Hit Me With Your Best Shot

In our family January is a very busy birthday month. I tried counting backwards nine months to see what is so exciting and fertile about April... mmm season of procreation it would seem! I digress! My dad, my brother in law, niece, ex mother in law and father in law all have January birthdays, which makes for a month of wall to wall family get togethers.

Tonight was PapaP's (father in law) turn. We celebrated his 62nd birthday at a nice upscale steakhouse. Hubby's family is alot smaller than mine so it is important that we all be there to share these milestones. PapaP is a complex character. He can be both charismatic and inappropriate - all at the same time. He says it as he sees it - no filters - which can be unnerving when you don't know him. He reminds me of horse radish. The heat can freeze your brain and then afterwards, its flavour becomes addictive. I am not sure how he would feel about being compared to horse radish ... but I am sure he would prefer that to sauerkraut!

He is lovable person who is wild about his kids, and of course his Shar Pei, Mr Tibbs. He delights in planting big sloppy kisses on hubby's cheek (kind of like how Tibbs does to others) - hilarious considering hubby's shy, reserved, guarded nature. Hubby is well loved and so am I. I have always felt that MIH (mother-in-heart) and PapaP were marital bonuses. Tonight we celebrated and delighted in one another's company. Lil sis in law - AKA Lil Martha (as in Stewart) - kept us laughing - not only with her hilarious recounting of tales but also her humorous way of being. Love her...

I am what you would call a cheap date. I feel every ounce of alcohol I consume. Tonight I somehow reverted to 18 (yrs old). I had 2 glasses of wine and then 3 shots (in miniature ice cream cones) of Panama Jack. Not exactly sure why ... I could blame it on the neighbour and his wife who invited themselves over ... or on PapaP who begged off his shot claiming antisocial feelings about the neighbours ... or on the fact that I hate to waste good food -- and drink. Anyway, the net result was that I lost feeling in my teeth and knees. Hubby drove home. End of story!

I have to hit the sack. The birthday whirlwind continues with a skating tomorrow for my niece who is turning 20. It should be fun -- chilly with sub zero temperatures -- but fun!

And the fun will continue. On February 9th we celebrate the birthdays of my sister, my nephew and Kidlet. Which begs the question: What is so exciting and fertile about May???