Friday's Fave Five, 12/26/14

 Link to Friday's Fave Five host blog

1. This was the surprise of the year.  We were not expecting Andrew home until January 4.  He told his mom a LIE.  He said his ticket to leave China was on January 3, knowing full well that it was for December 23.

However, we will forgive him.  :-) He said other than that one lie, when I had put him on the spot about the date of his ticket, he was able to pull the whole thing off without any more untruths.

Originally, he really was not going to be able to get home until early January.  But the last exam he was to give was to a class of graduates, most of whom were already leaving to take jobs in other parts of the country.  When he realized this, he went to his boss, who was willing to let him give the exams early to all the students.  (It was a small class.)  So around Thanksgiving, when he realized it would work out to get home for Christmas, he started to put his plan into action.

2.  Thankful for the part that several other people had in pulling this off.  His sister ML has been in on it for a month; she had lunch with him in Greenville on Christmas Eve before he came home in the afternoon.  His friend Bill picked him up in Charlotte.  His friend Bryon and girlfriend Tessie brought him to our hometown.  And apparently a number of people knew about this in advance.  A number of people other than us!  Here is a link to the video of the surprise.

3. A nice Christmas day.  We didn't have a lot of presents this year.  The kids got cash.  My present was a ticket to China last summer.  (Mike is off the hook for several holidays because of that one.)  My gift to Mike was the hunting trip he took in November.  Mary Lee gave very nice gifts, and Andrew brought pearls from China.   That was about it.  But it was a nice quiet day, and I made our usual shrimp creole for supper.  We had breakfast with my folks, and they and my sister Rhoda stopped in after supper also.  And then I went to bed while the others were up for awhile.  :-)

4. Last Friday (the last day of school), we took the students to a couple of assisted living facilities and had them sing for the residents as well as take cards to them that the elementary students had made.  At first the students were mildly resistant to this.  But it was a joy to watch them, on the first time around the halls, being a little nervous; then, by the second go-round, they were stopping in groups in residents' rooms, delivering cards, talking, and even singing.  What was really good to see was some of our young men taking the leadership in this endeavor.

5. I ordered a new cord for my elliptical off of eBay, hoping it would work to turn the thing on again.  It came this week, and it works!!  I am glad to be able to get back on it.  I really need to, for the sake of my knee, which needs strengthening.

Merry Christmas!!