, and Cassie was anxious to move on to the Counselor-in-Training program,  Our deposit was refunded, and we were notified that the camp is closed up and for sale. Hmmmmm…

Steve and I decided to go “retro” and attend a Jethro Tull concert this summer at Ravinia Outdoor Theatre. It hadn’t rained for a month, and on that particular afternoon, the skies opened up.  There was flooding everywhere, as the hard, dry earth couldn’t absorb the water pouring down. Steve took the train from work (yes, still with the AMA).  The train stopped at the station before Ravinia, and Steve exited. He waited and waited for the downpour to lessen, to no avail.  He had to walk the quarter mile.  Steve rolled up his pants legs, and decided that the most direct route to Ravinia would be along the train tracks.  Unfortunately, his “short-cut” brought a commuter train to a standstill, and a Railroad Marshall was dispatched to his location.  Luckily, Steve majored in speech in college.  He used his persuasive speech skills to remain out of jail.  The comment from the Railroad Marshall? “What were you THINKING???”

Like I said, nothing new!  Oh yeah, I forgot to mention – three birds, one dog, two gerbils and a fish tank weren’t enough, so Cassie got a kitten.  New kitten desperately wants to eat aforementioned birds, fish and gerbils.  I’ve decided to toilet train the cat.   Updates next year…