Yankee Swap, Visit Joey's, Granddaughters, Nieces

Update - January 13 to January 19, 2019

-- Yankee Swap Closes the Holiday Season

Paige Gets Reciprocal Gift Bag

Due to everyone having a busy schedule over the holiday, the traditional Wright Yankee Swap took a big hit this year and was postponed clear into January. Normally, it is only demoted to the weekend before or after Christmas when everyone can gather for the event. My sister-in-law Marna volunteered to hold it this week on a Saturday for a "brunch-time" event. Not to overstate the lateness of the event, but the tree at 3 Patch Reservoir was already down for the season. So, the gift wrapping had to substitute for any cheer a lighted tree may have provided.

When Susan Wright brought out some extra gifts for Paige and Lily, she pointed out that the "gift bags," were actually bags the twins had hand-made a dozen years ago for gifts they gave to Susan. Sue had kept these unique, hand-painted bags over the years and was returning them as gifts this year. Neither Sue nor the girls could determine who exactly painted which bag, but it was nonetheless the coolest gift received.

Minimalist holiday decor

There were only minor skirmishes in gift-grabbing during the Yankee go-around, so most of the gifts had enough appeal to be welcomed, but not overly coveted. After all, this is a "Yankee" swap, where you might expect a somewhat miserly approach to evaluating gift values. Anyway, I ended up with a pair of stemless wine glasses (my preferred style) and a dandy wine/champagne bottle stopper to keep the bubbly as bubbly as possible. I hate flat wine of any kind, so this is a handy gadget. Maybe next year we can get organized soon enough to have a tree still on the premises when we open our gifts. Lucy already knows what she wants for next Christmas.

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READ my Blog "The Books of Richard F Wright" (Books, Bookstores, Writing)

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Patti had water; I had wine

-- Visited Joey's in Worcester for Lunch

We have been to Joey's Bar and Grill a few times in the past and have found it very nice. It's located in the small plaza across from the Nu-Kitchen on Chandler Street in Worcester. The location is where the Struck Cafe operated for many years. The lighting is subdued, which is something I appreciate. I'm not looking for the cafeteria-level lighting some places mistake as creating a "bright" appearance. Turn down the lights a little, so I don't have to squint so much.

I got the baked Haddock and was particularly impressed with the light Pancho crust. It was a large portion of fish and the vegetables and the garlic potatoes were just to my liking. Patti had a pasta dish which was sufficiently large enough that we had leftovers. No such luck with the fish; I was particularly hungry that day. We also noticed some interesting and colorful artwork hanging on the walls. It turns out that one of the people who work there is also a color consultant and artist. Her name is Rosemary Lebeau. She has a website showing her work at rosemarylebeau.com. You may be surprised.

-- The Olive and Lucy Show Rolled Into Town

Frog Chair Center Stage

Like clockwork, the two granddaughters rolled in on Tuesday morning to spend the day with us. Olive was very active and was happy to sit in her "frog" chair and engage in conversation with big-sister Lucy. Lucy entertained Olive for quite a while, eliciting smiles, and what appeared to be raspberries through her lips as her way of joining in on the singing.

Always Listen to Big Sister

Baby Olive has become more vocal and more physical lately. She enjoys her playpen mat which has overhead arches from which dangle a variety of colorful and perhaps tasty items. She likes to grab at them as they swing over her head and then "taste-test," each one to see if it's as tasty as it is colorful. From the squirmy faces she makes, after she takes a bite, I believe most of these cloth and plastic toys are tasteless at best and poor tasting at worst.

The Frog chair has been a lot of fun up to now as it allows Olive to sit up and be a part of the playtime on the living room floor. But, each time I reach in to pull her out for a change or a feeding, I realize she's wedged in so tight I'm not sure she may be permanently stuck in it one of these days. We need a bigger gimmick for her to play in.


-- Olive Uses Two Hands to Control Bottle Time

Lucy is Her Own Biggest Fan

Geodesic Globe

Self Sufficient

Olive has reached the point that four ounces are not enough for a feeding. We have to move her up to a larger bottle. This week she was able to grab the bottle and feed herself so it won't be long before she orders some steak tips, I'm sure.

Olive also had a fun new toy, which appears to be a miniature geodesic globe. It has numerous handy facets that allow her to get a good grip and leverage sufficient to allow her to bop herself in the head.




-- Lily Preparing for Concerts at UMass-Amherst

This picture of Lily with her flute at UMass came in this week. Lily is visible sitting front row center in this group shot.  I will have to check to see when the next concert is so that we can plan to attend.















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READING UPDATE: I finished reading Who Are We? by Samuel P. Huntington, which is an analysis of the challenges to American's national identity as seen by this well-known Harvard Professor and author of a dozen books. His assessment of the threats to our culture and our country and his observations about how the new century will transform how Americans view America can be quite alarming. 

But, you can be sure that there are no countries, no cultures, no foreign organizations, no foreign non-Christian religions that are interested or supportive of our current view of ourselves or any concocted new view that we may develop. We are slowly being outnumbered and will eventually be overwhelmed by countries that see our role as exploitive and insensitive to their needs and desires on a global scale.