Wednesday, December 21st: Had Christmas dinner with friends. Each couple made gingerbread houses afterwards.
Arthur suggested we make up limericks as a group activity, which turned out to be great fun. Each person started a limerick on a piece of paper, then passed it on to the person on the right for the next line. When finished, we read them aloud. Pretty funny:
Charlie is the name of my cat.
He took a liking to my hat.
He thought it was a mouse.
But it was really a louse.
So they sat down and had a long chat.
Once upon a time in Indianapolis.
A man rode down the street on a hippopotamus.
He wanted a drink.
But fell in the sink.
So he had a laugh and a cuss.
There was an old man by a pond.
Who looked just like James Bond.
The house on the brink didn't leak.
And the children were pretty and meek.
And the flies were all zapped with a wand.
There once was a girl name Daisy.
Everyone thought she was crazy.
She stood on her head.
On top of her bed.
And said now I feel a bit lazy.
Yesterday was sunny and bright.
We stood outside in the light.
She was in her birthday suit.
Which I thought was very cute.
And she didn't take it off til the night.
The snowflakes tumble from the clouds.
It looks like tiny white shrouds.
Father Christmas let fly a fart.
Rudolph took off with a start.
And this shouldn't be read out loud.
There was a young man from Gary.
Who wasn't a fairy or hairy.
He went to Horace Mann School.
Where they threw him in the swimming pool.
He didn't vote for Bush but for Kerry.
George Bush and Dick Cheny.
What a pair, what a painy.
Now, I'd say they were bad.
And I'd sure would be glad.
If they both got kicked in the heiney.
I think this must have been the sentiment that Sharon & Arthur were discussing at some point during the course of the evening:
"Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes
for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress,
non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday,
practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious
persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect
for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or
their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. We
also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically
uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted
calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice
of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make
America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any
other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And without
regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith
or sexual preference of the wishee. By accepting these greetings you
are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or
withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original
greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any
of the wishes for herself or himself or others, and is void where
prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.
This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application
of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a
subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is
limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole
discretion of the wisher."