Fly Like an Eagle

I guess I was more tired than I thought when I got off with Lauren this morning. I slept until 10:30! Didn't get to my apple-cinnamon pancakes until quarter of noon. I must have still been out of it. I forgot the egg and added so much cooking spray to the pan, I ended up making crunchy apple fritters instead of apple pancakes.

At least I managed to get A Very Special Christmas on with no problems. This is a first in a series of holiday records made to benefit the Special Olympics. Favorites on this album include Bruce Springsteen's live version of "Merry Christmas Baby," Madonna's "Santa Baby," the Eurythmics' "Winter Wonderland," the Pointer Sisters' "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," and John Cougar Melloncamp's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." For many kids in the late 80's-early 90's, "Christmas In Hollis" by Run D.M.C was likely their first mainstream exposure to rap.

Worked on writing for the rest of the afternoon. BB wakes up in a real old-fashioned train tooting through a beautiful green countryside, filled with rolling green hills, huge fluffy trees, and houses made of gingerbread and candy. The conductor wakes her up to ask her about her parents and her ticket. When she explains that her parents are in Philadelphia and she has no ticket and no money, he lets her off at the next stop, the Sheep Meadow.

She gets a bit of a surprise when the man she talks to at the ticket counter in the gingerbread train station looks the same as the conductor! He tells her that there are no trains to Philadelphia, but Toyland Town isn't far away. She might be able to get help there.

Jodie called me around 3. Did I want to come over to watch the Eagles-Rams game at 4:25? They were having roast beef sandwiches. Sure! I got caught up with writing, though, and didn't get over until it was almost time for the game to start. Mark and Vanessa arrived just as I did. Rose showed up with Finley and Khai about 20 minutes later. Chloe came in with her mother shortly after they did.

And what a game it was! Neither team dominated. It went back and forth all evening. The Rams are by far the best team the Eagles have met all season, and it showed. Things slowly started turning around in the 3rd quarter, even when quarterback Carson Wentz was taken out hurt and replaced with Nick Foles. In the end, despite everything, the Eagles finally managed to outgun the Rams 43-35. (And if Wentz needs a week to recover, next week the Eagles play the Giants. That's barely playing. The Giants have three wins this season.)

I mostly watched the game with Chloe and Khai, alternating between cheering the Eagles on, watching Khai play Pokemon Sapphire, trying to keep the kids from playing behind the bar, and admiring Dad and Jodie's awesome decorations. They finally broke down and bought a fake tree this year, but it looks just as good as their real ones always did. The train is underneath it again this year. Khai and Chloe tried running it, but they gave up after it ran off the tracks one too many times.

Went back in the living room with the adults to watch the second half after the kids and moms went home. Jodie's roast beef sandwiches were delicious, accompanied by potato salad and cole slaw, with snowman and reindeer sugar cookies for dessert. There was a scary moment when Jodie kept gasping. She thought it was a heart attack or something lodged in her throat. Thankfully, it was a piece of roast beef going down the wrong tube. It took a few minutes, but she got it up. I went home shortly after that, when the Eagles were starting to turn things around.