As we were eating breakfast, Amy said that she and Todd would like to spend one more night. They slept so comfortably on their air mattress and the room temperature was just right. Kip was ensconced on the futon with an air mattress under it and my two floor cushions under his shoulders to give him a little elevation so his back wouldn't get sore. He said he was comfortable enough, too, and if they were staying then he would stay. Heck, why not?!
Kaboodle gravitated to Todd's lap at one point during the day. He was trying to show her the kissing magnet bears that Lee and Kim gave us. They are the cutest thing. There are magnets under their noses so that when they get close enough to each other they smack their mouths together. Rather like Bill and I actually do.
As soon as we finished eating, we went right to the games. We played Cranium. Kip was getting a little bored of Cranium so we promised him we'd play euchre for our next game. After we finished playing Cranium, we took a bit of a break. Amy and I started the game of "What Should We Have For Dinner" since they all had decided to stay one more night. I was fresh out of ideas and frankly quite tired of cooking for a crowd. The rush of Christmas Day and all the unexpected fun that came with it plus getting to bed later than I was used to was taking its toll on me.
We got the euchre game going. Out came the pretzels and cream cheese, the cheese dip and crackers, and the Christmas cookies, which were going down fast, thankfully. I forget what I made for Bill for lunch. Probably some kind of sandwich.
Kip and I were partners and were were kicking Todd and Amy's butt. Which started to get on their nerves. They had colds and losing to us was getting them a little cranky. But that's also why Kip and I were winning so well because their heads were clouded with congestion. Their usual symbiotic relationship wasn't so clear cut for once. Kip and I had ours going. But I made our winning worse by doing a tapping of my fingers with a flourish as I was gathering the cards up with each trick that we won. That started getting to Todd and when he pointed it out, well, I just did it more. And Kip joined me. You know how it is. You get that little mischievous streak going and it's fun to keep annoying someone. Hmm, well, maybe you don't know how it is.
But they took it all in the spirit of fun mostly. It got funnier and funnier after Amy threatened Kip and I both with wicked, horrible titty twisters while Todd took a restroom break. So, then Kip and I would do the finger flourishes in secret and just giggle like crazy. Todd brought out my bamboo back scratcher when he came back and told Amy to use this on my hand if I do it again. I managed to get it away from her. Then the next trick that Kip and I won, I got the back scratcher out quickly and used that to draw the cards over to me. Kip just about split with laughing. Oh, yeh. Kip and I technically won that game but the last hand got redealt because after the cards were passed out, and after Kip had made it trump, Amy finally got a chance to say, "But I wanted to cut." Reluctantly, I redealt, Amy made it trump, and they won the hand and the game. Kip and I swore there would be a rematch after dinner.
The highlight of my evening came when I went out to Kroger for hamburger to make a meatloaf for dinner. Amy and Todd weren't feeling well enough and Kip had begun his sojourn in the bathroom, so I went alone. It was supposed to be a short trip anyway. Bill was taking off at the same time I was. He was taking the rejuvenated computer back to the old guy's house. That left Kip's car that still had snow on it or Todd's little Suzuki runabout to drive without rearranging any cars. I opted to take the Suzuki. It's a stick shift and I hadn't driven a stick for awhile. I got in the car, put it in neutral, turned the key. It wouldn't start. I tried various combinations of movements. It still wouldn't start. Bill was finished putting the computer in his car so he came over. "Try pushing the clutch in," he suggested. So, I did. And the car started. Seems that in the newer models you have to push the clutch in to let them start.
I was off and not having any trouble with the gears and shifting at all. From the time I took driver's training in high school till 1976 when Old Bill bought a yellow Maverick, I drove a stick. Driving Todd's Suzuki was like riding a bicycle. Once you learn, you don't forget.
The trek around Kroger lasted about half an hour 'cause I got a few more items besides hamburger (of course). I checked out and went back to the car. I put the groceries in the passenger's seat, got in the driver's seat, put the gear in neutral, and turned the key. It wouldn't start. Okay, so I remembered about the trick with the clutch and pushed it in. It still wouldn't start. Put the gear in first, pushed the clutch, still wouldn't start. Put the gear in neutral, pushed the clutch, still wouldn't start. I tried various combinations of everything I could think of and finally gave up and got out of the car. A woman was getting into the car beside me and she made the comment that she liked my car. I said, "Yeh, I like it, too, but it won't start." With that comment, she asked what was wrong and then volunteered to jumpstart the car. Gladly, I accepted her offer. Then we had another problem. We couldn't find the latch to get the hood opened. I explained that it wasn't my car, it was my son-in-law's, that I wasn't familiar where things were in it, ya da ya da ya da.
A man who had been sitting in a car across from me got out and asked if I was having car trouble. "Yep, I sure am," I replied and told him the story. He set about looking for the latch to open the hood. We looked all around the inside and the outside and the three of us couldn't find anything that looked like a hood opener. The man then enlisted the help of a young guy thinking that he might know something about such a sporty-looking car like I had. The young guy didn't know anything about a Suzuki but then he inspected the car, inside and out, trying to find the latch. He did give the best suggestion we'd had all night. "Does it have a car manual?"
Ah ha! I did find that and looked through it. It had instructions on how to jumpstart the car but not about where the hood latch was. At least not on that page. At this point, I said I'd better go inside and call my son-in-law. The lady said, "Well, here, use my cellphone." I asked her if she was sure since I didn't want to waste her minutes on her cellphone but she insisted. So, I called Todd. By this time, I was feeling iced over since the wind was blowing strongly and the temperature was below freezing. I had only thrown my thin, woolen poncho over my clothes. Bill answered the phone and then rousted Todd out of the guest bedroom. By the time I got Todd on the phone, explained the situation, and he gave me the answer, "The hood latch is in the glove compartment," the older man had found the info in the book.
Then Todd says, "But before you jumpstart my car, try pulling the car mat out from under the clutch and then push the clutch in while you try to start the car again. You have to put the clutch in to start these later models. Sometimes, the mat gets under there and the clutch won't go all the way in like it needs to be to start the car. It's a good crime stopper feature."
OH! Well, okay. I told everyone standing around the car to hold on a moment. I get in the car, pull the mat towards the seat, push the clutch in, and, voila, the car starts. Boy, did I feel silly! I said goodbye to Todd, handed the lady back her phone, apologized profusely for my ignorance, thanked everyone profusely for their help, and finally took off for home.
Good thing Todd was making the meatloaf for us that night because I was pretty beat when I got home. "Silly woman," Todd said when I got home and then thanked me for getting his car back to him safely. He made one helluva a meatloaf that night.
We had dinner too late to play another game of euchre. Bill went to bed at 11:00. Todd and Amy went to bed at 11:30. And Kip and I went to bed at 1:30. He and I got into a discussion about there being a God or not, reincarnation, the Universe, and infinity. I really enjoyed talking with him even though I was so tired I was feeling numb. I was in that kind of stage where you're feeling dead tired but you also feel like you could just keep doing what you are doing interminably, or until you drop right where you are from exhaustion. Since I didn't think that was necessary, I finally told Kip goodnight and found my way to the bed.
It was good to have them stay longer but I was noticeably bone weary. So weary that I felt kinda sick. In some ways, I didn't want to go to bed because then that would be the end of their visit. I had had such a good time overall. But if there's one thing that can't be stopped it is Time. Time keeps plodding on no matter what.